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tsukikoayanosuke · 2 years

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The Amazing Parker Brothers (Spider-Man Series AU) - Headcanons & Plot Constructions

Peter 3 once said: “This is so cool. I always wanted brothers.” So these are some headcanons that I spontaneously thought of if all three Peter Parkers are brothers, or triplets because it would be funny. Depending on the plot really.

Oh, yeah. It has been a long time since I watch any of the movies. The recent I watched is NWH, so I’m relying on the Wikipedia summary of the older movies. The plot is a combination of all movies. Well, at least tried to combine them.

Though, re-reading this, I think it becomes Spider-Man 2002 staring Andrew Garfield with some Homecoming elements

Starts with the names: Peter 1 (Tom Holland’s Peter) is the one who keeps the name “Peter”

Peter 2 (Tobey Maguire’s Peter) gets “Petey”, which kinda similar to the actor’s name

Peter 3 (Andrew Garfield’s Peter) gets “Pete” which sounds like a nickname for the coolest Peter Parker of the bunch

(I just think it’s funny when you call them “Pete, Petey, and Peter” Ed, Edd, ‘n Eddie style)

(We’re going to pretend MJ and Gwen doesn’t exist in this universe because we’re focusing on the brothers)

(Uncle Ben, Aunt May, Richard and Mary Parker are mentioned briefly though)

(While others like Harry, Norman, and Tony exists as well, the rest will be taken over by one of the Peters, like Tobey’s Peter filling Uncle Ben & Aunt May’s guardian figure)

Following their respective series, Petey is the oldest, Pete is the middle, and Peter is the youngest of the brothers

If they’re not triplets then Petey is 22, Pete is 17, and Peter is 15 in 2016 following the Spider-Man: Homecoming timeline in the MCU

(The gap between their first appearance in movies divided by two. There’s a 10 years gap between Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man (2002) and The Amazing Spiderman (2012), so Petey and Pete have 10/2 = 5 years age difference)

(There’s a 4 years gap between The Amazing Spiderman (2012) and Captain America: Civil War (2016), so Pete and Peter have 4/2 = 2 years age difference)

Petey was born in 29th April 1994 (the premier date of Spider-Man 2002 in Mann Village Theater)

Pete was born in 13th June 1999 (the premier date of The Amazing Spider-Man in Tokyo)

Peter was born in 10th August 2001 (revealed in Spider-Man: Far From Home and the year becoming the base for the others’ birth years)

In 2005, their parents left them with Uncle Ben and Aunt May when Pete was 6 years old (making Petey 11 and Peter 4)

Four years later, in 2009, Uncle Ben dies when he was taking their nephew’s at the Iron Man 2 expo when Peter was 6 years old (making Petey 13 and Pete 8)

Aunt May dies at old age when Petey is an adult and has custody over his two brothers

The three of them live in a crappy one-bedroom apartment and take turns when sleeping. Two will sleep on the bed while one on the couch

Because of financial struggle, Petey, being the oldest and the most responsible one, is the only one between the brothers who don’t go to school

Petey still works as a photographer at Daily Bugle and pizza delivery guy

(May or may has not lie about his age to get the full-time job position)

Also has some rivalries with Eddie Brock

Pete and Peter get Midtown School of Science and Technology because of a scholarship program

Pete becomes friends with Harry Osborn

(Might be gay for each other but who knows)

He also idolizes Norman Osborn, Harry’s dad, even wrote a paper on his research

Yeah, he’s actually the smartest between the brothers, but he doesn’t show it often

Peter joins the decathlon team where Harry is the leader

Harry honestly only joins in to follow his dad’s request but has no interest

But he gets to get close with his best friend’s (and crush?) brother, so that’s a plus

Unlike Pete, Peter’s idol is Tony Stark/Iron Man who saved him during Stark Expo

In fact, Peter is kinda a fanboy of all the Avengers

(Oh, yeah. The Avengers exits because this still counts as MCU AU)

(Let’s just say this takes place after Captain America: Civil War, but Spiderman doesn’t get recruited)

Pete and Peter often argue who is the best between Norman Osborn and Tony Stark considering both companies are rivals

Pete gets an internship at Oscorp by Norman, but only accepts after learning that their father worked there for a cross-species genetic

(I mean he gets paid from the said internship, so he’s also helping his brother)

There, he gets bitten by the genetically-modified spider, making him the first Spider-Man

And gets the whole superhuman strength, speed, reflexes, agility, coordination, and balance aspect of the power, along with the stickiness sixth sense.

(Yeah, each Parker gets one power. But everyone has the sticky fingers and spidey sense)

The spider is still alive by the way after being smacked. His job ain’t done yet. So it crawls and crawls, trying to find its new target

Let’s just say, because of the internship, it takes quite a lot of Pete’s time until he forgets to pick up Peter after his decathlon practice

Petey and Pete get into a fight for that which leads Pete to leave to Delmar’s Deli & Grill

And, you know, Petey gets shot from a mugging like Uncle Ben

Luckily, very lucky for them, Tony is driving through the area and gets him to the hospital. So nobody dies yet

After tracking the killer, Pete becomes Spider-Man for the first time and catches him

While Peter becomes Spider-Man, Peter is often in the hospital with Petey, making him misses so many decathlon practices and on the edge of being kicked out

Tony visits often where he learns about the decathlon national tournament in Washington DC

Tony offers to take care of Petey while Peter joins the competition

Pete doesn’t really take well with Peter leaving, still traumatized with Petey’s mugging

But Peter argues back that Pete was never really there because of his ‘internship’

So Pete promises he will join Peter just to keep him safe. He’ll even take pictures for Petey

After telling to Harry, who tells this to his dad, Pete gets a free trip to Washington DC with the decathlon team

Speaking of internship, at this point, Norman has turned into the Green Goblin with the serum he and Pete have developed

Meanwhile, Oscorp board is about to sell the company to Stark Industry. The meeting with Pepper Potts is going to happen in Washington DC

Andrew’s Spider-Man vs Dafoe’s Green Goblin fight in Washington DC with Holland’s Peter as MJ

Iron Man is also there. This is when Tony starts to take interest in Spider-Man

Once Petey is admitted out of the hospital, it becomes harder for him to catch up with Eddie who has been striving in Daily Bugle with his Spider-Man pictures

Tony has also gained some soft spot for the brothers, especially Peter

That’s where he learns about Peter’s idea to give Spider-Man suit an upgrade

So, Tony just offer an internship at Stark Industry

(I mean he gets paid from the said internship, so he’s also helping his brother)

By the way, remember the genetically-modified spider? Yeah. It arrives in Daily Bugle now

On the same day, Green Goblin attacks to find to take pictures of Spider-Man

Petey whacked Green Goblin’s head with a chair to save J.J. Jameson but got tossed to the wall

Amidst the chaos, the genetically-modified spider bit Petey

Petey gets the self-produce web aspect of the power, along with the stickiness sixth sense.

The Goblin offers Spider-Man a place at his side, but Pete refuses

He offers it a couple of times until Pete is wounded

The obligatory dinner scene with the family. Both Peter and Pete decline Tony and Harry’s offer in favor of spending it with their family

But somehow Harry, Norman, and Tony (also maybe Pepper) ended up coming to dinner

Norman finds out from Pete’s scar and realized that he’s Spider-Man. So, you know, he has to hurt the other brothers right?

So he picked the day when Peter’s class is having a field trip to Stark Industry

Cue all those embarrassing field trip moments

At least that’s until the Green Goblin decides to attack

But you’d be wrong if Tony would let his son intern gets hurt

So Tony takes care of Peter until he gets better which means Peter can’t come to the homecoming dance

Getting closer to homecoming, Harry asks Pete whether he wants to be his date. Pete, obviously, says yes

Norman has an issue with this, but eh, just this once Harry is going behind his father’s back

Petey: “My baby brothers are growing up!”

Petey works overtime but, surprise, Green Goblin captures him as a hostage

Pete leaves Harry at the homecoming dances after Norman’s phone call. Harry goes home

Andrew’s Spider-Man vs Dafoe’s Green Goblin fight in Queensboro Bridge with Maguire’s Peter as MJ

When Petey gets thrown, he sticks onto the metal or something

Little brotherly moments between Petey and Pete and hinting that Petey knows Spider-Man secret identity

Pete brings Norman body back, Harry thinks Spider-Man killed his dad

Petey goes to pick up Peter from homecoming with Pete already waiting at home

Petey tells Pete that he knows that he's Spider-Man

Though they agree not to tell Peter just yet

Harry swears revenge for his father's death, but still be friends with Pete since he doesn't know the secret

But Pete resigns from being an Oscorp intern because he worries Harry might find out about his identity

He also tells this to Petey as well, saying that he’s worried that he and Peter will gets in trouble because of him

But Petey assure him that they’re brothers and they won’t leave him alone no matter the dangers

He also reveals his stickiness and self-made web

So, two potential Spider-Men

Tony and Peter finish the new Spider-Man costume

Petey gets better pictures of Spider-Man with Pete as his model

(No. He's not cheating. Pete just calls him every time there's a crime so Petey can take his good looks)

Pete also gives Petey some web-swinging lesson

Pete is still not happy from being called a menace

But, overall, the three of them live happily as brothers

#spiderman #sam raimi spider man #the amazing spider man #mcu spiderman #tobey maguire #tobey!peter parker #andrew garfield #andrew!peter parker #tom holland #tom!peter parker #norman osborn #harry osborn #tony stark #spiderman no way home #spiderman au #parker brothers au

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albakore · 3 years

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Brotherly Rivalry

Synopsis (request): I enjoy your blog maybe way too much, and I just thought of something… how Diluc would be if his s/o is close to Kaeya and vice versa ?? I think these two would be more jealous if their s/o is close to the other 🤔 so yup jealousy hc or whatever you’d like please ^^~

Characters: Kaeya, Diluc (gn!reader)

Warnings: a little angsty in Kaeya's, but there's fluff at the end. also not proofread

A/N: YES !! YES !!!!!! I was so excited to see this request as a diluc and kaeya enjoyer >:D also thank you for the compliments you’re too nice!!

Diluc

if you’re close with kaeya before you start dating him, he tries to block it out at first

he knows rationally that it wasn’t like you had to choose one brother or the other

but also knowing what he knows about kaeya, he does his absolute best to “warn you” about kaeyas “real self”

in his mind he’s only doing it out of concern for your well-being!

he knows kaeya will not have been honest about his background

absolutely denies being jealous.

“I’m not a child…”

glares at kaeya all night whenever kaeya decides he wants to hang out with you at Angel’s share, effectively stealing your attention away from Diluc

but if you ever go out with kaeya just the two of you? oh boy Diluc’s heart might just combust and not in a Good Way

“Hey, ‘Luc, I’m headed out for the day!” You called in the direction of his study as you sat down by the door to put your shoes on.

“Where are you going?” He asked as he emerged from the doorway, heavy footsteps making their way over to where you were sitting.

“Kaeya and I are going out calla lily picking.” You replied cheerily, not taking your eyes off your laces as you worked them up. You didn’t catch the way the man behind you stiffened immediately.

“Just you and him?” He asked tentatively, eyes trained on your back. His eyebrows had furrowed and his lips quirked downward. You let out a small ‘mhm’ before standing up finally and turning around to face him. His chest felt hot but he couldn’t quite put a finger on why, probably just out of concern for you.. yes, that had to be it. Was it always so hard to breathe in here? He crossed his arms over his chest defensively as he kept his eyes trained on you.

“Is something wrong?” You asked, reaching out to smooth over some of his unruly hair. He subconsciously leaned into your touch and let out the breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding.

“Just be careful, ok?” He had so much more he would’ve liked to say, so much more he would’ve liked to tell you to do, but he feared sounding possessive and controlling. He knew you could take care of yourself. It wasn’t like he didn’t trust you either, quite the opposite in fact. He would put the world in your hands without hesitation. So why did the thought of you going out with his brother seem to bother him so much?

“Of course!” You again flashed him a smile, then turned around and let your hand rest on the doorknob.

Before you could even twist the door open, his hand caught your wrist and he turned you around to face him. “(Y/N). I’m serious.” He murmured as he pulled you closer to him. Diluc rarely ever initiated any contact, so the embrace caught you off guard. It was only then that it clicked to you. He didn’t mean stay safe from the hilichurls or abyss mages, he meant from Kaeya. You’d heard a story or two about Kaeya making some questionable decisions in the name of getting the job done, like activating a ruin guard and putting his own men in danger, but he’d never put you in any danger thus far…

You wrapped your arm around Diluc and brought his head to your shoulder comfortingly. “I’ll be fine ‘Luc, promise.” You whispered to him. You could feel his racing pulse under your fingers as his arms stayed wrapped around you. “Say, are you perhaps… jealous?” You added in teasingly as you stroked his hair. He gave a small huff instead of a verbal response tightening his hold on you slightly.

A knock sounded on the door behind you interrupting your moment together. “Well, I better get going. I’ll be back for dinner, okay?” You finally slipped from his grasp as you walked back over for the door. His mind drifted as you greeted his brother, his only thought being how badly he didn’t want to leave you two alone. Maybe he could convince you to let him tag along…

Kaeya

bitter

that’s the best word to describe him

he can’t help but feel inferior to Diluc in a lot of ways, Diluc is rich and compassionate and handsome

not that Kaeya lacks any of those things anyway

well maybe he's not rich but he's definitely financially stable at least

so learning of your friendship, or even knowing prior and trying to pursue a relationship with you anyway

he often finds himself reviewing his actions, your actions, what you find appealing in Diluc, etc. trying to figure out what he should do more or less of to keep your attention solely on him

jokes about it all the time to cover up his true feelings about the scenario.

"Darling if I didn't know any better I'd say you were dating Diluc instead of me." chuckles to hide the pain

will be so absolutely hurt if he finds out you're honest with Diluc about things you weren't open with him about

"Why is he helping you with this instead of me?" Kaeya asked, defensively crossing his arms over his chest. He had learned through his other contacts that the Abyss had targeted you for some reason. They were sending you threats and other vaguely worrying messages, and the worst part is you went to Diluc to ask for help instead of your dear boyfriend! Kaeya had stumbled upon you two out in the wilderness fighting some abyss mages together when he pulled you away giving Diluc some vague excuse about how he needed to talk to you.

"It's not like that, Kae, I swear-" You quickly tried to put his ever racing mind at ease.

"I'm not sure what you mean by that, care to catch me up to speed?" He feigned innocence, wanting to hear you say outright that it looked a little suspicious to be running around with Diluc like you had. Kaeya wanted nothing more than to be able to place his utmost trust in you and for you to be able to do the same with him. This kind of treatment is the kind of thing Kaeya finds happening in his worst nightmares.

You sighed, "you know what I mean."

"No, actually, I don't. I asked a simple question about why he was helping you, I didn't insinuate anything else was going on. In fact, you were the one to bring up the notion that there was something more between you two. Should I be worried?" His eyebrows were furrowed, his gaze fixated on your reaction. His normal cocky smile was replaced with a rare but genuine frown of concern.

"Listen," you started, "the only reason he's helping me is because he got a letter similar to mine. They both asked us to meet our perpetrator at the same location, it was only coincidence on our end that we ended up running into each other." You watched as Kaeya slowly unfolded his arms and let his shoulders sag with a sigh. You grabbed his hand gently, rubbing soothing circles over the skin that peeked out over the leather.

"I was going to tell you at that dinner we had planned tonight." You continued softly, pulling a little envelope out of your back pocket and showcasing to him the Abyss's message to you. "I didn't want to pull you away from your work until I knew what was going on. I never meant to make you feel like I was sneaking around you. For that, I really am sorry." You brought his hand to your lips, placing a soft kiss over his knuckles.

He brought you into a hug and tightened his arms around you, pressing a kiss of his own to your temple. "I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have gotten so defensive." He whispered to you, a soft resignation that not many people got to witness from the usually cocky calvary captain. "If you ever have trouble with anything else, please don't hesitate to come pull me from my work, whether you know the full story or not." A pleasant breeze engulfed the two of you standing in the middle of the forest in each others embrace. Bird chirping and rustling leaves mixed with the sounds of Kaeya's heartbeat to make for the perfect ambience for you two to bask in whilst in each other's presence.

The sound of a branch snapping caused both of you to split apart and draw your weapons on high alert. To your chagrin, there stood and incredibly uncomfortable-looking Diluc just a few feet away from you two. He realized fast that you two had noticed him and he quickly cleared his throat. "Sorry, you two were taking a long time and I grew concerned for (y/n)'s wellbeing.."

#genshin x y/n #genshin x you #genshin x reader #genshin impact x reader #diluc ragnvindr #diluc x you #diluc x y/n #diluc #diluc headcanons #diluc x reader #kaeya #kaeya headcanons #kaeya x reader #kaeya x you

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here4theheartbreak · 3 years

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Sweet Cream Nights (jjk + ksj + myg)

AO3 Link Here!

Relationships: Jungkook x Seokjin x Yoongi Genre: smut, fluff Rating: Explicit Word Count: ~8.4k

Tags: smut, fluff, enemies to lovers, friends to lovers, bakery au, coffee shop au, arcade au, getting together, polyamory, food play, oral sex, come eating, dirty talk, humping

Summary: The local video game arcade owner is in love with the local barista who is also in love with the local baker. What could go wrong?

A/N: Third Kinktober fic, day 5: foodplay

Friendly competition was healthy, normal, and expected from successful business owners with shops near to one another. It only made sense that the two best coffee shops on the same street would have a friendly rivalry, or that the local bakery would compete with the nearby diner serving fresh cakes. What wasn’t normal, and not expected, was the local bakery in such a cutthroat competition with the local arcade.

It wasn’t even really about the products, of course. Individuals routinely purchased snacks or lunch from Seokjin, the owner and baker at History in the Baking – the best bakery in town by any local’s standards, then stopped in two doors down to play a few video games, often with Jungkook, the owner of the Golden Closet; a newer, but booming arcade. There was no loss in business and nothing forcing the rivalry.

Nothing, that was, except Deja Brew, the small café and coffee shop nestled directly between the two businesses. Really, it was because of the owner of the shop, one Min Yoongi.

Yoongi was everyone’s favorite. He liked to put on a grumpy front, often standing out in front of his rather adorable little shop as it opened at 6:37am sharp (he said, because 6:30 is too damn early, and what person wants coffee as late as 7:00am, really?) But it wasn’t real. No, the short, sweet faced grump was really as gentle as could be. He gave the bleary-eyed children of busy moms small sweets and volunteered with local charities. He often worked with Seokjin to make sure no product went to waste; every few days he and Jin would gather up near expiry products – Jin’s baked goods and breads and coffee beans that hadn’t sold, and Yoongi would drive them over to the nearby homeless shelter for breakfasts for the needy.

This was where Jin first realized that he’d fallen truly head over heels for the barista. The only problem he had was that he wasn’t sure if Yoongi liked him back, or if he was even into men. And the idea of ruining the both friendship and business cooperation they had was more terrifying than keeping silent.

Jungkook, on the other hand, knew almost immediately that he wanted to ask Yoongi on a date. The first week he’d moved into the empty space next to Yoongi’s shop, he’d wandered in, exhausted from an all nighter getting things up and running and just needing a quick pick me up. He’d expected something like a fancy Starbucks – in and out and perhaps a misspelled name on the cup to boot. What he’d gotten instead was a very concerned Yoongi herding him to a booth and a warm breakfast; the most delicious oatmeal he’d ever tasted, along with a rich, sweet coffee that made his toes curl and his heart skip. Though, maybe the heart skipping was more Yoongi’s doing than the coffee. Yes, Jungkook knew he’d been swept off his feet. His problem however was that despite being told he was handsome and being quite boisterous and loud in regards to his friends… Once someone he fancied came near, he clammed up; closing himself off and barely speaking more than a few words to the person. Which was what happened with Yoongi.

And Yoongi – for all his attention paid to customers, bills, and the local news – had no idea that he was being courted after by his two neighbors. When their rivalry picked up, Jungkook had blocked Jin’s back door for nearly three hours with a large truck first off; then Jin had had a whole pallet of flour ‘misdelivered’ to Jungkook’s door – he assumed they were old friends, or old enemies. Perhaps exes that were out to get one another. It wasn’t his problem, and he had no care about how they handled their rivalry – just as long as he wasn’t dragged into it.

Seven months, it went on. Seven entire months of petty pranks and murmured name-calling and generally annoyed glares between Jungkook and Jin. And then it happened.

Jungkook was early in to the arcade. It was nearly 6:15, but the sun was shining and he was feeling particularly good. He’d spent the evening out with an old friend who had encouraged him to ask Yoongi out before someone (Jin) did.

He walked past Jin’s shop, glancing in. He could see a few lights on in the back; Jin was always in early, working on his day to day treats. Despite his annoyance with Jin, he had to admit, the man was an excellent baker. And what was more, he was frankly stunning. Tall and broad, slender, with the face of a God – if Jungkook wasn’t so taken with Yoongi he may have gone after Jin. His custom pastries and cakes were stunning and elaborate, and his simple day to day cookies and pastries were always a hit. Rivalry or not, Jungkook knew good sweets, and that man’s were to die for.

He passed the bakery without lingering too long and glanced into the front window of the café. Much to his surprise, the main lights were on; Yoongi normally kept them off until opening time. He looked a little closer, and his stomach did a tight little flip. Yoongi was sitting at one of the tables, sipping coffee… With Seokjin.

They were laughing, and Jin reached over, brushing the tips of his fingers over Yoongi’s cheek. Jungkook saw red. It wasn’t fair. He reached up, ready to tap on the glass, draw Yoongi’s attention, anything. He froze though. What right did he have? He hadn’t made his move on Yoongi fast enough – that was on him. He sighed softly and shook his head, hurrying past the café before one of them caught him peering in like a pervert.

Jungkook tried to ignore the ache he felt as he worked, but every time his mind drifted, it went to what he saw that morning. Was it what he had assumed? Were they just friends? He had to find out. He slipped out under the guise of an early lunch break, entering Deja Brew.

Yoongi was behind the counter, looking stunning as always. He looked up and grinned. “Afternoon, Kook. What can I get you?”

“Whatever you think is good,” Jungkook said, settling in one of the tables. “You know I trust your opinion here.”

“Coming up.”

The shop was empty; Jungkook knew it wouldn’t start getting busy again until about noon. It was nice; he could watch Yoongi working without others wondering what was wrong with him. Yoongi circled around to the table with a tray, setting a sandwich in front of Jungkook along with a coffee.

“Mind if I join you? Grab my own lunch before the real lunch rush.”

“Of course not,” Jungkook grinned, trying not to sound too excited at the prospect.

Yoongi set a similar meal down on the other side and hurried the tray back to the counter before sliding in across from Jungkook.

Jungkook took a bite, groaning happily. “This is amazing.”

“Apple sausage with fresh veggies. I managed to get some really great products at the farmer’s market this weekend, and Jin gave me a deal on the bread. Nobody does these little sandwich loaves like he does.”

The smile slid from Jungkook’s face. He tried to replace it, ignoring the twist in his gut. Well, this was what he came for; might as well rip the bandage off. “You and Jin are pretty close, huh?”

“I think so,” Yoongi said casually, taking a bite of his sandwich.

“How long have you two been…” He drifted off. Yoongi’s brows furrowed for a moment. He swallowed the bite in his mouth.

“Been friends? About a year. We met a few months before you joined our little shop front.”

“No… Dating,” Jungkook clarified.

Yoongi coughed, laughing after taking a swig of coffee. “Dating? No, no. Jin and I aren’t dating. I’d love to but… He’s not into me that way.”

“Are you kidding? He’s obsessed with you,” Jungkook said without thinking, wanting immediately to kick himself. “I saw you two this morning when I was walking to my arcade. I figured… You know… It was a date.”

Yoongi chuckled and shook his head. “I’ll take your word for it, but no… We were just having breakfast.” He hesitated. “Do you really think he likes me?”

Jungkook snorted. “He adores you. I mean, why wouldn’t he? You’re funny and smart and one of the most caring guys in this town. Plus you make amazing coffee, you’re independent. And you’re handsome as hell and I—” He froze, realizing Yoongi was staring at him, eyes wide.

“I—I just mean you two are a good match,” he mumbled.

“I appreciate the plethora of compliments, but no we aren’t.” Yoongi chuckled. “Jin’s damn near a model.”

“He really is. I’ve never seen someone with such broad shoulders that doesn’t look weird. And his smile…” Jungkook shook his head, smiling a little. “He’s stunning. But you are too.”

“Well, maybe I’ll ask him out. But… I don’t think he’d be into my lifestyle.”

Jungkook’s brows raised. He twitched his head to the side, mouth pursing. When Yoongi didn’t continue, he nudged him with his foot under the table.

“Lifestyle?”

“It’s… Very hard to explain.”

“If it’s not comfortable, I didn’t mean—”

“No, it’s not that. I am comfortable with it. I just wish others were,” Yoongi mumbled.

“It sounds intriguing… I’ll listen without judging, you know me.”

Yoongi smiled softly. “You do have a knack for that, don’t you?” He sighed. “I’m not… Comfortable in traditional relationships. I never have been.”

“Like sexually?”

“Oh no, no. I’ve always been very sexual being. No, I mean traditional monogamy. I believe in faithfulness and I abhor cheaters… But for me the traditional two-person relationship is dull and unfulfilling. It’s like… I feel like I have so much love to give and no matter how much I give to the other person there’s this space missing.” He sighed again. “It’s very hard to explain to folks.”

“You feel like the true way to be happy in a relationship is to have more than one partner?” Jungkook clarified.

“For me, yes. I’m not disparaging traditional relationships, I just… When I date someone, I feel like there’s still this gap there, waiting to be filled by a third party. And it doesn’t matter to me whether that third is dating my first partner, or if they’re just dating me, or even if they’re dating someone else that I’m not dating, I’m okay with any combination, I just… I need to have more than what traditional monogamy can give me.”

“I get it,” Jungkook said, nodding. He sipped his coffee as he thought, processing the information. “I don’t see anything wrong with what you feel. You still love and believe in being faithful; I’m guessing seeking a third partner, or a fourth or however many would be something that you’d discuss with your partner originally.”

“Oh of course, but therein lies the problem. The majority of people don’t understand this mindset. They hear something about wanting another partner and insecurity crops up. Are they not good enough, do they not satisfy, am I falling out of love with them and there’s really no way to explain to a person who sees things in the traditional way.”

Jungkook nodded. He scowled at the remnants of his sandwich in thought, trying to put himself in Yoongi’s shoes, or in the shoes of someone Yoongi might be dating.

“It’s gonna catch fire if you laser focus any more on that bread,” Yoongi joked, his voice a little tense. Jungkook looked up. “Oh, sorry.” He laughed. Yoongi looked as tense as he sounded, and Jungkook wondered if he was waiting for a sort of negativity about what he’d just confessed.

“I was thinking about the type of relationship you described.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, trying to put myself in that place – the mind of someone you might be dating who you told this to.”

“What’s the verdict? Would you dump me?” Yoongi laughed as he spoke, but it didn’t reach his eyes. Jungkook shook his head no.

“When I think about it, I don’t deny my initial thought would be to ask if you were happy – I feel like that’s everyone’s gut response. We were raised in a monogamy preferred society, so it’s just… Natural to think that way. Not right, of course… We were also raised in a heterosexual society and I think it’s pretty clear that’s bullshit.”

Yoongi and Jungkook both chuckled at that. Jungkook continued.

“But I think if you explained that you were, and how you just told me about it, I think I’d get it. I would want to be with you in the process though. I don’t think I’d be comfortable with my partner seeking out another person without me. That would feel too much like hiding or cheating. But I think if we went together and met folks, or even had a person in mind that you wanted to ask, I’d want to like them too. Maybe not as much as I liked you, but some sort of friendship or agreement that you’d be good together, if that makes sense.”

Yoongi was silent for a long time after Jungkook spoke. He couldn’t figure out his expression. There were subtle shifts in it, and sometimes Yoongi looked close to tears, other times happy, and blank. Jungkook wanted to ask what he was thinking, or if he’d said something wrong, but didn’t want to push Yoongi into answering if he was still processing.

So he went back to eating, finishing the last of his sandwich and sipping the sweet coffee while he waited. He looked outside, watching the traffic pass through the window. Some familiar faces passed by, likely heading into his arcade next door. He should head back at some point soon, he’d left Taehyung in charge, which was fine in the short term, but Taehyung had a way of getting too up in his head or too hyperfocused on one thing – so it was best to have a second person there to bring him back to reality.

Jungkook was just about to clear his throat and call it a meeting when Yoongi looked up suddenly, meeting his gaze.

“Jungkook…”

“What?” Jungkook laughed a little, the intensity of Yoongi’s gaze startling. Not to mention, arousing; he’d never been looked at like that before. At least… Not by anyone he liked back.

“I’m in my late twenties,” Yoongi began, finally breaking the gaze to gather their plates. “And I’ve known this about myself since I was very young… Thirteen, fourteen maybe?” He rose, holding the plates and his empty cup. “In all that time I’ve never had someone respond how you just did. Taking the time to process and try to understand and… Get it. Maybe not think the same way as me but… Be able to offer me an answer that wasn’t going to break my heart. That would let me and them be happy.”

“I—”

Yoongi shook his head, his mouth curling up into a bright, gummy smile. “You asked about Jin because you’re jealous, didn’t you?”

Jungkook felt his cheeks burn with embarrassment. He lowered his gaze, nodding softly. “That’s weird, huh?” He mumbled.

“I think it’s cute.” Yoongi leaned down, his breath warm on Jungkook’s ear. “And I think you’re cute Jeon Jungkook.” He shifted, pressing a quick kiss to Jungkook’s cheek before standing upright.

Jungkook’s head snapped up when Yoongi rose. “What?”

Yoongi smirked. “I don’t mince my words. You heard me.” Yoongi glanced at the door, nodding to a customer approaching that he must have recognized. “My lunch rush is about to start,” Yoongi said as the bell dinged, signaling the customer’s entrance. “Come by when I close. I want to talk to you more.”

Jungkook grinned brightly, his nose crinkling up. He rose quickly and nodded even as Yoongi walked away. “I will,” he said, not wanting to turn his back as he watched Yoongi walk behind the counter. “I’ll see you—” He winced when his hip bumped the corner of a table hard enough to sting. He moved out of the way, nearly running into the customer.

“Sorry!” He cried, bowing low. He glanced up, his cheeks warm as he spotted Yoongi watching him, an amused smirk on his face.

Jungkook made it out of the café and over to his arcade without any further accidents. His mind was whirring over what had just happened. Yoongi had said he was cute. Yoongi had kissed his cheek. And asked him to come over. Was this happening? Was he going to win the guy?

The other information Yoongi provided him also crept back in. Now that Yoongi dating him might be reality, rather than theory, would Jungkook really be okay with sharing him with another partner? The more he thought about it, the more he realized he would. The idea of sharing Yoongi with someone else was intriguing. He wondered how date nights might look, if Yoongi would call them both boyfriends – if the other partner would even be a boy. What if he fell for that one too? It was something he’d never considered before; being in love with two men at the same time, but it was something that he was very interested in exploring. What was Yoongi’s type too? Would it be someone else similar to Jungkook? Or totally opposite? His mind wandered through all the possibilities, making the day pass easily.

Shortly before closing time, the front door opened. Jungkook glanced up from where he was sanitizing one of the game systems. His brows rose, disappearing into his shaggy hair when he saw none other than Jin standing in his doorway.

“Good afternoon,” he said politely, bowing. “You looking for something specific? We have some open computers at the internet bar, and some other game systems. I just cleaned this one, so—”

“I’m looking for you,” Jin said bluntly. His jaw was set, giving him a stern look, but there was something unreadable in his eyes. “Can we chat?”

“Of course.” Jungkook nodded, heading behind the small counter that housed a few mini fridges worth of snacks and books filled with codes and game information. He tucked the sanitizing supplies on the bottom shelf and waved Taehyung over. “Keep an eye on the front for me, okay?”

Taehyung glanced at Jin before nodding to Jungkook. Jungkook motioned for Jin to follow him, unlocking a nondescript door that led into an “office” – really it was a gutted storage closet, but it worked to keep the fancy and important stuff out of sight of customers… And for private meetings. Jungkook leaned on the small desk.

“What do you need to talk about?”

“When did you start dating Yoongi?”

Jungkook blinked. “Who said I was dating him?”

“I saw you two this afternoon. He kissed you.”

“He kissed my cheek,” Jungkook corrected. “And you’re a snoop.”

“The shop’s windows aren’t exactly hidden away. I was walking past and saw.”

Jungkook nodded. He sighed and went around, slumping into the folding chair he’d set up to sit in while dealing with bills and other business things. “Well, we aren’t dating. I assumed he was dating you… I saw you two awful cozy this morning.”

“Oh, now who’s the snoop?” Jin grumbled, leaning on the door.

The two remained silent for a long time, staring each other down across the small space. Jungkook couldn’t help but notice how the fabric of Jin’s shirt stretched across his broad shoulders. Though it was a well fitted, button up shirt, it still seemed tight with his body. His belt was cinched around his waist, making his slender hips all the more obvious as well. Jungkook couldn’t help but wonder what it would feel like to hold onto those slender hips, or wrap his arms around the broad shoulder span. And the more he looked, the more he noticed Jin’s mouth and neck. The curve of his throat, ridged with muscle, his full, pink lips that looked just a little chapped – but still oh so soft. The gentle curve of his nose and the smooth, shiny glow to his skin. Despite working in a bakery all day, not a hair was out of place, bangs parted just so to show a broad, smooth forehead that was begging to be kissed.

It was Jungkook who broke first, laughing in the silent room. He shook his head. “This is so stupid,” he said through bursts of laughter. Jin tried to remain stoic but broke as well, laughing along with Jungkook.

When their laughter faded, Jungkook shook his head, wiping his cheeks. “Look, I do like Yoongi. That’s no secret. And yeah, he did kiss my cheek – he was flirting. So, if you like him… I encourage you to tell him.”

“You just said he likes you.”

“And he likes you too. He told me today.” Jungkook hesitated. He didn’t want to say too much about what Yoongi told him; it wasn’t his place to tell. “You should talk to him. His answer might surprise you. But either way – we’ve been fighting over him for months, when in reality this is his choice. He deserves to know the truth so he can make that choice.”

Jin’s shoulders sagged just a little. He nodded. “I know you’re right. But I don’t want to make it harder for him if he has decided to date you.”

“I know you don’t, but you won’t know what he decides until you tell him. He’s a big boy – I’m sure he can handle it.”

Jin chuckled. “True… Thanks, Jungkook.” He turned to go, then turned back. “I’m sorry I’ve been such a dick these past few months.”

Jungkook grinned. “I’m not. It’s been fun. I’ve kinda enjoyed our pranking.”

“Is that so?” Jin smirked. “Well, maybe I won’t stop then.”

“I’ll be waiting.”

Jin turned and walked out, leaving Jungkook to wrestle with far more internal questions than he had answers for.

That night, Jungkook headed over to Deja Brew as soon as he closed things up. The lights were mostly off, save for a few near the back and behind the counter. Assuming it was locked, Jungkook knocked gently. He saw movement from the back, and Yoongi came rushing out. Even in the fading sunlight, Jungkook could see he looked a little flushed and surprised. He opened the door, smiling brightly. “You came.”

“Of course I did… You okay?” Jungkook could see his cheeks were mottled and his hair was a little mussed.

“Yes. But… I have to tell you something.”

Jungkook stepped into the café, letting Yoongi close and lock the door behind him. He shouldered his bag a little higher onto his shoulder. “What do you have to tell me?”

“There’s been… A bit of a development. That I didn’t expect… When I told you to come by.”

“Oh?”

“Evening, Jungkook.” The voice came from the back room, where Yoongi had rushed from. Jungkook looked over Yoongi’s shoulder, his eyes widening. Jin was leaning against the doorframe. He was wearing the same shirt as he had been when he met Jungkook, but now it was hanging open save for two bottom buttons, his firm, broad chest exposed. It was damp with sweat and flushed red, as was Jin’s face and ears. His hair was a little mussed and his mouth – if anyone could believe it – was just a little plumper.

“Oh!” Jungkook backed up. “I am so sorry. I didn’t realize—”

“Don’t go,” Yoongi whispered.

“But you and Jin—”

“He came over,” Yoongi nodded. “But I want to talk to you still. I don’t want you to go, please.”

Jungkook nodded. He met Jin’s gaze, a little surprised to see a gentleness there. He’d won – he expected Jin to look smug. He followed Yoongi back into the back room, and Jin followed as well, leaning against a nearby wall.

“Jin came over earlier,” Yoongi began. “He said you encouraged him to.”

“I did. He came to me and I said it was only fair to you. To tell you how he felt and let you choose. I guess he did and… You did.”

“How do you mean?” Yoongi asked.

“Well, you two…” Jungkook motioned to Jin’s open shirt.

“Oh, yeah. We did. I mean, we are… But… I told you earlier today. How I felt,” Yoongi said. “You said… A lot. About how you’d feel about it. Was that true?”

“About the… More than one person thing?”

Yoongi nodded.

“Yeah, I meant it all. I wouldn’t mind. If I knew you cared and were happy, I’d try.”

“Well I told Jin too.”

“And I said the same thing,” Jin added.

Jungkook smiled softly. “I’m glad. It’s good to find similarly minded people.”

“Jungkook,” Jin stepped forward. “You’re kinda dumb, aren’t you?”

Jungkook pouted. “No,” he mumbled. “I was just trying to be fair, I didn’t—”

“Jungkook, you and me and Yoongi all say the same thing. We’d be happy to try a relationship with more than one person.”

“Yeah, I got that…” Jungkook said, glancing between the two.

“Right… And we both like Yoongi,” Jin continued. “And… Considering the way you were eye fucking me in the office earlier…”

Jungkook’s eyes bulged. He opened his mouth to argue, but Jin shook his head. “I know when someone is giving me that look. I would’ve told you to stop if I didn’t like it.”

“You…”

“Think you’re kinda… Annoying.” Jin laughed at Jungkook’s expression. “And really attractive. Plus you’re competitive and stubborn and loyal…”

“You didn’t lose anything, Jungkook,” Yoongi said. “If you don’t want to lose, that is. If you want… You can both have me.”

Jungkook’s eyes bulged. Comically, if the laughter of Yoongi and Jin meant anything. “You mean—I—I could be with you both?” Jungkook stumbled over his words, wanting to kick himself.

Yoongi nodded. “Why should I choose between you when you both want me and I… Want both of you. And since you’re both okay with sharing me, then… It only seems fair to do so.”

“I was simply getting started a little early,” Jin teased, pulling Yoongi back to him. He kissed him hard.

Jungkook wasn’t sure what to do. He’d just been given the okay – he could date Yoongi – and Jin. He stepped forward, setting his backpack on the ground. Cautiously, he reached out, touching Yoongi’s wrist.

Jin broke the kiss. “Don’t be shy,” he murmured, nuzzling Yoongi’s neck even as he looked up at Jungkook.

Jungkook took a deep breath. He stepped forward, pulling Yoongi to him and kissing him. The reality of what was happening seemed to hit him suddenly when their lips met. He grabbed his cheeks, holding him close even as Yoongi laughed into his mouth. Jungkook felt a warmth behind him and hands on his hips. Jin.

“Can I share you too, Jungkook?” Jin whispered in his ear. Jungkook broke the kiss with Yoongi, looking over to meet Jin’s gaze.

“I—I guess so.”

Jin smiled softly. He stepped to the side, wrapping one arm around Jungkook and pulling him into a deep, needy kiss. His mouth tasted of warm, sweet vanilla and a hint of spice, while Yoongi’s had tasted like coffee beans and chai. It was the perfect blend.

Yoongi’s mouth landed on his neck, his hand sliding Jungkook’s front as he and Jin kissed. He felt hands on his jeans and gasped, breaking the kiss. He glanced down. Jin was undoing Jungkook’s jeans.

“You can stop me,” Jin said softly.

“And me,” Yoongi added.

“No,” Jungkook leaned back, sliding his hand up Yoongi’s neck and through his hair. “Wouldn’t dream of it.” He reached forward, touching Jin’s bare chest before sliding lower, his fingers tracing the firm muscle of his abdomen. He undid the other two buttons of his shirt and pulled it open just as Jin opened his jeans. The slid down a little, and Yoongi helped, pushing them the rest of the way down to his ankles. Jungkook toed his sneakers off and kicked the jeans off. He let go of Jin’s chest to turn, grabbing Yoongi’s belt. “I’m not gonna be the only one with no pants,” he said.

Yoongi laughed. “I’ve already had my pants off. I put them on when you came in.”

“Oh, is that so?” Jungkook undid his belt and unzipped his jeans. “What were you two doing in here?” He looked back at Jin, who smirked.

“I was showing him just how… Versatile my food can be.”

“Is that so?”

Jin nodded. Jungkook pushed Yoongi’s jeans down and turned. “Well now I’m envious… Can I get a lesson in that diversity too?” He pouted.

Jin smirked. “I’m sure that can be arranged. He circled around the two and opened a small fridge under Yoongi’s desk. He pulled out a small cheesecake and a can of spray whipped cream. “Mind if I get some things from up front, Yoongi?”

Yoongi shook his head no, busying himself kissing along Jungkook’s neck. “Bet this isn’t at all what you expected tonight,” he murmured.

“Not at all,” Jungkook leaned into his touch. “But I’m not complaining.”

He turned, pulling Yoongi’s shirt off over his head. He took a moment to stroke his hands over Yoongi’s soft skin, tweaking his nipples just a bit and giggling when Yoongi hissed. Yoongi moved forward, forcing Jungkook to walk backwards until his back hit the wall. He moaned openly, grabbing Yoongi’s hips.

“Don’t come in your shorts now, I have some fun for you two,” Jin teased when he re-entered, holding a cup of coffee and a bowl of what looked like ice. He set them on the table next to the food and beckoned the two over.

“Yoongi… He smirked. He scraped a small chunk off the cheesecake and brought the fork toward Yoongi. Yoongi opened his mouth for it, but Jin moved the fork at the last second, smearing the cheesecake over Yoongi’s bare collarbone. He looked at Jungkook. “Go on.”

Jungkook grinned. He moved forward, gently licking and sucking the cheesecake from Yoongi’s collarbone. He let his teeth graze over the area, enjoying the squeeze of Yoongi’s hands on his waist.

“Take your shirt off now,” Jin whispered when Jungkook had cleaned Yoongi’s skin, and left an array of delightful red marks in his wake. Jungkook obeyed, stripping his shirt off and tossing it to the side. Jin did the same, and stripped his jeans off as well, leaving all three in their boxers. Jin grabbed the can of whipped cream, looking between the two. “Who wants a treat?”

“Yoongi,” Jungkook said. “I stole his cheesecake after all.”

Jin stepped forward and reached out, palming Jungkook through his boxers. Jungkook gasped, his eyelids fluttering shut.

“Lets get these off then,” Jin whispered, pressing a kiss to Jungkook’s jaw. Yoongi stepped forward, sliding them down his hips. Jin made a low noise of appreciation when his cock sprang free. He shook the can once more.

“It’ll be cold,” he warned before tipping it upside down. He pressed Jungkook’s cock down a little further so it was more parallel to the ground and sprayed a few lines of the creamy dessert whip over his shaft.

Jungkook forced his eyes open as Yoongi sank to the ground, licking his lips. He grasped Jungkook’s cock gently behind the tip, careful not to disturb the whipped cream, and looked up at him. Slow and steady, he began to lap to Jungkook’s cock, catching the cream with his tongue. Each inch slipped into his mouth, hot and warm and slick, Jungkook gasped, reaching out for anything to brace himself. Jin caught him, holding his hips to keep him upright as Yoongi sucked his cock.

“That’s it, feels nice, doesn’t it?” Jin murmured in his ear, reaching up to pinch Jungkook’s nipples gently. Jungkook moaned, stroking his fingers through Yoongi’s hair.

“Wanna repay the favor?” He asked softly when Yoongi had sucked all the cream from Jungkook’s cock.

Jungkook nodded. “But—What about you?” He asked, sliding his hand down to palm Jin’s cock.

Jin smirked. “Oh, wanna see what I have too?” He teased. Jungkook nodded.

“Only fair,” Yoongi said as he stood. He slid his own boxers off and they turned to Jin, shedding the final article of clothing he wore as well.

Jin handed Jungkook a piece of ice. “Put it in your mouth… And suck my cock,” he instructed. He took a mouthful of coffee and knelt in front of Yoongi. Glancing up, he winked. He grabbed Yoongi’s cock and gave it a few strokes before slowly sliding it past his closed lips. Yoongi groaned and jerked. A bit of the warm coffee dribbled out, down Jin’s chin and chest. He began to bob his head, and Jungkook could hear the slosh of the coffee in his mouth as he sucked Yoongi.

Jungkook dropped to his hands and knees and placed the ice chip in his mouth. He grabbed Jin’s cock and gave it a few strokes, blowing first gently on it. Jin shuddered and grabbed the back of Jungkook’s neck, squeezing just enough to be known. Jungkook watched goosebumps appear on his thick thighs. He leaned down further and sucked Jin’s cock into his mouth. He flicked the slowly melting ice chip over and around it, using Jin’s grip on the back of his neck to guide what felt the best. Yoongi’s moans were filling the air, as well as the heavy breathing of all three and the wet noises of the two sucking. Jin pulled back and swallowed, gasping and moaning Jungkook’s name. Yoongi sank to the ground and grabbed another ice chip, tapping Jungkook on the shoulder. He moved back, allowing Yoongi to take over.

Jungkook stood and grabbed a forkful of the cheesecake. He slowly streaked it down his belly and over his cock, leaving a little bite on the tip of his cock. Jin smirked, his mouth open already. Jungkook guided him to his cock, moaning when Jin took his tip into his mouth. He sucked hard, flicking his tongue over the top of the head to get the remnants of cheesecake. He moved up then, shifting as much as he could with his cock in Yoongi’s mouth, and licked and nibbled at Jungkook’s belly. Down, over his cock, firm licks and daring grazes of his teeth that had Jungkook tensing in preparation for pain – and moaning in disbelieving arousal when it didn’t come. He was dribbling precoma freely, and knew he wouldn’t last long. Jin pulled back and moaned, tugging on Yoongi’s hair gently.

“Stop, stop—I’m gonna come,” he whined.

Yoongi pulled back, looking up at him. “Isn’t that the point?” He teased.

Jin chuckled. “I suppose. But it wouldn’t be fair of you to hoard it to yourself, what if Jungkook wanted a taste?”

Jungkook smirked. “He could share with me after it’s already in his mouth, I suppose.”

Jin’s breathing caught, just a bit, and he nodded. “I suppose he could.” He and Yoongi rose and Jin grabbed a small bowl from the fridge. “My homemade frosting,” he explained when Jungkook twitched his head at it. He uncovered the bowl and took a spoon, stirring it. “Yoongi. Come here.”

When Yoongi approached, he slathered the frosting over the length of Yoongi’s thick cock, adding a playful swirl to the dollop at the tip. He looked to Jungkook. “He’s the only one you’ve not tasted yet. Go for it.”

Jungkook sank down and took him into his mouth quickly, moaning around his length. The rich, sweet vanilla cream blended perfectly with Yoongi’s salty precome, dribbling in and teasing him with the promise of more. Jungkook bobbed his head quickly, eager to swallow down both the frosting and Yoongi’s unique taste. Yoongi held back no sounds, tugging softly at Jungkook’s hair as he moaned happily.

Jin dropped down next to Jungkook, shifting to suck and lick at the part of Yoongi’s cock not in Jungkook’s mouth. They switched, taking turns lavishing attention over Yoongi’s cock. Their mouths often met in wet kisses, his cock slotted between their lips. He whined, his hips bucking.

“Please—” He panted. “It’s okay, you can come,” Jin purred, swallowing his cock down. He backed up, letting Jungkook do the same. They kept at it until Yoongi’s cock began to throb. As it did, Jungkook pulled back, holding it towards them and stroking quickly. The ropes of come erupted from his cock, hitting both on the cheeks and open mouths. Jungkook whined softly, feeling a rope shoot over his tongue. As his orgasm faded, Jin grabbed Jungkook’s face, kissing him hard. They cleaned Yoongi’s release from one another with kisses, sharing the salty treat between them.

Yoongi sank down, his legs shaking visibly. He grabbed for Jungkook and Jin’s cocks, stroking one in each hand as they made out. Jungkook pulled back in time to see Yoongi leaning forward, swallowing Jin’s cock down as he stroked Jungkook’s. He switched after a few moments, wrapping his perfect lips around Jungkook’s cock and stroking Jin’s.

“God, I’m already close,” Jungkook whined, holding onto Jin as Yoongi bobbed his head along his shaft.

“Come in his mouth,” Jin murmured. “You can see how much he wants it.”

Yoongi whined in agreement, his breath hot around Jungkook’s cock. He began to bob his head a little faster, reaching up to play with Jungkook’s balls as he did.

“That’s it,” Jin praised, stroking the back of Yoongi’s neck. Jungkook let his head fall onto Jin’s shoulder, his fingers biting into his side as Yoongi’s mouth dragged him closer to orgasm. He grunted, biting his lip. Jin slid his hand down, squeezing Jungkook’s ass. He brushed his finger teasingly over Jungkook’s hole, smirking when he jumped.

“Sensitive,” teased.

Jungkook moaned, pushing his hips forward, pumping into Yoongi’s mouth, and back toward Jin’s hand. The hand disappeared from his ass for a moment. He heard Jin spit and it was back, one finger slipping into his hole. Jungkook shouted in surprise. His hips jerked forward and back, gagging Yoongi.

“Sorry,” he panted, laughing breathlessly as Jin began to finger him. Yoongi gave a thumbs up, shifting to adjust his movements.

Jin found Jungkook’s prostate easily and began to rub and press it, murmuring soft praises in his ear.

Jungkook whimpered. He tugged Yoongi’s hair gently. “I can’t hold back,” he gasped in warning. Yoongi nodded as well as he could and pulled back, focusing his oral work on Jungkook’s tip. He rubbed and pressed his balls gently at the same time Jin pushed a second finger up his ass, scissoring them and rubbing against his spot. Jungkook swore, his legs beginning to shake. His cock jerked as his orgasm hit, spilling ropes of come into Yoongi’s mouth.

Jin slowed his fingers but kept them buried inside Jungkook, rubbing just enough to keep a low level orgasmic buzz running through Jungkook as he milked him dry.

Yoongi rose, his mouth open to show the come in it. He winked at Jungkook before pulling Jin into a deep kiss. Jungkook struggled to stay upright, watching them share his come.

When Yoongi pulled away, Jin withdrew his fingers momentarily.

“Can I keep fingering you while I come?” He asked.

Jungkook smirked tiredly. “Of course.” He bent over the desk, wiggling his ass playfully.

“Wanna finger mine too?” Yoongi teased.

“Well, I’d like to do more than that,” Jin murmured, kissing Yoongi once more. “But I’ll settle for rubbing off on it… If you’ll let me.”

Yoongi immediately bent over the desk next to Jungkook, kissing him softly. Jin added more spit to Jungkook’s hole, going back to fingering him lazily. Jungkook whined, his soft cock still dribbling weak ropes of come at the right pressure on his spot. He glanced over, watching Jin spit on his other hand to slick his cock. He slid it up, along Yoongi’s perky ass, and moaned, immediately beginning to hump against it.

After a while, Jin pulled his fingers free from Jungkook’s hole and squeezed Yoongi’s ass, swearing softly.

“Spread it,” he panted. Yoongi obeyed, spreading his ass open for Jin.

Jin spat against his hole, and Jungkook watched him slide a finger in gently. Yoongi moaned, deep in his chest as he did. Jin removed his finger and lined his cock up, poking the tip gently against Yoongi’s tight hole. He paused, jerking his cock quickly.

He moved over to Jungkook, squeezing his ass.

“Spread,” he panted. Jungkook obeyed, blushing darkly when he heard Jin spit and felt a glob land on his hole. Jin went immediately with his cock, spreading it with the tip and nudging Jungkook’s hole. Slightly more relaxed from the earlier fingering, Jungkook felt his hole give a little, and he moaned.

“Goddamnit,” Jin panted. Jungkook could hear him stroking his cock, the nudges against his hole becoming more persistent. “I wish I could fuck you both,” he grunted.

“Next time I’ll have lube,” Yoongi murmured. “I’d particularly like to see you take Jungkook and pound him against the wall… Looks like you make such pretty sounds with a cock up your ass, Jungkook.”

Jungkook laughed breathlessly, moaning softly. “I think I do… I love begging for it,” he admitted.

Both Jin and Yoongi made appreciative noises.

“I’d like to fuck him after,” Yoongi continued. “Lay him on his his belly right over there… And fuck him after you gape his ass. You could fuck me while I was doing it.”

“Jesus Christ,” Jin swore. He moved between them and grabbed the plate of cheesecake, setting it on the table. With a soft groan and a series of rhythmic grunts, Jin came, thick ropes spilling from his cock over the dessert.

Jungkook met Yoongi’s gaze and smirked, understanding the intention. They both grabbed forks and began to cut into the cake, feeding one another the come covered bites over Jin’s cock. He moaned softly, seeming to shudder and relax as they ate. Jungkook scooped up the last bite and stood straight, holding it out for Jin, he took it gladly, meeting Jungkook’s gaze as he chewed and swallowed. He leaned forward, kissing Yoongi and then Jungkook. Jungkook returned the kiss, pulling back to kiss Yoongi as well.

The three redressed and cleaned up the office in relative silence, each seeming to be going over what had happened.

“So… That was… Admittedly a little unexpected,” Yoongi said finally, settling into his chair behind the desk. Jin, for all his gusto, looked a little shy, and Jungkook was worried.

“Was it too much?” Jungkook asked.

“I don’t think so. Not for me, at least… What about you two?”

“I liked it,” Jin said. “I had fun and it was a good way to… Try out this dynamic, of all three of us. I’ve never… I’ve never dated more than one person at a time, but I like Jungkook, and I want to try it. And I know it’s where you feel comfortable. So for me, it was nice to sort of… See where we all stood and get close in a new way.”

Jungkook nodded. “I agree. I had said earlier today that I’d be fine with my partner dating someone else, and I kept thinking about that during the day. My mind did wander to Jin a few times, I won’t lie. I think he’s the best match for both of us. He and I have always had our…”

“Rivalry,” Jin filled in, laughing a little, and Jungkook nodded.

“Yes, rivalry. That I have enjoyed. And I obviously care a lot for you, Yoongi… I’m happy with tonight and… I hope we can move forward as a … Well, not really a couple, are we?”

Yoongi laughed. “Not exactly. There’s a lot of words that people have come up with for folks in our dynamic, we can figure it out later. For now I’m content just knowing that there’s no regrets. And that we all want to move forward into… Dating.”

Jungkook and Jin both nodded eagerly.

“How will dating work?” Jungkook asked. “Do the three of us go together? Two at a time? I mean… Since Jin and I, I figured… You are okay with… Wanting to date me too?”

“I’d like to try it,” Jin said, nodding in agreement.

“I’ve never actually had this kind of relationship,” Yoongi admitted, “despite wanting it for so long. I think we’ll have to sit down together and really hash out what each of us need in a relationship, and how the other two can best provide it. I do know that for this sort of thing… We need to be open with each other.”

Yoongi rose as he spoke, going over to Jin and Jungkook. He took each of their hands in his own. “Communicating is the only way this can work, okay? No more secrets, no more unspoken words and passive aggressive pranking.”

Thy all shared a chuckle at that. Jungkook shook his head. “I think pranking has really become Jin and I’s love language… You’re not gonna stop the pranks, Yoongi.”

Yoongi sighed dramatically, grinning. “And here I was hoping I’d get to avoid Jin shouting at seven in the morning when you’ve stolen his mixer yet again.”

Jungkook grinned brightly as Jin laughed.

“Look, that was a good prank!” Jungkook defended.

“Yeah, only because I returned it shutting down your fuse box the next day.”

Jungkook glared, but grinned as he was doing it. “We’ll keep you out of the pranks,” he promised, looking back to Yoongi.

“I don’t mind. Just don’t prank me.”

“It’s late,” Jin said. “Why don’t we all have a light dinner together tomorrow after closing? We can meet here, I’ll bring some stuff from the bakery too, and we can have some of the leftover sandwiches from your café. We can all sit together and really talk about what we need and what we’d like from this sort of relationship.”

Jungkook and Yoongi nodded. “I like that idea. I’d like to think more about it anyways,” Jungkook admitted. “I know I want this, but I’ve not been in a lot of relationships, so… When someone asks me what I want from even a traditional two person… I don’t think I could answer. I need to really think and figure it out.”

“I feel like that’s a fair assessment,” Yoongi said. “I’m in a similar boat. The idea that you’re both… Mine… It’s a lot. I’m happy. I’m just overwhelmed.”

“You never thought you could have this,” Jin said. Yoongi nodded.

“Well you do,” Jungkook stepped forward and hugged Yoongi tightly, pressing a kiss to his cheek. “And we might have to figure out the fine-tuning stuff, but you have us. It’s not a dream.”

Yoongi hugged him back, nuzzling his neck. “Thank you.”

“We care a lot about you, Yoongi. No matter what. I think I can speak for Jungkook too when I say that this is a good move for us all. We’re happy, and we’ll be happy like this,” Jin said. He wrapped his arms around them both, enveloping them in a tight hug.

They separated after a moment and Jungkook grabbed his bag. “Come on, we should get going. Do you have any last-minute things to do?”

“No, I’m all closed up here, just have to shut off lights.” Yoongi headed to the back of the office and grabbed his jacket, flicking off the lights and basking them in darkness.

The trio walked to the doors and stepped out into the cool night air, letting Yoongi lock his door. They stood for a moment, all looking at one another in the streetlights. “Well, I go this way,” Jungkook said, jutting his finger in the direction of his bus stop.

“I’m that way too,” Yoongi said.

“I go the other way,” Jin said. He glanced around then stepped forward and kissed Yoongi long and hard. Jungkook chuckled a little at it. It was cute, if he was being honest. Jin glared playfully at him. “What’re you laughing at, punk?” He joked. He grabbed Jungkook’s shirt and pulled him into a kiss as well.

He stood straight and fixed his shirt. “I’ll see you two tomorrow.”

“Get home safely,” Yoongi said. They watched Jin walk down the street before turning and walking up it.

“How far up do you go?” Yoongi asked.

“My bus stop is about two blocks away.”

“Do you live very far?”

Jungkook shook his head no. “Only a few miles. Just a little too far to walk or ride a bike in, so I have to do the bus.”

Yoongi nodded. “I only live about half a mile up, so I usually walk it. Do you have a car, for the winter?”

“No, but the bus stop is right outside my apartment so it’s not so bad. The city keeps these streets shoveled well.”

“Hm… Well, we’ll see when winter comes. I have a car, I just don’t bother using it except winter with how close I live. I wonder how far down Jin lives.” He glanced back.

“We can ask him tomorrow.”

They reached Jungkook’s bus stop. Yoongi sighed softly. “I wanted to thank you.”

“For what?”

“The conversation we had this afternoon gave me so much joy and confidence… Just hearing someone support me and give me hope that I could be truly happy… And then I know you sent Jin to me. Even though you knew it might mean losing me if I didn’t want you as a third, I… Your care means so much.”

Jungkook smiled softly. “I fell for you the minute I saw you, Yoongi. I want you to be happy, no matter what. And getting to be with you… And with Jin… It’s perfect. For as much as he and I argue, he’s an amazing man.”

“He is… And so are you.” Yoongi took Jungkook’s hands and squeezed gently. “I’m so happy that this happened.”

Jungkook grinned, his heart skipping a beat. He leaned forward and kissed Yoongi gently. “My bus will be here soon,” he said, not stepping away from Yoongi. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“See you.” Yoongi kissed him once more before letting his hands go and heading down the street.

Jungkook sighed heavily, a grin on his face as he did. Though he’d been hoping for a good result from finally confronting his feelings, this was a better one that he’d ever imagined. He knew that their future would be a sweet as the coffee and pastries his new boyfriends created.

#thebtswritersclub #jungkook x seokjin x yoongi #jungkook fanfic #seokjin fanfic #yoongi fanfic #jungkook smut #yoongi smut #seokjin smut #jeon jungkook #kim seokjin #min yoongi #mywriting

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bunny-is-writing · 3 years

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Hate | Wilbur

Warnings: N/A

;; I wrote this ages ago so sorry for any mistakes lol

You and Wilbur had never gotten along. Since joining L’Manberg, at your best friend Niki’s request, you’d never seen eye to eye with the president. No matter what, the two of you were always arguing and you always found something new to bicker about.

It was common knowledge Wilbur hated you. It was common belief you hated Wilbur back. The reality was that you’d had feelings towards Wilbur for months, finding him instantly attractive but messing up your words and accidentally insulting him, which caused your first fight and your ongoing rivalry. And you’d tried to fix things but only made them worse, Wilbur determined to antagonise you over every little thing. To make things worse, the fighting couldn’t even drive your feelings away- seeing the passion in his eyes as he argued and his pride and defensiveness over his beliefs only made your feelings grow, in fact.

Now nothing could be done, Wilbur hated you and would never stop hating you, and he’d made that more than clear. You couldn’t tell anyone about your secret feelings, not even Niki, out of utter fear that he’d somehow find out and use your crush on him against you, or laugh at you, or make you cry, or all three.

But the constant feeling of being detested was overwhelming you and, despite your stubborn claims, his remarks stung, cutting deep into your pride and creating new insecurities you could laugh away or ignore. It was just too much, you’d had an argument that morning that had gotten more heated than usual, more personal, and it had wrecked you. You stormed towards the bakery, tears running down your face, trying to find Niki.

You entered, slamming the door shut behind you and leaning against, taking a second to put your face in your hands and just sigh. You quickly wiped the tears away, looking up at the other presence in the store and realising instantly that it wasn’t Niki. You froze, half in fright and half in embarrassment at being caught in such a state. And then you cringed because it was Wilbur in front of you. Wilbur, who was the reason for your tears, who’d love nothing more than to see you at your worst, who’d love to see you this weak. You tensed up, waiting for him to start mocking you, but he didn’t.

“Shit, [y/n], are you alright?” He asked, in a gentle tone you’d never heard from him before. You looked up and saw pure, genuine concern on his face.

You wiped your tears, finding that more had leaked from your eyes, before composing yourself. You sniffled quickly, then straightened up, pulling your shoulders back and bringing your head high- giving a great air of confidence but having none of it.

“Wilbur, you don’t have to pretend to care just because Niki’s in the back, okay? You know why I’m upset so just back off. You won, okay, you finally made me cry, I hope it helps you get off at night.”

You ran your hand through your hair, refusing to look at the president, and turned on your heel, trying to escape as quickly as possible. But almost instantly you were stopped by a hand wrapping around your arm and holding you back.

“[y/n], are you okay, genuinely?” He asked again, his tone still soft and caring, and it made a warmth blossom within you. “I’m sorry, really- I’m an idiot, and I’ve been an idiot for a really long time.” He brought his hand to the back of his neck, rubbing it anxiously and looking at you, guilt evident in his features.

You smiled half-heartedly, looking up at him and shifting your weight from foot to foot, before speaking, “it’s alright, Wilbur. I’ve been an idiot too, and I’m sorry.” You gave the biggest smile you could muster as you looked up at him, heart racing as you waited for an acceptance or rejection to your apology.

He turned away quickly, running a hand through his hair desperately, and you watched pink tinge his ears and neck, assuming that a similar colour was staining his cheeks, though you couldn’t see. He took a deep breath in, almost gasping, before turning back to you. When he did turn, you could see that, as you expected, his cheeks were as pink as his neck had been, though the hue had calmed slightly.

“[y/n], you can’t- you can’t,” he began to stutter. “Shit, you can’t smile at me like that. I made you fucking cry, you can’t go smiling at me like that.”

He looked around frantically as he spoke, his eyes resting on everything in the bakery but you. You furrowed your eyebrows, half confused and half annoyed at his behaviour. You took a step towards him, which he didn’t seem to notice, and brought your hand to his shoulder, which he did notice, and you saw him freeze at your touch.

“Wilbur, what are you talking about? I’m just smiling, if you don’t like it we can go back to hating each other. I’m done arguing, okay, I don’t want you to hate me anymore.”

As you spoke, you watched him look at you earnestly, laughing slightly, and then his face dropping of emotion entirely as you talked of him hating you. He shook his head, stuttering, trying to say something but failing, and then giving up attempting to speak entirely. You tilted your head, going to ask what he wanted to say, but as you opened your mouth to talk, you saw him dive towards you and press his lips to yours.

For a moment, the sudden shock froze you in place, but your brain caught up quickly and you pressed back into him. His hands wrapped around your waist and yours were in his hair, pulling slightly, which elicited a soft moan from Wilbur. You smiled at that, pushing harder into him for a moment before realising that you were running out of air and quickly pulled away. He tried to chase you, eyes still shut tight, but you just pressed your hands to his chest, and he opened his eyes, stepping back slightly.

The both of you had giddy smiles and you stood wordlessly for a moment, beaming and trying to catch your breaths. You wanted to laugh, or squeal, or both. Your eyes were still puffy from crying but were now lit up in joy, and there was a warmth in his brown ones that you’d never seen before, but you loved it. He grabbed your hand, which you didn’t pull away from, intertwining them and playing with your interlocked fingers as he spoke.

“I don’t hate you, I truly don’t. I never did.” He admitted, looking down with a smile still on his face.

“I never hated you, if you thought that,” You responded. “I don’t think I could.”

You stared at each other for a moment, each just taking the other in, before you were kissing again, back to the position you were in before. Your hands, this time, moved from his hair to hanging limply around his neck as you stepped closer into him. You don’t know how long you were like that, but you know that when you did pull away, your lips were puffy and tender.

“So,” You started, cutting yourself off, completely unsure of what to say.

“So,” He responded, just as clueless but also lightheartedly teasing you. “Do you want to try this? Us? Because I do.”

You smiled, nodding, “I’d like that, Wil, a lot.” You stood in silence again, just staring. “We really are idiots, huh?”

“You are!” You heard called from the back, Niki’s voice causing both you and Wilbur to light up in red, suddenly unable to look at anything but the floor.

“Niki? I thought you were out or something!” Wilbur yelled, in disbelief and slightly mortified.

Niki’s giggle sounded from the back, and you saw her stick her head out of the door to look at the pair of you, “Out of patience.”

She disappeared again, leaving the two of you somewhat alone, flustered but laughing. Wilbur calmed down, starting to walk to the door but turning back and offering out a hand to you.

“Would you like to accompany me for a walk around our dear L’Manberg, (y/n)?” He offered.

You took his hand in your own, revelling in how soft his palm felt and how easily your fingers fit together. “Why, Mr President, it would be an honour.”

#wilbur soot x reader #wilbur soot imagine #wilbur soot x y/n #wilbur soot x you #mcyt imagine #dream smp x reader

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vidavalor · 3 years

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"You're my favorite" is a dialogue callback & a major hint as to what's up with Mobius

Let's talk about Mobius, Ravonna, the drink rings, the pen, the trophies, and "you're my favorite" because I don't think the clues are leading towards Mobius being a villain or a clone or a Loki... but they are leading towards him being a lot more *like* Loki than maybe we realized at the start... meta/analysis under the cut

Mobius is not a villain. The set of scenes meant to really underline this fact are when we see him sneak off to the library with Ravonna's Tempad to watch the Hunter C-20 video and see for himself that his suspicions that Loki was right about the agents being variants is true. If he were a villain, he would have already known this. That said... there are some clues that there *is* something that Mobius already knew and let's look at what those clues are and just what Mobius may be up to.

Mobius is something that Ravonna and the TVA need-- he's smart, inquisitive and a good leader. Their problem with that is he is smart, inquisitive and a good leader. That makes him a bit dangerous should he get too close to the truth. Other agents love him and might be more likely to follow him if he told them they were being lied to so that can't ever happen. On the other hand, it's far easier to "fix" someone that's broken by TVA definition than to just outright destroy it because good analysts don't grow on trees. That other agent who collected the other half of the trophies in Ravonna's office? The one who left drink rings on her table that overlap (in a Mobius loop-like pattern) with Mobius' own? That was the dude whose name is literally his name *twice over*-- Mobius himself. That is why there is no other analyst for Mobius to have ever bumped into in the hallway or been introduced to. Now, think about how Mobius must have thought about this other analyst. Like, a *lot*...

Mobius likes his puzzle and his ears are sharp, too. He brings up the other analyst to Ravonna in conversation, keeping it light, to watch what she says about this person. The more vague she is, the more he realizes that what he's beginning to suspect is likely true. He jokes with her to cover up that he's beginning to understand what's happened and what does he say? He jokes that he hopes that he's her *favorite*, a line of dialogue that he uses when hugging Loki and looking at another version of Loki in Sylvie. What does this mean? It means that while Mobius didn't know that all the agents are variants who were kidnapped from their timelines until Loki told him-- and we know that's the case because we saw him steal Ravonna's Temppad to watch the proof of it that he needed to see for it to be true, even if it was clear that he believed Loki when he was told of it-- Mobius *did* know something already at the start of the show: he knew that he had been reset.

He knew he was not the first version of Mobius that had existed.

That first version was the man he couldn't remember, who had gone on other TVA missions and collected half the stuff in Ravonna's office and had whole other conversations with her where he left other drink rings and that person was just gone now to him. This? Is one of the reasons why he's so empathetic towards Loki and bends over backwards so much to give Loki another chance at being the person he wants to be-- because Mobius himself has been doing that too, in secret. He probably blames Ravonna more than the TVA as a whole at that point-- he turns on the TVA more after he discovers that the agents are all variants-- but it's also why he's willing to take more risks and do things like bring Loki in to help because he identifies with him. Mobius has figured out that he was Ravonna's other agent but he knows that if he ever said that aloud or led Ravonna to think that he had realized it, she would reset him again or prune him and Mobius doesn't want to die. Ravonna tests him frequently with that pen, in particular-- it's either tied to who Mobius was in his timeline or it's something he brought back from before he was reset. She's looking for any signs that Mobius has remembered any of the resetting or any of his life from before. Mobius pretends that he doesn't but he does remember who he was before he was reset into who he is now-- at least enough to know that he was reset in the first place.

Another clue to this? When he rescues Loki from the judge in the courtroom, he's saving him from undergoing the same fate he previously did. There are only two options that we saw-- don't take a ticket (and so prove that you are not pliable and of no use to the TVA) and you get pruned to The Void. Take a ticket (and so prove that you have potential to follow orders) and the judge sentences you and then you get "reset"-- have your memories wiped & be turned into a TVA agent. That was about to happen to Loki when Mobius ran in but look at what Mobius said to him about it. Loki asked if he was taking him somewhere to kill him and Mobius said no, that that's where Loki just was. But think about that for a second-- it was clear that Loki had passed enough of the ticket test that he wasn't going to get pruned to The Void.

If Mobius at that point thought, like most do, that pruning = death, then Mobius would know that Loki had already saved himself from that by taking the ticket. So what is the "death" that Loki would have faced instead, if Mobius hadn't saved him? Mobius knows now what it is because he knows it happened to him before. He saved Loki from having his memory wiped and this version of himself from being killed by the TVA. Just as he's giving Loki another chance to embrace the moment and be whoever he wants to be, Mobius is also trying to do the same thing for himself. Whoever he was is gone now, in some ways, and Mobius can't even remember the missions he went on before, the trophies he brought back to the woman who killed who he was before and made him yet another version of himself. He struggles with what it is to be *him*-- an individual in the midst of similar copies-- and to have an identity of his own... just like Loki does.

Then, Loki uncovers the truth about the TVA from Sylvie and tells Mobius that all the analysts are variants-- that they were people kidnapped from their timelines to serve in the TVA-- and while Mobius does seek out the proof (and I think he also just is trying to figure out what happened to poor C-20, now realizing that she knew before the rest of them did), he believes Loki enough to seek out that proof. He instantly doesn't trust Ravonna. For a man who has spent his whole life (as far as he knows) in service to the TVA and its mission, it's a huge leap, even if he suspects Loki to be correct. The reason why he believed him so readily is because he already had reason to distrust Ravonna and the TVA brass because he already had figured out that he had been reset.

It's also possible that B-15 was also reset alongside Mobius, namely because she works with him all the time and might begin to notice that he wasn't remembering their previous missions. If there is anybody in the TVA that Mobius might have told about his suspicions that he was reset, it might be her and she could have been helping him. (For instance, who is it that tells Loki that he *has to take a ticket* in no uncertain terms? Why does B-15 care if he does or doesn't? What was it to her if they pruned Loki at that point? He was just another variant. Unless Mobius, whom she trusts and is her friend, told her to do everything she could to keep Loki alive in there long enough for him to get there.) So, there's a slight possibility that B-15 knows she and Mobius were reset but I also think he probably didn't tell anybody and if B-15 was helping Loki in the courtroom, it was just because Mobius asked her to.

Which means that Mobius has been wanting to fuck with the TVA a bit-- or at least annoy Ravonna-- for awhile, hence his willingness to go traipse around with Loki. His whole of the word "favorite" though is more loaded than it seems. When he says it with Ravonna, it's a dry joke only he really gets. He's flirty, he's joking with her that he hopes that she likes him more than this other analyst guy who is bringing back these other trophies for her. He makes it sound like a romantic rivalry between him and her other time-hopping Indiana Jones. Mobius at this point *knows that other analyst is himself* when he's saying this but he can't let her know that he knows, so he pretends it's a whole other person, and not a previous sense of himself that she has tried to erase and reset into a version of himself that he wants. Worse, Ravonna *never answers him*-- she never tells Mobius that he is her favorite. She talks about their friendship being uncommon and keeps trying to gaslight Mobius into believing that they have a thing between them that is exclusive to them when Mobius knows damn right well that she had him mind-murdered and he can't trust her. So, even this reset version of Mobius gets the run-around from cold fish Ravonna.

So, when Mobius is then in a moment where he's saying goodbye to the god he loves who is on a paralleling journey to his own, in terms of trying to be the best version of himself he can be with the single chance he has left, he says "you're my favorite" in such a way that while he is saying it, in a whisper, to the Loki in his arms, he's looking at Sylvie when he says it and that's intentional. He respects Sylvie, whose end goal isn't to do harm so much as to free the imprisoned and whose determination to that end is freeing Mobius more than he had previously thought possible, and he loves Loki-- and he's determined to not have them feel what he feels with Ravonna. He wants them to know they are both good as they are, that they can be their own selves and don't need to be more than just the best versions of themselves that they can be. Ravonna makes multiple copies of Mobius and tries to strip him of his sense of self and he's been fighting back quietly, recognizing the same type of fight in all of the Lokis that he meets, taking in their various issues with stride because he just admires all of it and feels a kinship to it. Telling Loki and Sylvie "you're my favorite" is a way of giving them what he hasn't had for himself, which is a sense that he's fine the way he is and he's loved and enough and who he is as a person-- the same traits that make him a good agent-- are not inherently subversive in a bad way or wrong... and if you read that last sentence and realized that Loki is then the perfect person to love Mobius, I agree. :)

#lokius #agent mobius #mobius #loki series #loki speculation #loki (marvel)

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gamer-logic · 3 years

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Hetalia Platonic Ships Week Day 2: Coronvirus Chaos

When the virus hit, all the countries were forced to cancel the meeting and quarantine at their respective houses, and use zoom. Here are my headcanons of how the 1p and 2ps would fair!

Americans: With quarantine active, Alfred and Allen had to stay home which also meant the states stay too. Because this is our lovable all-American family, they go full-on zombie apocalypse mode with California and New York trying to panic buy all the toilet paper. Needless to say, they're not on grocery duty anymore. After this initial panic, things start out fine despite Alfred's meltdown about not getting to go to McDonald's anymore and Allen's subsequent victory lap because he won't have to be near the junk anymore. As their giant house is built on an estate because where else is big enough to put fifty kids and various farm and exotic animals including a large enough pool for Ameriwhale, and workshop with various vehicles Allen immediately takes control of the kitchen from Alfred and is dead set on making him eat better. He also gets the kids in on it and soon enough Alfred is hogtied to his chair, courtesy of Texas, and trying out every vegan dish Allen wants. The kids are wild and it doesn't take long for cabin fever to start kicking in though, but both Alfred and Allen are able to mitigate this by planning daily hikes and other outdoor activities. Oregon doing yoga much to the chagrin of a sailor mouthed New Jersey, Texas and Arizona teach everyone the ways of the wide-open range and many survival skills. Lastly, everyone has many movie marathons beginning with, of course, Marvel. Tony also joins them after coming out of his video game hibernation. One question why no one's one's thought to ask Tony about making a cure for the pandemic with his alien tech. Though that may be a good thing as who knows how that alien stuff would affect a human.

Americans: With quarantine active, Alfred and Allen had to stay home which also meant the states stay too. Because this is our lovable all-American family, they go full-on zombie apocalypse mode with California and New York trying to panic buy all the toilet paper. Needless to say, they're not on grocery duty anymore. After this initial panic, things start out fine despite Alfred's meltdown about not getting to go to McDonald's anymore and Allen's subsequent victory lap because he won't have to be near the junk anymore. As their giant house is built on an estate because where else is big enough to put fifty kids and various farm and exotic animals including a large enough pool for Ameriwhale, and workshop with various vehicles Allen immediately takes control of the kitchen from Alfred and is dead set on making him eat better. He also gets the kids in on it and soon enough Alfred is hogtied to his chair, courtesy of Texas, and trying out every vegan dish Allen wants. The kids are wild a and it doesn't take long for cabin fever to start kicking in though, but both Alfred and Allen are able to mitigate this by planning daily hikes and other outdoor activities. Oregon doing yoga much to the chagrin of a sailor mouthed New Jersey, Texas and Arizona teach everyone the ways of the wide-open range and many survival skills. Lastly, everyone has many movie marathons beginning with, of course, Marvel. Tony also joins them after coming out of his video game hibernation. One question why no one's one's thought to ask Tony about making a cure for the pandemic with his alien tech. Though that may be a good thing as who knows how that alien stuff would affect a human. Alfred likes to mess with the filters on the screen to tick off Authur but gets serious when it matters. Also, Tony hacks into the meeting from time to time to hear updates so he can better understand how to cure the virus and also troll everyone. Allen is running damage control to keep the kids from killing themselves and they'll often switch.

The Canadians: Similar to the Americans with how they're quarantined at home with the 13 provinces. They actually start panic buying too. However, instead of toilet paper, they buy up everyone's pancake ingredients and a bottle of maple syrup insight into every normal human's befuddlement. Hey, feeding 13 kids is hard! Unlike the states, the 13 last even shorter t thanks to Quebec who sees a prime opportunity to rebel once more. As for groceries, Quebec gets them for his punishment. Kuma and Kumajirou provide great comfort to animals when it starts getting tense and anxious due to cabin fever. Not only that, but they bring home the literal bacon with James when he goes hunting. Watching Kuma go pounding through the woods with Kuma on his back is a sight to behold and has since gained over 5 billion views on Utube. Everyone helps out in remedying this by creating a ginormous fort for them all to sleep in. This eventually includes Quebec when his punishment ends. Kuma likes sitting in Canada's lap during zoom meetings while James often struggles with keeping the provinces in check. Cue him doing an exact impression of the video with the woman sliding in like she's on ice to get the kids out while her husband is on video.

The Frenchmen: Francis, the drama queen that he is, freaks out about not being able to go out anymore and being forced to wear such ugly masks. Luiz could care less as this is exactly what he's been doing and just carries on until he hast to calm Franics' shrieking at how he'd been forced to home and not go shopping anymore. Francis ends up collaborating with Flavio in his new mask line to remedy the 'threat to fashion everywhere.' He also keeps up with his and Author's rivalry by mail, fondly reminding him of the previous years dealing with ink and a quill. Both Francis and Author have their own chatroom dubbed 'Britain and France's fighting chatroom," or more affectionately, "The 100 years chat."

The German Brothers: They all buy up the beer and Ludwig starts implementing extra training because 'you can't let a pandemic let you get soft! Now run like you're running from a human-sized germ!' Their house soon becomes a minefield with the prank war Lutz and Prussia initiate. Klaus loves the extra peace and quiet he's been getting now. Blackie, Astor, and Berlitz are happy their humans are home much more often now and are getting very spoiled. Ludwig takes control of the computer while on zoom because he knows what the others would do with they got it. Lutz and Gilbert keep making fart sounds and shuffling noises in the background, leaving Klaus to just sigh and a tomato face Ludwig to stammer on with the meeting.

The Italians: Flavio takes one look at the masks and immediately gets inspired for a new, pandemic edition, line of masks, and mask-related cloths including the two in one mask dress. Luciano let all his men go home with their only orders to be safe and stay healthy as he's not willing to relive the Black Plague. Lovino will never admit this, but he's kind of glad for the pandemic since it's given him the chance to spend time with his brother. Though this doesn't;t stop Spain from calling to check in 3 times a day. Feliciano tries to do all kinds of new things to keep everyone's spirits up and is also the guy who stole all the store's pasta, tomatoes, and sauce. Flavio makes all four of them show up fashionably late to the zoom conference despite it being online.

The Russians: Viktor keeps up with his work as much as possible and both he and Ivan have to hide their grins when their president has to quarantine. They don't really like him much. Ivan tries looking at pictures of sunflowers to keep himself occupied. He fears the loneliness quarantine brings, but Viktor tries to be around more so he doesn't get so lonely as he's also felt that pain before. He doesn't want Ivan to be like him who doesn't have friends nor the time for them. Out of the two, Viktor is the most serious about his work and is often seen using zoom for meetings.

The Japanese: Both are enjoying the introvert's paradise but are also worrying over the rising cases in their countries especially since they had to host the Olympics. They did so flawlessly but also struggled in keeping things as stable as possible. They both hold guilt for putting their citizens in such a dangerous situation. Both end up doing a video game/anime marathon with the rest of the Otaku club over zoom. Kuro sets to work refining his swordsmanship skills and actually starts forging new ones. He's a great weaponsmith! Kiku also takes the time to practice his calligraphy. They're the one's who'd have anime playing in the background or their cat, Japaneko, getting in the way.

And last but not least, the ones who started it all, the Chinese: Yao continually works around the clock trying to analyze the bad and how the pandemic got out of hand. Xiao ends up being the one who actually started this because he dared the guy to at the soup. He feels a lot of guilt over this and, in a rare showing of maturity from him, is also working by Yao to fix his mistake that not only risked his and everyone else's people but also killed so many. The pandemic will likely be one of their greatest shames. On a lighter note, Yao can't figure out how zoom works and Xiao likes programming troll hacks into the computer to mess with him.

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malfoys-demigod · 4 years

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Thinking Out Loud - Draco Malfoy x Reader

Requested by the lovely @the--queen-of-hell

A/N: We agreed to set their ages to 19 during the post war year

5 months.

5 months to be exact when the ultimate wizarding war had finally ended. Some people can agree that 5 months can be so quick that they already forgot that time flew swiftly by in a blink of an eye. For you, 5 months since the war felt like 5 weeks since the war.

The many things that you’ve experienced first-handedly were still too easily played in your mind. First was when you thought your friend Harry had died. He was the one true person who could have saved the wizarding world from the biggest disaster the world could have faced. Seeing his body roll out onto the floor was just hard to process. But finding out that he was actually alive to save everyone was just a relief. Then there were your parents. The people you have loved the most for your entire life. It was just a shame that they were placed under the situation of being Death Eaters. You obviously knew that they did not have a choice. It was either they played pretend Death Eaters or risking your life and theirs. They kept promising you that you would be alright, that they would be alright, and that you could return to becoming a normal family just like the time before Voldemort chose them to be Death Eaters.

The possibility of returning to a normal family was so high. During the war in Hogwarts, you were fighting, defending yourself from the other Death Eaters who in their eyes saw you as a traitor. “Traitor!” they’d call you as they tried hexing the life out of you. “You should have joined your parents like the pureblood you are!” they kept telling you. “Let’s teach her the consequences of becoming a traitor.” was the last thing a group of Death Eaters threatened you as both your parents Stupefied the group, running to your aid to check up on you.

Knowing that there was no time to do this, you grabbed their arms and tried making it to the ends of the corridors which had a door to seal off the Death Eaters who were regaining consciousness from their hits. You could hear them grunt angrily as they started hexing in your direction. When you made your way outside, your parents hugged you tightly and told you, “Our dearest, Y/N. Know that we will always be in your heart as we love you with all our hearts.” as they cupped your face tightly. Your eyes widened, realizing why they had said that. “No.” was all you begged from them. They looked at you sympathetically and gave you one last hug and ran back in to fence off the Death Eaters that were going after you. “I love you, mother and father.” was all you could say as they started closing the doors, looking at you with an uplifting look. “GO! RUN!” your mother said as your father finally locked at the doors.

Fighting off the tears in your eyes, you turned around and ran as fast as you could, returning to the battle. Aside from Harry and Dumbledor, you couldn’t name a single person you have witnessed that had the same courage and passion as your parents. They were the people that motivated you to become as courageous and passionate as them. You knew in your heart that if you ever became a parent, you would do the exact same thing as them and save the life of your child.

You were very fortunate enough to have Narcissa and Lucius as your other set of parents. Of course you couldn’t love them enough just as you did with your parents but they have been nothing but welcoming and supportive of you. Ever since the war, you have been living in Malfoy Manor with them and Draco. Aside from being that important person in Draco’s life, they were more than happy to grant you their home as they were great friends with you parents.

You father was like a brother to Lucius. They were best friends since birth as their families knew each other well. Their friendship grew stronger during their Hogwarts years. If one of them had detention, it was very well known that the other would tag along in their detention because they were the cause of whatever reason the professor had to send them off. After their Hogwarts years, they became work-mates as your father became a respective wizard in the Ministry, just like Lucius as they always playfully competed against each other in their respective jobs. Your mother and Narcissa on the other hand had a similar story. They despised each other during their first years in Hogwarts. Why? They were after the same boy that they have been childishly crushing on. It was a little girl-to-girl competition for them as they tried going out of their ways to have them get noticed by their crush. Discovering that the person they were crushing on was only interested in boys, their small rivalry thawed, apologizing in the end for being obsessive over the same person. They became best of friends after they started helping each other out when they began crushing over different men who were your father and Lucius respectively. According to them, they always had these double dates at first since they were both too shy to have individual dates. Who knew later on, they’d be having catch ups even after they all settled down with children.

Lucius and Narcissa consider their deaths something always worth remembering. They always get reminded of the good times they shared with their best friends whenever they look at you. Lucius would get reminded of your father’s humor and intelligence whenever you make a joke or study with Draco. Narcissa would remember how much of a beautiful person your mother turned out to be whenever you dressed up for dates with Draco or simply looked exactly like her when you let your hair down. From the minute they heard about your parents’ deaths, they swore to take you in like the daughter they never had and protect you for your parents.

They were very much happy to have you. It also made Draco the happiest person in the world. This young man loved you with all his heart and it was also his idea to take you in after the war. His heart broke as well when he found out about the death of your parents. They treated him as if he was their son as well. Draco couldn’t stand seeing you sob the minute the war ended. Before he and his parents had the chance to leave, he ran to the entrance doors of the castle to a sobbing you. He thought he lost you but seeing that you were alive by the steps wanted him to drop to his knees and thank Merlin for protecting you. “I’m here, Y/N. I’m here,” Draco spoke as he tried to calm you down. “M-my parents.” was all you could blurt out but Draco already realized what you meant. He didn’t do anything but wrap you in his arms as he tried having you stand up. He kept apologizing for what happened. “I should have been there to protect them, to protect you.” He said, “Come home with us.” He advised. Draco briefly explained how he could take you home with him as you could both heal emotionally and physically from all the trauma. You had no other choice but to follow him since his family was practically family.

Now, 5 months later, there you were with Draco, laying on his chest as you both cuddled in your shared bed. There were no words being exchanged at the moment as the both of you appreciated the sound of the winds outside as it was soothing to the ears. You were practically cuddling in bed with Draco silently now for an hour that he assumed that you were asleep already. With his thoughts on you swimming around his head, he started thinking out loud.

“Oh, Y/N. Sweet Y/N,” he started speaking out loud as he stroked the loose strands of hair falling out of your frame.

“Wouldn’t you believe it has been 5 months since everything happened? It’s still difficult for me to realize how long it has been. It still feels like we had just gotten home from Hogwarts. I carried you to my room as we laid on my bed, exactly the way we’re laying right now. The only thing that changed is the way I feel about you. Now don’t be alarmed, sweetheart. Ever since the day we came back home, there were many things that I've been thinking about but there was this one thought that I’ve been seriously considering dearly. I love you with all my heart. You know that. You’re the reason why I strive to become a better person everyday. Without you, I wouldn’t be this person, a person who is currently transforming to become a whole new person inside. I constantly want to thank you for that but I just don’t know how. I know I’m not completely transformed yet but I really want to be a better person everyday and I believe that with you by my side, you could help me realize that everyday can be a new possibility to becoming a much better person. I know we're only nineteen but I feel like I’m ready to take our relationship to a whole new level. We’ve gone through so much together and I just want to propose my love for you officially. I just want to ask you the big question already which is: Will you marry me, Y/N?”

With that, Draco sighed as he thought you weren’t awake to hear all of this. Fortunately, you were awake the entire time.

You stopped yourself from crying the minute he asked the big question. This was very unbelievable. Not because he asked early but that it was actually happening. You were more than proud to hear every word that came from his mouth. He truly was transforming.

Happily hearing the question, you slowly face your boyfriend with a warm smile. “Yes, a thousand times.” You softly reply to him as you watch his eyes widen with a sudden surprise.

Draco froze for a good three seconds realizing that he did not come prepared with the best engagement ring yet. He looked down at his family ring, the one he constantly wears to show the Malfoy pride.

“With this,” he said, removing the ring from his finger and transferring to yours, “I welcome you to the Malfoy family. Of course the ring is temporary. Not to worry, dear. I will bestow you the best ring in the entire world once we get things settled.”

You cupped his face with the hand that had the ring as you looked at him with sweetness in your eyes. “It’s beautiful. I love you, Draco Lucius Malfoy.”

“I love you more, Y/N Y/L/N soon to be Malfoy.”

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engekihaikyuu · 3 years

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View from the Top 2 - Review

Check out the Read More if you’d like to hear about this show! Askbox is open as well if you’d like me to elaborate on anything out of this.

Before I begin my review of the final show, I do want to start with some caveats:

So as I mentioned previously, the production once again went with PIA for their live streaming platform, which means that live streaming this show is very inaccessible for anyone living outside of Japan.

PIA is a ticketing platform that requires a working Japanese phone number in order to finish activating/registering a new account because you must call the number provided to finish account verification. So without a Japanese contact or a Japanese phone number, this platform is basically impossible.

I have a generous friend in Japan who was willing to share her account information with me, which is how I was able to pay for a show and use her log-in to watch the stream. I did not see this show in-person; I do not live in Japan and obviously travel is off-limits. Even if I did live in Japan, I would have qualms about going to the theater.

There are some logistical issues with this show because of the current pandemic, with the most visually obvious one being the small face shields the actors wear on-stage. They basically serve as protection against direct spittle, but obviously they do nothing to guard against aerosol spread; putting on the play is still an incredible risk to the performers and staff. Another difficulty they face is the fact that Tokyo is still continuing to maintain a nightly curfew. Every evening Tokyo performance needed to be bumped earlier so that spectators can leave the theater in time to make it home for that curfew. Keeping that in mind, the show is a surprisingly condensed 2.5 hours long, where I would have expected 3 hours given the amount of content it covered. This does affect the pacing in Act 2 noticeably, and I get the feeling that were it not for covid and the current curfew restrictions, it would feel a little less rushed at the end.

So, with all that said, here are my thoughts on Engeki Haikyuu’s final play, The View from the Top 2!!! This is absolutely not spoiler-free, for both the play’s content and everything that happened in the manga finale, so if you have not finished the series, this is your last chance to turn back.

Now that I think about it, I haven’t written a full review on a show since Fly High, so I’m a bit rusty at this, and I’ll probably leave out a lot so as always, my askbox is open for people’s additional questions!

The absolute main theme of this play (and really of the entire Haikyuu story) is the friendship and rivalry between Hinata and Kageyama, and the theme: I’m not alone. Engeki really did right by our dual protagonists by framing the final show as showing both of their journeys from beginning to end. Act 1 begins with that familiar sequence from the very first show: Hinata seeing the little giant on TV, being inspired to start playing volleyball, his struggle to find a team in middle school, losing to Kageyama in his one and only middle school tournament, and finding him again at Karasuno. They repeated the scene almost exactly as it was in the first show, and I think it was very smart of them to show us Daigo’s version of it, so to speak. That way we have a more cohesive vision of Hinata from the beginning of his journey to the end. Then they absolutely FLOOD the stage with a montage of projections with footage from all of the shows from the past five-and-a-half years. So already it’s pretty emotional for me, seeing how far the play had come as well as how far Hinata had come in the story.

To parallel this, the beginning of Act 2 actually begins with baby Kageyama. Yes, the baby Kageyama flashback with his sister and grandfather and how he started volleyball. We see Kageyama’s volleyball journey from childhood (for this they used a small doll similar to the dolls they used for young Kuroo and Kenma from Revival) to playing at Kitagawa Daiichi, to losing his grandfather, to being labeled the King of the Court, to defeating Hinata, and then having Hinata find him at Karasuno. And then they once again, they flood the stage with projections with past show footage, but this time they are more Kageyama-centric in the way that the previous ones were often Hinata-centric. And it just really highlights how much these two are meant to share the stage as the two main characters.

To see this framework and to know what’s going to come at the end, with the two of them reuniting in the pro-volleyball arena… just the beginning of Act 2 alone had me in tears. Another way they paralleled their respective journeys was to show us who have influenced them. In Act 1, there’s a dance with Hinata, Hoshiumi, and Udai (all little giants… well, Tsukishima’s in there too because he’s feeling a particular competitiveness with Hinata in this part of the match). In Act 2, there’s a dance with Kageyama, Atsumu, and Oikawa, because Atsumu and Oikawa are the setters who have had the most influence on Kageyama, and he’s drawing on what he’s learned from them for this match. They are not alone in their journeys, they have had people inspire them and be inspired by them in addition to having the support of their teammates.

The Karasuno vs Kamomedai match is interspersed with bits of action from the Fukurodani vs Mujinazaka match, so the stage was pretty busy for basically the entire time. The wires are back for some sequences so that both Hinata and Hoshiumi have a chance to fly, and there are plenty of acrobatics and lifts, and the same incredible soundtrack we love. Ryuu’s Hoshiumi is the obvious standout on Kamomedai for how many lifts he had, and they definitely tried to have him running around on the stage about as much as Hinata. It was notable how much they drew on past techniques and music for various parts of this match, since this is meant to be Karasuno at their peak. When Asahi was feeling particularly stuck/trapped against Kamomedai’s defense, they incorporated the tying-up visual they had previously used in Winners and Losers, with Kamomedai basically tying up and holding Asahi in place with ribbon. There was Summer of Evolution music when Karasuno does a great synchro attack, and the extras-wearing-Hinata-masks reappeared to show us Hinata’s “afterimage” as he flashes around the stage. If you’ve seen all the plays, you can’t miss these call-backs.

The flow of the match was fast. They hit the highlight plays and the highlight emotional moments, but we are clearly past the point where they need to narrate the actual volleyball to us. There was more dancing/acrobatics than attempting to place the two teams on either sides of a physical net with more overt volleyball moves. Everything was more intertwined and fluid than that. And actually now that I think about it, they have been sparse with their usage of a physical net in the past few shows, because everything has been a little more fast-paced overall.

They definitely wanted to highlight Karasuno’s rise throughout the game, to show that they were absolutely a formidable team, that they deserved to be at Nationals, and to show us all the ways that Hinata and Kageyama had grown. For most of Act 2 leading up to Hinata’s collapse, it really feels like they could win this. And I think it makes it that much harder for Hinata to accept being benched, because the team is riding this high and doing so well, and even Kageyama’s more visibly having fun. I think Takeda-sensei easily has a third of the best lines in the series. His speech to Hinata during the Kamomedai match is one that was really gut-wrenching to read when those chapters came out, and it was great to hear it said aloud.

And here is something I’ve never been able to point out because I didn’t do reviews for the past two tours, but I think Daigo’s voice is one of the strongest aspects of his Hinata. I’m sure a lot of that has to do with the work he’s done as a voice actor, but when he cries or whimpers, it is genuinely the most pitiful noise. A lot of Kenta’s portrayal of Hinata’s frustrations throughout the story had an undercurrent of anger and frustration. He’s upset, but there’s always something behind it that says, “well next time, it’ll be different.” And I think Daigo replaces most of that with pure sadness, especially for this scene. After Takeda-sensei lectures him good and proper, and he accepts that he needs to leave, he just sounds so broken. It doesn’t have that anger and drive underneath, he’s just in despair. And why wouldn’t he be? A part of him understands this is the last match he’ll ever play with this team, his first real team.

We then see Hinata bundled up in a coat and scarf, watching the rest of the match from the tablet that Kenma gives him. Snow begins to fall on the stage as he slowly wanders through it, with Karasuno and Kamomedai finishing out the rest of the match around him. Engeki Haikyuu has always allowed for the losing team in a match to line up at the edge of the stage, say thank you to the audience, bow, and take their leave. It’s so symbolic, and it’s so emotional for the actors and for the audience who are in the theater. It’s a moment that just barely breaks the fourth wall, when they turn to us, the spectators, to say, “Thank you for your support.” And they mean it both in and out of character. And I was so so so sad when I realized that Karasuno would take their final bow as a team without Hinata in the lineup. He’s in the back of the stage, separated from his team, and he does take a bow, but it’s very lonely.

Now, I’m sure people are very curious about the timeskip material, and mostly I just have to preface with: it’s fast. It does not take up as much of Act 2 as you might think. It’s boom, boom, boom, cameo here, pre-recorded projections there, patissier Tendou interview, Kuroo in a suit doing a promotional commercial for the V-League, Kageyama’s curry commercial, a projected Osamu selling his rice balls, get the old team together, fateful encounters in front of the bathroom, GO! The only thing we see of the Brazil arc is Hinata having a brief flashback to tell Kageyama that he met Oikawa while he was in Brazil. It’s very short, and that’s all we get for his time in Brazil. Basically, the play is not the place to see Hinata’s journey and growth from those chapters because he goes through so much of it alone, and there’s just no time. The Brazil arc also brings back a lot of technical details about volleyball itself, especially as Hinata is learning the beach version, and that’s an area where the manga is the best medium to examine the finer details of the sport. I can see why a play version would gloss over the technical details to focus on the emotional arc, which is in this case, Hinata and Kageyama.

Because of how fast the ending is, it definitely feels made for the people who already read the manga; Previous Engeki Haikyuu shows have always presented the story in a way that was very friendly to those who may not have read the manga or watched the anime. You could watch just Engeki Haikyuu and not feel like you were missing out on references/jokes for the most part, but this ending would be way harder to follow for those not familiar with what’s already happened.

It’s difficult because I do feel like Act 2 was overly condensed to wrap up this story, but I also don’t think the timeskip material is enough for a whole play on its own. If we had stopped at the end of the Kamomedai match, and had a whole separate play to cover Brazil and the Jackals vs Adlers match… the pacing would’ve been slow and low energy especially in the first half, and it would be an odd choice for the final show of a series like this. My preference would have been for this play to have been three acts, three hours, so that we could linger on some of those timeskip moments a little more, slow it down, and let them land emotionally. But clearly the covid situation prevents that in this case. That being said, I don’t think any of those timeskip moments could really hit as hard as when I first read them in the manga. Narratively, that Haikyuu timeskip was so unexpected and so outside the normal sports anime formula, that the initial shock is extremely hard to top. It was fun to see how they presented everyone in the future (seeing Noya on that boat catching a giant swordfish, or seeing Ennoshita almost break a patient’s back) in stage form, but it’s unreasonable to expect them to give us the same feeling of ?!?!?!? when we first read that Noya was in Italy of all places after waiting weeks and weeks for him to show up.

I still cried in several places, it’s still a great ending to one of the best 2.5D franchises in existence, and it still feels like the culmination of their legacy. I don’t know how it would be possible for anyone to watch that ending sequence with all of the team flags and the chanting of their names, and NOT cry.

There are no more live streams until they complete the rest of their tour and then there will be a live-stream of the very last show, which I will be watching with a towel in hand for my tears. Feel free to send in any questions if you’d like, and if you would like some Strongest Challengers or Trash Heap merch, I have a sales post that I recently made.

#Haisute #Engeki Haikyuu #Hyper Projection Engeki Haikyuu #Final Show #View from the Top 2 #review #reviews #2300 word vomit for any who are interested

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rachelbethhines · 3 years

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Vintage Shows to Watch While You Wait for the Next Episode of WandaVision - The 60s

So the 60s is the era that Wandavision pulls most heavily from for it’s inspiration. So much so that one could make the argument that each of the first three episodes are all set in the 1960s. Episode one pulls from the early 60s with multiple Dick Van Dyke refences, episode two is very Bewitched inspired, and episode three is aesthetically very similar to The Brady Bunch which started in ‘69. As such it was hard to narrow down the list for this decade and I had to get creative in some ways.

1. The Andy Griffith Show (1960 - 1968)

The Andy Griffith Show gets kind of a bad rap now a days for being, supposedly, a conservative’s wet dream. People claiming it as such have apparently never actually seen the series. Oh yes, it’s very much set in white rural 60s America and will occasionally present the obliviously outdated joke, but the story of a widowed sheriff being the only sane man in a small town full of lovable lunatics, who prefers to solve his and others problems with negotiation and hair brained schemes as opposed to violence has far more in common with modern day Steven Universe than whatever genocidal fantasy fake rednecks have in their heads.

As the gif above shows Andy Griffith was very subtlety progressive for its time. Andy was a stanch pacifist, pro-gun control, treated drug addicts and prisoners with respect, and all the women he would date had careers, ect. and so on. It’s not a satire making any sort of grand political statements but the series had a moral center that was far more left than many realize.

But if it’s not a satire, then what type of comedy is it?

The Andy Griffith Show excels in what I like to call, ‘awkward comedy’. See everyone in Mayberry is far too nice to just come out and tell a character they’re making an ass of themselves, so therefore whoever is the idiot punching bag of the episode’s focus must slowly unravel as everyone looks on in helpless pity until said character realizes the folly of their ways and the townsfolk come together to make them feel happy and accepted once more. Wandavision takes this polite idyllic awkwardness and plays it up for horror instead of laughs.

2. The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961 - 1966)

The creators of Wandavision actually met with Dick Van Dyke himself to pick his brain and learn how sitcoms were made back then. Paul Bentley also took inspiration from Van Dyke in his performance of the sitcom version of Vision, while Olsen stated Mary Tylor Moore had a heavy influence on her character of Wanda. But more than just being a point of homage, The Dick Van Dyke Show was hugely influential in modernizing the family sitcom and breaking a lot of the unspoken traditions and ‘rules’ of the 50s television era. It’s also just really, really funny.

3.The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1962 - 1965)

Bit of a cheat here. Alfred Hitchcock Presents actually started in 1955 as a half hour anthology show, but in ‘62 the show got a revamp and was extended into a full hour tv series. I knew I wanted The Twilight Zone to be covered in my episode one recap, but ‘The Master of Suspense’ couldn’t be forgotten. While The Twilight Zone reveled in the surreal and supernatural, Alfred Hitchcock pioneered the thriller genre and made real life seem dangerous, horrifying, and other worldly.

4. Doctor Who (1963 - present day) vs Star Trek (1966 - present day)

Just like how westerns dominated the air waves during the 50s, science fiction was the center of the cultural zeitgeist of the 60s. From Lost in Space to My Favorite Martian, space aliens and robots were everywhere. So naturally I had to name drop the two sci-fi juggernauts that still air to this today. If you thought that the rivalry between Star Wars and Star Trek was bad then you’ve never seen a chat full of Whovians and Trekkies duking it out over who is the better monster, the Borg or the Cyberman. But which one has the more influence over Wandavision?

Well Star Trek owes it’s existence to sitcoms. As with The Twilight Zone before it, Star Trek was produced by Desilu Productions and it’s co-founder and CEO, Lucille Ball, was the series biggest supporter behind the scenes, lobbying for it when it faced early cancelation. As with all things sitcomy, everything ties back to I Love Lucy in the end. However despite that little backstory, it would seem that the series has very little to do with Wandavision itself beyond being quintessentially American.

I would argue that Wandavision owes much to Doctor Who though. Arguably more so than any show mentioned in this retrospective. Time travel, alternate realities, trouble in quite suburbia, brainwashing, people coming back from the dead, ect... just about every trope you can find in Wandavision has also appeared in Doctor Who at some point. As a series that can go anywhere and do anything, Doctor Who was a pioneer of marrying genres in new and interesting ways.

5. Bewitched (1964 - 1972) and I Dream of Jeannie (1965 - 1970)

It’s hard to pick one series over another because they’re essentially the same show. A mortal man falls in love with a magical girl who upends their lives with magic filled hijinks as they try their best not to have their secret discovered by the rest of the world. And both have their fingerprints all over the DNA of Wandavision.

There’s only two core differences; Samantha and Jeannie have completely different personalities, with Sam being confident and knowledgeable and Jeannie being naïve and oblivious, along with their relationships with their respective men, Sam and Darrin being married and in love at the start of the series and Jeannie chasing after Tony in the beginning in a will they/won’t they affair, finally only getting together in the last season.

6. The Munsters (1964 - 1966) vs The Adams Family (1964 - 1966)

Fans of these two shows are forever sadden that there never was a crossover between them. Because they’d fit perfectly together. Both shows are about a surreal and macabre family living in American suburbia and disrupting the lives of their neighbors with their otherworldly hijinks. Sound familiar?

The main difference between the two shows is the way the characters viewed their placement in the world they inhabit.

The Munsters were always oblivious to the fact that didn’t fit in. They just automatically assumed everyone had the same personal tastes as them. Whenever they encountered anyone who behaved strangely around them they would write that person off as being the odd one rather than questioning themselves. As such the main cast was structured like a stereotypical sitcom family who just happened to be classic movie monsters.

The Addams were well aware that they were abnormal and they loved it! They lived life with in their own little world and didn’t care what anyone thought of them. As such the characters were far more colorful and quirky as individuals but there was little in the way of refences to other horror franchises beyond just a general love of the twisted and strange.

7. Green Acres (1965 - 1971) and the Rual-verse (1962 - 1971)

So the MCU is not the first franchise to bring viewers an interconnected universe to the small screen. Far from it, as sitcoms had been doing this for decades, starting with the ‘rualverse’. Beverly Hillbillies, Petticoat Junction, and Green Acres were all produced by the same company and were treated as spinoffs of each other, complete with crossovers and shared characters and sets.

Of the three, the last show, Green Acres, has the most in common with Wandavision. A well to do businessman and his lovely socialite wife settle down in small town America on a farm in order to get away from the stresses of city life, only to find new stresses in the country. Eva Gabor, herself a natural Hungarian, plays the character of Lisa as Hungarian making her one of the few non-native born Americans on tv screens during the cold war. Despite her posh nature and original protests to the move, Lisa assimilates to the rural life far easier than her husband, Oliver. Who, as the main comedic thread, can’t comprehend his new quirky neighbors’ odd and often illogical behavior.

8. Hogan’s Heroes (1965 - 1971) and Get Smart (1965 - 1969)

So as comic fans have been quick to point out, it’s looking like both A.I.M. (Hydra) and Sword (Shield) will be players in the story of Wandavision. To commemorate that here’s two shows to represent those opposing sides. Although in truth, neither series has anything else in common with each other but I need to condense things down someway.

In Hydra’s corner we got Hogan’s Heroes. A show all about taking down Nazis from within.

I love, love, love, ‘robin hood’ comedies where a group of con artists try week after to week to pull one over the establishment. The Phil Silvers Show, Mchale's Navy, and Top Cat, just to name a few examples are all childhood favorites of mine. However while those shows had a lot of morally ambiguous characters, Hogan’s Heroes has very clear cut good guys and bad guys, cause the bad guys are Nazis and the show relentless makes fun of the third reich as should we all. In fact I was watching Hogan’s Heroes while waiting for the GA run off election results. Fortunately my home state decided to kick out our own brand of Nazis this year.

For Shield, we got the ultimate spy spoof, Get Smart. Starring, Inspector Gadget himself, Don Adams, as the bumbling Maxwell Smart. Get Smart, is a hilarious send up of Cold War espionage but the real selling point of the show, imho, is Max and his co-worker 99′s relationship. You can cut the sexual tension in the air with a knife all while laughing your ass off.

9. Batman (1966 - 1968)

First was Superman and then came Batman. Yet while Superman was a serious action show, Batman was a straight up comedy. Showcasing that superheroes could indeed be funny.

Also shout out for Batman being the only show on this list to have an actual crossover with it’s competitor, The Green Hornet.

10. Julia (1968 - 1971)

Since episode two features the first appearances of Herb and Monica, let’s highlight the first black led sitcom since the cancelation of Amos ‘n Andy over a decade earlier. The show focuses on single mother and military nurse, Julia, as she tries to live her life without her recently decease husband, who was killed in Vietnam, as she tries to raise their six year old son on her own.

The series is cute. It’s more of a throw back to earlier family sitcoms where there’s no fantasy and life lessons are the name of the game. It’s the fact that the main character is a single black woman is what made the show so subversive and important at the time.

Runner Ups

There’s much good stuff in the 60s, so here’s some others that didn’t make the cut but I would recommend anyways.

Car 54, Where Are You? (1961 - 1963)

I call this the Brooklynn 99 of the 1960s. Bumbling but well meaning Officer Toody longs to do good in the world and help anyone in need, but often screws things up with his ill thought out schemes. He often drags his best friend and partner, the competent but anxiety riddled, Muldoon into his escapades.

Mr. Ed (1961 - 1966)

The grandfather of the sarcastic talking pet trope.

The Jetsons (1962 - 1963 and 1985 - 1987)

Hanna-Barbera often took popular sitcoms and just repackaged them as cartoons with a fantasy theme to them. The Jetsons has no singular show that it rips-off but is rather more a grab bag of sitcom tropes that feature, robots, computers, and flying cars.

The Outer Limits (1963 - 1965)

The Outer Limits was The Twilight Zone’s biggest competitor in terms of being a sic-fi/horror anthology series.

Gillian’s Island (1964 - 1967)

The only comparison to WandaVision I could think of was that this is a sitcom about people being trapped in one place. But by that point I was running out of room on the list. Still it’s one of the funniest shows on here.

So yeah, this took longer than expected cause there’s a lot, here. Hopefully the 70s will be easier. Which I’ll post on Friday.

#wandavision #sitcoms #1960s #dick van dyke #bewitched

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passable-talent · 4 years

Note

*grabby hands* childhood Jedi training rival x anakin skywalker? 🥺🥺

you ever had a boy own your whole heart? I didn’t even realize how much I loved this man when I watched the prequels at 7 until I watched them again at 19- literally a gay awakening, twice. unprecidented.

also. I LIVED BITCH

Three years old, and you’ve never known anything other than the Jedi Temple. You’re learning words quickly- words like ‘up’, and ‘down’, and ‘Force’.

Five years old, and you’re told about how your parents sent you to Coruscant with pride, because you were force sensitive. They knew that someday, you were to be a Jedi.

Age seven. The time is drawing closer for you to become an initiate. You’re doing well in your classes, and you’re capable of some deep meditation, even if Master Yoda always comments that you’re too distracted.

Age nine, and there’s an eleventh added to your clan of younglings. His name is Anakin Skywalker, and he seems cool. He’s a bit old to start his training, but he’s part of your clan now, so everyone helps him study and catch up to the rest of the group.

You’re eleven years old. The initiate trials are only a few years away. Anakin is your best friend, even if you’d never admit it. He’s such a show-off, his force powers much stronger than anyone else in the unit, his marks on strategy exams are always outstanding, and he’s already a padawan, as he loves to remind you. But your politics are stronger, and when you practice with the wooden sabres, you beat him every time.

Thirteen, now. Next year, you’ll compete in the initiate trails, and if you succeed, the Apprentice Tournament. Anakin has started going on missions with Obi-Wan Kenobi, but he’s stopped teasing you about it, since he’s noticed how you redden with jealousy.

The initiate trails were a success. You’d gathered more skill in the force, though you still weren’t at Ani’s level, and passed the first trial. You had been gifted an orange kyber crystal by Master Mace Windu, and your lightsaber was distinct and brilliant. Finally, you had something to tease Anakin about- his blue blade was a common color.

For a year you trained with renewed fervor, having been moved from a youngling to an initiate. You were readying to participate in the Apprentice Tournament, where you would show off blade skills that Master Kit Fisto praised as being some of the best he’d seen from an initiate. Anakin helped you train, though he always offered with a throw-off statement such as ‘you’ll need all the help you can get’.

And if he didn’t cheat and use the Force, you certainly would’ve won more than you did.

Master Mace Windu had become an idol of yours, ever since he chose you to hand that kyber crystal to. If he didn’t mind the interruption, you would study with him, and he would guide your emotions, like your jealousy of Anakin and your angry determination, into Jedi strengths. He harbored the decision that he would take you as a padawan, as he hadn’t had one since Depa Billaba completed her trials, years ago.

He told himself that he’d take you as a padawan as soon as possible, but it seemed that you were intent on competing in the Apprentice Tournament, and he wouldn’t stop you.

Fourteen years old, and facing off against your class- and clan- mates in lightsaber duels, one by one. Your skills with the saber were unmatched by your peers. Certainly not by far, but you had a talent, a natural knack, and you quickly progressed through the bracket, until the final free-for-all. Anakin and Obi-Wan, you knew, were in the stands, just like Mace Windu. You needed only to win, or at least put up a fight, to impress them all.

Strategy was your ally, as the match started, as you did not charge headfirst into the battle. Your angry determination had turned to cool focus, picking out the best times to engage a fight and turn your opponent away. Soon enough, it was you and one other initiate- Lys Kysek. He was skilled, but you were better.

Cheers erupted when you won the duel, and you gave a humble bow, lifting Lys up to show respect to him. When you exited the Arena, you found the congratulations of your friends, and though Anakin looked impressed and happy for you, he maintained that things would’ve been different if he’d entered the tournament.

Seventeen years old- you’re a padawan to Master Mace Windu, and have been for three years. Anakin is most certainly the person you despise most in the world, and anyone who claims otherwise is clearly lying, kidding themselves. Don’t they see how you boast every time you beat him in a duel? Don’t they see the way you flush with anger whenever he bests you? What other explanation could there be for your sputtering whenever he sends you a cocky smile?

Yeah, yeah. You see, Jedi are forbidden to love. You wondered, though, if the Masters of Old would’ve written that rule if they’d seen how Anakin smiles.

At nineteen, you were knighted, having completed your trials. It was rushed, you knew that, but the Clone Wars had begun, and the galaxy needed Jedi Knights like never before. It was fine- Master Windu would do just fine without you. And besides, being a General in the Grand Amry of the Republic had its perks.

One being, of course, that you were able to chose to go on missions with your old friend, Anakin Skywalker.

He had his hands full, with his new padawan and all, so he was often grateful to have you at his side. Ahsoka, her personality not unlike a Florrumian fire cracker, seemed to reignite the rivalry between the two of you, going so far as to claim she wished that she had been your padawan, instead of Anakin.

Oh, how that made him boil.

Still, you would follow him into battle in a heartbeat. You’d protect him with your life, and of course, he would do the same. Together with his piloting and your sabre skills, you were unstoppable on missions. Ever so slowly, you forged a force connection.

It was like that of a padawan and master, but more balanced, like a true partnership. You could feel each other’s presence, location, and sometimes even emotion, when it was particularly strong. Anakin never spoke of it, and so you wondered if you were meant to hide it- maybe, it had happened because of the love you held for him as a teenager, and maybe still did. Jedi weren’t meant to grow attached to anyone, especially not the way that you had, and so you kept quiet, and just felt it when he stood beside you.

Anakin and Ahsoka had left for a mission that you weren’t meant to accompany them on. You stayed at the temple and completed the diplomatic communications you were known to be quite good at, content and confident that Anakin would return unscathed.

And then, you felt it.

In the middle of your meditation, when your body was open to the force, you felt the deepest, most raw pain you had ever felt in the depths of your stomach. It made you double over and nearly vomit, its pain so intense that you couldn’t move. It ebbed after a few moments, and on weakened legs you stumbled to your communication station.

Where pain had been only moments ago, you now felt fear settle. You had a connection with Anakin, and when you were meditating with the force, had felt horrible pain- the conclusion was obvious that Anakin was hurt. You tried first to reach him, but nothing went through. Then you tried for Ahsoka, who was equally unreachable. When you couldn’t reach Captain Rex you started to fear for the worst.

You ran to your old Master, finding him in discussion with another Jedi, who he waved away as he sensed your panic, and strife.

“What is it?”

“Anakin’s in trouble. I can’t reach him, and I think he’s hurt.” Mace turned to the nearby communication equipment and tried to reach Anakin’s unit, but gave you the side eye as he did so.

“How do you know he’s hurt if you can’t reach him?”

“Master, I- I don’t know.”

“Yes you do.” You conceded with a sigh, knowing that your master could see through you.

“Anakin and I- we have this bond, in the force. I don’t know how it happened. But it’s never been like this before- I’ve never felt his injury, and I’ve never felt him when he was so far away. I- I’m scared that he’s in real danger.” By this time, Mace had pulled up transmission with Obi-Wan, who quickly relayed the 501st’s last known meeting and location.

“Be careful,” Mace warned you, “what you’re describing sounds almost like a Dyad. It can’t be, we would’ve known by now, but if it’s this similar now, it could prove to be dangerous, later. Don’t let his pain keep you from his rescue.”

You hopped in a speeder and raced to the aid of your friends.

When you entered the atmosphere of the planet Anakin had said to have been lost upon, you tried to open your mind to the force- it was difficult, you had to admit, flying a speeder through Seperatist airspace, but you had to try. You let the force guide you to a different part of the planet, where you touched down and hid your ship amongst the foliage as best you could.

Once again you let the force guide you, sending you deep into the woods. You knew you must’ve been getting close when you began garnering fire, but instead of red droid blasters, you were avoiding instead blue fire.

So you ignited your saber and lifted it as a sign of peace.

As soon as the clones stopped firing, you rushed toward them, and found almost exactly what you feared. Ahsoka had tears running down her face, surrounded by a protection squad of clones, and Anakin was bleeding heavily from a droid blast in the center of his abdomen, right where you had felt the pain. You had taken time to get here- he was still alive, but had passed out either from the pain, or from blood loss.

“Master (Y/N), I don’t know what to do,” Ahsoka sobbed, and you feel to your knees opposite her, at Anakin’s side.

“Ahsoka, give me your hand,” you ordered her, and you pressed down her hand onto the left side of his wound, then moving your palm to its right. “Meditate with me. We’re going to give him some life force, to help him heal.” You’d tried this, once, long ago. When you were on a mission with your Master, and he’d received a similar wound. It was much smaller, and he’d been able to guide you through it. Today, you would be that guidance, for Ahsoka. And maybe, her Force powers and yours combined would be enough to heal him. “Visualize the Force, the Force all around us, within us. Visualize it traveling down your body, into your fingertips, into Anakin’s body. Visualize the energy flow being channeled by the two of us.”

Once you’d explained, you closed your eyes, and pictured it. The Force, to you, looked like golden light, compassion and kindness shimmering in the air all around you. Like a magnetic field it was drawn to Jedi, and in this instant you saw it pour downward through the funnel you created with Ahsoka into Anakin’s body.

He opened his eyes slowly, a small groan leaving his body.

“Hey, (Y/N). You made it after all.” Ahsoka called Master! and leapt forward to give him a hug, to which he laughed and hugged back, teasing that it would take more than a droid to kill him. You shook your head and sat back, narrowing your eyes.

“Skywalker, how many times am I going to have to hop in a speeder and race across the galaxy to make sure you don’t die?”

“Oh, just once more,” he shot back, that smirk back on his face, as though it had never left. “I don’t suppose you have a way off this planet?”

“You’re lucky I’m going to let you on my ship.”

As soon as Anakin opened communications on your speeder with Obi-Wan to report the successful, if nearly life-costing, mission, you let Captain Rex take the wheel, and went to the deck below to speak with Anakin in private.

“You felt it, didn’t you?” He asked, his hand over the scar that had formed from rapid healing. “When I got shot.”

“Yes,” you answered, eyes cast to the side.

“Why are we connected like this?”

“I don’t know. I think-“

“Is it because of how much I like you?” You lifted your head in surprise, and briefly felt an emotion you almost never felt from Anakin- vulnerability.

“You- you do?”

“I have since we were kids. I never told you, because I knew I wasn’t supposed to feel this way, and thought that since you were raised in the temple, you’d never feel the same.” His expression told you he was sensing the emotions that currently broiled in your heart. The nervousness, the surprise, but mostly the relief, relief that your love wasn’t unrequited, that you weren’t the only one, that you weren’t breaking the code alone.

“Anakin, I- I can’t believe this.” You took the two quick steps to him but stopped short of the hug he was expecting, briefly laying your fingers where his wound had been, where his robes were scorched. “I’m glad you’re not dead.” Anakin gave a little laugh.

“Yeah, me too.” You closed the distance and hugged him, tightly, closing your eyes and letting yourself feel as satisfaction and happiness bounced between the two of you. “I’m glad you were there when I woke up.” You snorted, pulling away, eyes narrowed playfully.

“Buddy, if I wasn’t there, you wouldn’t have woken up.” Instead of teasing back, as you had expected, Anakin took hold of your closer wrist, the playfulness only in his smirk.

“Then it’s a good thing you were there. If you hadn’t been, I wouldn’t have gotten to do this.” With his opposite hand he cupped your face, and slowly, he brought the two of you together.

Scattered across the galaxy, there were four people who felt it when the two of you kissed. Not because of the kiss itself, but because of the connection between two who were bound by the force, pulsating outward from a moment of satisfaction, devotion, happiness. Master Yoda, on a mission to Endor, who scowled, wondering how much harder it would become to control Anakin. Mace Windu, on Coruscant, who laughed, as though he expected such a feeling. Obi-Wan Kenobi, in a cruiser halfway ‘cross the galaxy, who merely shook his head. And, on the very same ship, Ahsoka Tano, who quietly received five Republic credits from Captain Rex, who’d lost their bet.

-🦌 Roe

#reader insert #angst #imagines #Star Wars #star wars prequels #anakin skywalker #darth vadar #Jedi #anakin skywalker x reader #anakin skywalker imagine #anakin x reader #poor anakin #anakin imagine #revenge of the sith #clone wars #the clone wars

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miraculous-rewrite · 3 years

Text

Miraculous Rewrite- The Shanghai Special

"Hey wait a minute i thought the Shanghai Special was supposed to have relevant worldbuilding"- Us at the Shanghai Special in canon

We open where we left off in the mid-season finale, just a day or two later. Kagami is sitting in Marinette’s room, on the daybed, while Adrien and Marinette herself are standing, both in varying positions of awkwardness and nervousness as they attempt to explain what the two came to realize during their trip to the past. Kagami seems sad and resigned, glancing at the two of them and noticing that they’re holding hands.

“-Which all of this premise to say,” Marinette starts before stepping away from Adrien and taking one of Kagami’s hands in her own. “Adrien and I have decided to try and do a relationship, but we talked for a while about it and came to the conclusion that we BOTH liked you in that kind of context too.” Kagami’s eyes widen as Adrien steps forward and takes her other hand in his.

“We’ve done a little research into stuff like this, and we were wondering if maybe… We could all just kind of… date each other?”

“Only if you want to of course! We don’t want to pressure you or anything!”

“Only it’s just… All of this Love Triangle stuff has been really weird, and I’ve been watching you and Marinette flirt too so it’s not just like it’s a ‘me’ thing or anything-”

“-And Luka’s already moved on too so it’s not like it’s weird that I’d be seeking others out and-”

“You’re just… literally SO cool and pretty and smart and you’re a better leader than I am-”

Kagami holds up a hand to stop them both. She looks, distinctly uncomfortable, and upon pulling away a bit Adrien and Marinette quickly release her hands. Her gaze is to her knees and slowly she picks a pillow up from the daybed and places it in her lap. “So your plan is for this ‘love triangle’ of a sort to end with all three of us as a couple together instead of rivalry over winning someone’s hand?”

“Only if you’re okay with it.” Marinette responds. Kagami thinks, closes her eyes.

“I doubt my mother and brother will understand, Nor do I know whether this will last particularly long… I’m a jealous sort of person, but…” She squeezes the pillow and her cheeks turn a bit red. “I suppose giving it a shot won’t hurt. However I’m not sure whether I can handle it or not, we have quite the trials ahead of us as well, is it wise to enter an unprecedented relationship at this time?”

“Funny you should mention that…” Marinette smiles then, and this time she offers Kagami her hand, who after a moment’s pause, takes it. After being helped to her feet, Marinette leads Kagami and Adrien to her computer.

“So after Max borderline kidnapped M. Agreste-” Adrien looks off to the side “-He was able to get some Old Order info out of him, turns out he wasn’t too fond of working with these guys after awhile either. And Sun Min’s vouching for him so there’s that.” She clicks a few buttons and up pops an email written in Mandarin. “He says there’s a pretty important tome of Miraculous thats being kept in Shanghai, and guess whose family is organizing an entire ‘Mother’s side family reunion' soon?”

Adrien leans forward and squints, slowly translating the email as a back and forth between two people named Xiabing and Shuyin. Marinette responded that Xiabing was her mother’s name before she came to Paris, back then it was common to pick a more local by-name, she actually picked Sabine because it sounds similar, and Shuyin is an Aunt. Adrien continues to translate, saying that There was… something about a horse?

“Marinette for god’s sake he doesn’t know what he’s doing.” “Hey!”

“Okay so Maman was going to turn down the trip because she and Baba have been REALLY swamped with work this business period and can’t really afford to take that much time off, but I said that since we’ve got a break coming up in school I could go in their stead, keep the cousins updated about Paris life, and maybe even bring some friends since Grandma’s always cooking for too many people, and Auntie Shuyin said sure!”

Kagami humms and puts a hand to her mouth. “I don’t speak Chinese. I wouldn’t be very useful, perhaps Chloe or Amber would be a better fit-”

“Chloe or Amber aren’t you.” Adrien responds, taking Kagami’s hand in his own. “This isn’t just gonna be business, Like yeah we’re gonna look for the Tome, but I have not one, but TWO beautiful girlfriends that I want to buy things for and take out to dinner in a place where I can only understand enough of the language to order a bowl of noodles!”

“Your uncle owns a restaurant, right?” It’s barely a whisper, and Kagami’s clearly not TRYING to whisper, but it’s the first semi-joke she’s made since the two laid everything out for her, and it gets a laugh out of Marinette, and a pout from Adrien.

As the scene fades to black, Marinette’s laughter subsides, and she makes one remark of “It’s been awhile since I've been, but trust me, you both are going to love it in Shanghai.”

We get a different opening for the special, more a montage over an extended cut of the theme song. A clip of the three leaders visiting the base, Marinette and Adrien giving the Ladybug and Cat Miraculous to their temps, and getting hugs in return. A shot of Felix and Bridget giving the dog and mouse back to them for the trip, just in case, and Sun Min handing Marinette a slip of paper with his number on it for the same sort of reason.

Adrien is then seen packing his suitcase for the trip, Felix “helping” (and by helping, we mean the older of the two throwing a pillow at the younger’s face) him do so. Amidst silent laughter, we see a shadow in the doorway, and the two look up to see Gabriel, standing awkwardly in clothes that are distinctly NOT designer suits, holding something in his hand. It takes a moment of tense silence before Adrien, somewhat reluctantly, accepts.

Very quickly we see Kagami with her own packed bags, to which Kenji leans in and starts poking her, a smug smirk on his face as Kagami’s cheeks steadily turn bright red before she smacks him with her bag.

And finally, we get one last scene, starting with the outside of the plane in the air, before zooming in through the window to see the three teens sharing one row of seats, Adrien in the window seat, face smushed against the window, eyes wide, while Marinette pokes him in the cheek with a pretzel stick, giggling, and then turning to Kagami with the brightest of smiles, her other hand still holding the girl’s tightly.

Kagami’s cheeks are bright pink as the intro ends.

After the fade to black with the opening’s conclusion, we enter the airport, and the three teens arriving, Marinette scanning around until her eyes settle on two figures, one familiar to the audience from prior appearances, the other wholly unfamiliar to all but Marinette.

“Fei-Fei!!” The cry is out of the girl’s mouth before her boyfriend and girlfriend can process it, and she’s darting forward and tackling the unfamiliar teen by Cheng Wang’s side in a hug. “It’s so good to see you again!”

The older girl cackles and hugs Marnette back “Xiuying you sonofabitch!” She speaks in Mandarin, and there are subtitles for our sake. She lifts Marinette and gives her a playful spin, Marinette squeaking in laughter. “Is that Uncle Tom and Auntie Xiabing? They’re shorter than I remember?” She teases and Marinette laughs before pulling away.

“These are my friends, Adrien Agreste and Tsurugi Kagami, Kagami, Adrien, this is my cousin Wu Fei, and you both have met Uncle Wang.”

“Wonderful to meet you.” Adrein responds, a bit stiffly in Mandarin, and Kagami nods, and gives a very uncertain “Hello” A-Fei pauses for a moment, seems to think of something and smirks at Marinette, speaking this time in French.

“So which one is your friend and which one is your ‘Friend’ Huh Xiuying?” Marinette surprisingly, doesn’t die of embarrassment, though Kagami covers her face with a hand and Adrien perks up considerably.

“Well that’s for us to know and you to find out, huh Fei-Fei?” A-Fei makes a noise of comprehension.

“Ahhh playing a prank on the others huh? Well I’ll start the betting pool, Let’s see what side Great-Uncle Yan backs. Adrinette or Kagaminette!”

As the others turn away Adrien leans into Kagami “More like Adrigaminette, huh?” Kagami makes a vague hum of agreement before they all follow along.

We’d make this the point of the first commercial break, were this a real show.

And when they arrive at the Cheng Household, The first thing they’re greeted with is a booming ‘Xiuying!’ and Mairnette is sweeped up in a hug by Grandpa Cheng, you remember the one, from the Christmas special? The one that arm wrestles? Yeah. He lifts Marinette and spins her around, and of course greets Adrien and Kagami like old friends despite meeting them only the once. He turns back and calls for everyone else to come greet Xiuying and her friends!

To which everyone is suddenly ensconced inside and a bunch of older Chengs begin to cluster around them, Marinette rattling off names left and right, “You two have already met them, but as a refresher, these are my grandparents Cheng Yan and Piao Mei,” “These are FeiFei’s parents Auntie Cheng and Uncle Wu, yes I know, same surname, Wu’s just a really common family name I promise, hey FeiFei where’s your brother?” “He couldn’t make it” “Whaaaattt boo! I made it from PARIS!” As it turns out quite a few more distant relations couldn’t make it either, and ultimately, the lot of them are waiting on the Aunt we mentioned at the beginning of the episode, Mrs Cheng Shuyin and her family, are the last ones expected to arrive but they’re not quite here yet, you know how it is transporting children.

So Cheng Yan pulls the three of them into a little plan laid out on the table and goes over an itinerary that they’d figured out, when dinner will be, any tourist-y things the kids might want to do and what times would be the best for that type of adventuring.

But soon enough the introductions and simple rundowns of the reunion’s planned events are over and the three are shown to their rooms. Adrien bunking in a separate room than Marinette and Kagami for… obvious reasons. And Very quickly the two begin to pull out some slightly fancier clothes.

Kagami asks where they should begin looking for the Tome, Shanghai isn’t exactly a small city, and there’s a lot of places for someone to hide a book of that level of importance. “Perhaps we should split up and cover multiple sections? But I’m not sure if Lonng can translate for me while I’m transformed or not.”

“It’s been… a long time since I visited Shanghai, but FeiFei should be willing to show us around, at least until we know where we’re going.” Marinette explains. “But before we do that-”

The scene cuts away from the bedroom to the rooftop, a shot showing open windows as it pans up to the three of them, and Marinette’s got the slip of paper in one hand and her phone in the other, speaker setting on, the ringing a bit loud.

“Are you sure he’s up?” Adrien questions, his head on Kagami’s shoulder, and he’s tipping to look behind her at Marinette. “Like, how late is it back home?”

But soon enough the ringing ends and a groggy voice answers “I’m betraying you guys and returning back to the Order I hate you all, what is it.”

“What time is it over there?”

“Time for you to tell me what you’re calling me for so I can go back to bed. Your Tiger is a tyrant, I’ve been riding on jet-lag since I got here and now She’s waking me up at ungodly hours to ‘fix it’”

“We made it to Shanghai, you said you have connections here you can trust?”

When Sun Min responds he sounds far more bright than before “Oh certainly, but where are you guys in specific?”

They answer and he humms. “Well good news the bookshop’s not too far from there, bad news, I can’t guarantee Yun Eun-Ji will be alone. She's trusted but I don't know if she’s turned anyone but me yet, so I don't know if anyone ELSE can be trusted.”

“Shocking.” Kagami wryly adds in.

“Shush. Here’s what you should do, Yun Eun-Ji’s been working the front of the bookstore for awhile now so she’s probably still there, you’re gonna want to look for a Korean girl with shoulder length hair, and a biiiggg wide grin she’s like, startlingly pretty, so pretty you feel like a horrible trash gremlin next to her, and you’re gonna want to tell her that The Lion is protective over The Octopus, and that you’re here on his behalf.”

“That’s it?” Adrien chimes in “No secret coded handshake or code scribbled into a book we need to look for?”

“We’re a monastic order that hasn’t changed our policies in centuries, Agreste, we’re not a James Bond secret society.”

“....Right. Sorry.”

But soon enough the conversation ends and Sun Min lets out a relieved groan as he hangs up with a cheery “Good fucking night.” and the three of them are left alone on the rooftop.

“So! That certainly happened.” Marinette huffs. “We’ve got a lot LESS ground to cover than we thought, but it’s still a lot of ground. Lucky for us, we're still waiting for Auntie Shuyin-erm.. I mean Yi’niang... Yi'niang Yi'niang, gotta get used to that again...-to get in with the boys and they’re not due to get here until evening.”

“So what, we badger your cousin to showing us around and try to direct her in the general direction Sun Min pointed us in and hope we find the bookstore?” Kagami raises a brow

“Best we’ve got.” Adrien shrugs. “We can tell her we’re looking for some books in Mandarin for souvenirs and also for me to practice my reading?”

Marinette nods, and the teens quickly scramble off the roof before they can be spotted and slip back into their rooms, and it doesn’t take long for Marinette to locate her cousin. “FeiFei! Before we settle down for supper, can you show us around? Adrien wanted to get his hands on some books for souvenirs…”

A-Fei glances over at the three, before nodding, ushering them to the front of the house to get their shoes on, and her phone is pulled out from her pocket. After a moment, she joins them, tugging on a boot as she glances back towards the kitchen, and cups her hands around her mouth.

“Wai’gong, we’re heading out!” A-Fei shouts into the house, amidst the chatter of children and adults, and there’s a brief remark of affirmation from Uncle Wang, before the four teens head out. “I told my friends, too, so they’ll be joining us, hope that’s ok with you three?”

No sooner are the lot of them stepping into the street a bicycle with three boys somehow balanced atop it zips into frame, Marinette, Adrien, and Kagami, all used to this level of ‘spring into action, immediately get out if the way, but A-Fei isn’t so lucky and the guy standing on the back rim of the bike reaches out and swipes up A-Fei, cartoon logic the only thing meaning he actually is able to grab her and not just clotheslining her. The driver hits the brakes and they skid for a few feet before the three laughing boys all crowd around A-Fei, still held in the third boy’s grip and she groans.

“That is never as funny as you lot seem to think it is.”

“It’s HILARIOUS A-Fei!” one of the boys chimes. “And it’s not OUR fault you make such a good damsel in distress!”

“Call me a damsel one more time Liang Jiao, I dare you.” She huffs before finally being put down. “You lot scared my cousin and her friends.” She haughtily tosses her hair before approaching the group again. “So these ruffians are the circus I have the misfortune of calling a social group.”

“Liang Jiao, Xie Kang, and Yuan Zhong, boys, this is my cousin Cheng Xiuying, and her friends Tsurugi Kagami and Adrien Agreste.” Once again introductions are had, but this time it’s a far more casual affair, as A-Fei just tells them about their plans to show them around the nearby shops, how Adrien apparently is a bit of a bookworm and so they’re gonna check out a few bookshops too.

As A-Fei explains things, she slowly shifts into full Mandarin, and while Marinette follows along with ease, and Adrien takes a couple minutes but is more or less getting the gist of the conversation, Kagami… trails behind, both figuratively, and literally. She lingers at the far end of the group, glancing at the buildings and the signs, listening to the conversation she can’t quite grasp. Names are easy enough, even with Marinette being referred to differently by A-Fei and her friends.

But it’s clear, even as the group starts to explore shops, that Kagami is decidedly not having fun.

Still, she’s here on a mission, same as Marinette and Adrien, even if the three are here for other reasons as well, so she keeps an eye out for bookshops, or at least for what looks like bookstores, and watches as the others chat.

The seven stop for lunch at a little hole-in-the-wall noodle shop, letting Adrien try his hand at making the order first. The boy running front, looking about college age with spiky hair tied back with a red headband (looking awfully familiar for those whom are familiar with lego based cartoons) sort of groans when he sees the clearly foreign boy run up, but patiently waits for him to stumble through his order before turning to look at the others. Marinette does a little better before darting to the back to explain a few dishes to Kagami as A-Fei and the boys make their own orders. Marinette piping up again to order for a, clearly mortified, Kagami.

Soon enough they’re shown to a table with a couple of extra chairs pulled up and the boys begin to tease Adrien about his INCREDIBLY BAD accent, and A-Fei watches in amusement while Marinette leans over and grins at Kagami. “Apparently the House Special, What you got, is like, insanely good. My uncle hates this place with a burning passion for how good the noodles are here.”

“Hm.”

Marinette pretty quickly seems to pick up on her mood. “You okay?”

“I believe bringing me with you both might have been a mistake. I’m not very useful in the context of the city. Perhaps if the Tome had been in Tokyo I would have been more useful but-”

“Kagami, hey, we said it before, you’re here because we want you to be. You don’t need to be thinking constantly about how you can ‘be useful’ to the group, or anything. You just need to be Kagami and we’ll be happy you’re here.”

Kagami hums again but the Spiky haired boy brings out their noodles and the conversation is quickly derailed.

After lunch the group departs and goes back to scouring the city for any cool bookshops, some of them looking close to the description given but slightly off, some looking so opposite someone has to think of a quick reason why they should leave right now immediately.

But soon, miraculously (heh) they come across a truly ancient looking bookstore, though it takes a little prompting for A-Fei to go inside with them, as apparently this part of the city ‘always gave her the willies’ But soon enough the three were inside, Adrien starts looking through the books held within with A-Fei and Marinette and Kagami approach the front, and sure enough sitting there at the register, looking bored and exactly as described to them, was the woman known as Yun Eun-Ji.

“Can I help you ladies?”

“Yes… Uhm…” Marinette huffs. “The Lion is protective over the Octopus, and we’re here on his behalf to check up on her.” Yun Eun-Ji’s eyes widen a bit and when she leans in a little Marinette pulls out her Miraculous necklace. “We’re friends of Sun Min.” she goes on in french

“I can see that.” Yun Eun-Ji slides into french herself. She makes a reach for the coin around Marinette’s neck, but she pulls away. Yun Eun-Ji backs off, and waggles her fingers to show off the silver bracelet around her own wrist. “So MinMin set you all? Now’s not the right time, sorry to say. Come back later when we’re closed. THEN we’ll talk.”

“How do we know you won’t be leading us into a trap?” Kagami speaks up. Yun Eun-Ji smiles at the two of them.

“I guess you don’t.”

Marinette and Kagami glance at each other, and the two look back to see Adrien’s got an eye on the both of them as well. There’s a nod shared between the three and they leave without buying anything.

Now the tour continues, and with the location firmly in mind, the three are able to go full tourist and oohh and aaahh as they so please. But for Kagami that also meant she was back to being in the back of the group, still not having any real fun. But soon A-Fei gets a text and yelps. Apparently the rest of the guests are here and now everyone was waiting on them instead.

The Boys mock A-Fei again for being a scatterbrain, before offering them to borrow the bike the three boys had been walking about all day to get back faster, just don’t crash into another traffic pole, huh A-Fei? Such a Lovely Damsel like her could easily be picked up by anyone when on the ground from a crash~

A-Fei smacks each boy on the back of the head in a row.

But she takes them up on the offer and the four of them finagle a way to all fit on the bike, Kagami riding handlebars as the shortest one, Adrien pedaling, and A-Fei and Marinette both balanced on the back.

“Your friends seem nice!”

“Ugh I GUESS” A-Fei leans forward for her head to rest on Marinette’s shoulder. “They’re so aggravating Xiuying…”

“How’d they get it in their heads you’re a damsel anyway? You’ve always been so tough for as long as I've known you.”

“Xiuying I don’t know if you’ve NOTICED or not, but Our family is a little.. Accident prone. Clumsy?”

Marinette splutters, Adrien stifles a laugh, and Kagami very noticeably tenses as well.

“....Oh? I hadn’t noticed.” Now Kagami can’t keep back a laugh, Adrien is clearly DYING.

“Our Marinette? Clumsy? How Shocking.” Adrien bites out around chuckles.

“Yes, our beloved Xiuying is the utmost epitome of grace.” Kagami adds on. “....That felt weird to say.”

“Hey yeah why DID you decide to go by Marinette anyway?” A-Fei asks, to which Marinette looks off to the side.

“Honestly? It was Mom’s idea, she thought that it would be easier if I went by a French name, to avoid kids being weird about it and all.”

“Children can certainly be cruel.” Kagami agrees. Adrien however pouts. “I’m gonna pronounce your name correctly by the end of this trip, just you wait!”

“Adrien you don’t have to- I’m- I’m okay with Marinette! I LIKE Marinette! The Writers are gonna keep calling me Marinette anyway to avoid confusion with the audience!”

(( Hey since when were the characters self-aware Vega? )) ((Some time in Season One, i forget when we first started breaking the fourth wall))

But after that comedy break we’re back at the Cheng household. And sure enough A-Fei is almost immediately pulled aside by her mother for a brief lecture on keeping her cousin and her friends from the event. While Marinette is quickly embraced by her other Auntie and their side of the family

Of course that means it’s time for more introductions again, as Marinette introduces everyone to Aunt Shuyin, her husband, and then the two whirlwind children that immediately pummel her as her other cousins, The two kids immediately begin to drag marinette away, babbling in rapid fire Mandarin that even Marinette seems to struggle to keep up with. The final touches of the meal are starting to go underway as Grandma Mei, Uncle Wang, and Auntie Cheng all begin to cluster in the kitchen. Grandpa Yan takes Adrien by his arm and pats his muscles once or twice, asks what kind of sports he’s in, to which Adrien responds with, of course, fencing.

“Ahhh you fancy yourself a fighter, hm? What sort of non-armed combat are you trained in?” to which Adrien responds again honestly, though this time Grandpa Yan laughs. “I doubt you actually learn much at some silly french schools, come boy, I’ll see what I can show you. First! Test your strength!” He sits down and rolls up a sleeve, ahh yes Arm Wrestle Grandpa is back.

Soon enough though it’s dinner time. And the family does… you know… normal family things, they dig in, they eat. They talk. Stories are demanded of Marinette as to why her parents aren’t here, and what’s been going on in France, is that supervillain still causing trouble? So Marinette launches into a story or two, Adrien adding on color commentary when possible.

But of course not having quite as much fun is, you guessed it, Kagami. She’s spent most of this time sitting on the couch, nursing a drink and then at the table nursing her food, and just.. Sitting quietly until the end of the meal and the conversations are carried to the other rooms. And as such Kagami returns to the couch. Every so Often Adrien and Marinette either separately or together try to bring her in to whatever they were doing but she either politely declines or someone else jolts in and distracts either of them.

But soon enough the person to most notice is A-Fei. She approaches with her own drink and sits beside her.

“So… worst way to meet the in-laws huh? You look miserable.”

“In laws?”

“It’s you and Marinette, right? You guys brought Adrien to throw off suspicions.”

“....I won’t lie, it's weird to hear YOU call Marinette as Marinette.”

“Stop derailing. What’s up?”

Kagami pauses for a moment before answering. “It’s… All of us. All three of us. At once. Together.” A-Fei blinks surprised. “But it SHOULDN’T be. Those two? They can get along just fine on their own, they’re both fun and charismatic and talented in their own fields, I’m just some stick in the mud that can’t even order her own food at a restaurant.”

“It’s not your fault you don’t speak the language, Kagami.”

“I don’t speak THEIR language. Extroverted, fun, able to be more than some self serious workaholic. All I’m doing is dragging them down. Adrien got his baggage in order, they don’t need me anymore.”

A-Fei thinks for a moment and nods. “That’s no way to live your life, I agree. But… If you’re so worried about the two of them drifting off from you, Talk to them, do what needs to be done. I highly doubt they want to be rid of you themselves.”

Kagami pauses for a moment. And her expression hardens over, she reaches a hand up and lightly brushes her choker. “You’re right. There are many things here that need to be done.”

A little later, Marinette is turning from a conversation with her grandfather to look for someone in the crowd of Cheng’s, and finds an empty couch where A-Fei and Kagami once were.

This would also be where we’d have a hypothetical commercial break if this were a REAL special.

When we ‘Return’ we see that sure enough Kagami has endorsed A-Fei’s help in this whole thing, explaining as we come in with the two of them that she can’t read the street signs and her memory isn’t so good that she can find her way back to the bookstore after only being there once.

A-Fei of course asks why she’s so determined on going back there, and furthermore why it’s so important. Kagami pauses for a moment and takes Lonng out to show her. “Marinette has been kind enough to let me tag along on this trip for the sake of my duties as a hero but I shouldn’t be impending on her time with Adrien any more than I already am. I’d just be holding them back.”

“Didn’t you say it was all three of you together?”

“My point still stands.”

“Kagami, that's not a healthy way to look at things, besides, they wouldn’t want you to go in alone!”

“I’m not alone, I’ve got Lonng.” She smiles down at Lonng, whom peers back up at her impassively. “Stay out here please Wu Fei. I’ll handle this.”

When Kagami walks into the bookshop, immediately she’s beset by darkness, only one desk lamp is still on near the register. And with a huge tome in her lap, Yun Eun-Ji is waiting.

“We’re closed.” She states in Mandarin. Before she glances up at Kagami and smiles, saying again, now in French, “We’re closed.”

“You never explained how easily you drffted into french.”

“I speak a few languages. Mandarin, Korean, French, English, Tagalog, Arabic, you want me to keep going? I don’t speak Japanese so fair warning on that end, which language are you more comfortable with?”

“French is fine. I’m here to speak with you about the information Sun Min told us you have on the more… obscure that your order could use against us without our knowledge.”

“You’re being rather confident, what makes you so sure I'll be willing to cooperate?”

“You’re his friend are you not?”

“I am, but you’re not here on your friends’ wishes, are you miss? I doubt they were planning on sending you in alone, so I wonder just what your plan is on that front.”

“They trust me to get things done. And That’s what matters.”

“Fair enough.” The woman closes the book and approaches the girl. “Yun Eun-Ji. Nice to meet you.”

“Tsurugi Kagami, likewise.”

The two peer at each other for a short time, silence between them both.

“Do you trust Sun Min?”

“Frankly, I don’t, but at the moment we have very few other options. Your Order is planning something and we need clues as to what. And he believes that the Tome of Miraculous in your possession is what will be giving us our path forward.”

“Hm…. Well maybe I do have it. Maybe I don’t and Sun Min is full of shit and led you right into a trap. I am a member of the Order of Miraculous, Miss Tsurugi.” Without calling the transformation incantation, a flash of teal lights up the gloom. We shift to Yun Eun-Ji’s perspective as she darts in, Kagami reaching for her choker, but another flash of teal fills the screen and everything cuts to black.

“You shouldn’t have come alone, Tsurugi Kagami.”

When we cut back to light, it’s the streetlights of Shanghai and a type matchup we haven’t seen in a little bit. Multimoise and Fenrir are transformed and following the route they’d been on before, retracing the path from earlier that day to re-find the bookshop, passing by the other rejected bookstores, the noodle place, and all the sights they’d seen before.

Fenrir huffs and adjusts his collar “Are we sure it was somewhere around-”

An explosion cuts him off, and Multimouse chirps out a breezy “Over there!” The two descend and sure enough the bookshop has been completely blown out from the inside. Ryuuko is laying in a small crater, and A-Fei is nowhere to be found.

Fenrir approaches first and lightly lifts Ryuuko until she groans and slowly comes to. She grumbles to herself and sits upright. She massages a headache.

“That was a cheap shot.”

“Ryuuko are you alright?” Multimouse gets down to be at the same level as the two of them and places a hand on Ryuuko’s shoulder.

“Not really, that Yun Eun-Ji woman is a nightmare. Either she’s toying with us, or Sun Min was always planning this, she took me out FAR too easy.”

“...Kagami, where's FeiFei?”

Kagami’s eyes snap open and she darts up, looking around rapidly, and sure enough, as confirmed earlier, Wu Fei is missing.

“She- I told her to wait outside!”

“Yun Eun-Ji must have taken her after subduing you.” Fenrir huffs, his grip on Ryuuko’s shoulders tightens. “What was she bait?”

Multimouse looks around before spotting something, finding a small note folded in between the splintered remains of the wall.

“Definitely bait. Look here.” Fenrir helps Ryuuko to her feet for a moment before Ryuuko sort of sharply pulls away and the two stumble over to Multimouse. She holds out the note for the two of them.

It’s in Mandarin. Ryuuko groans, Fenrir looks over it, seems like he understands perfectly, and then pushes it back toward Multimouse. “I doubt that was talking about a shrimp boat by the docks, so clearly I need to work on my reading levels a little more.”

Multimouse chuckles and looks over the paper herself again, and translates:

“In the Order though we are specialized in certain fields, all members must have their minds tested as well as their bodies and spirits. Your lot must prove yourselves worthy as well. For the knowledge you seek is not for those who cannot understand themselves. Work together, be honest with your thoughts and feelings, and only then shall you find the true way.” and then turns around the paper. “The first hint is a freebee, it’s in Miss Tsurugi’s weakspot.”

Ryuuko’s face turns blood red beneath her mask and she slaps a hand over her side, previously unseen as it was the side Fenrir was pressed against.

And sure enough there was a small note taped to her side while she was out of it.

“It’s in French.” She huffs with relief. “Okay, so….” She reads the riddle aloud and because we here at Miraculous Rewrite are not ourselves riddlemasters, we’ll just leave these spots conspicuously vague. But after a little puzzling the general assumption is ‘head west’ so the three take off down the street, Fenrir suggests they detransform for a time to avoid suspicions as to what three random heroes are doing in Shanghai, and soon it’s Adrien, Kagami and Marinette once again. But Kagami herself isn’t helping with the whole ‘avoiding suspicions’ thing. She's taken point in front of the little group and is clearly looking around searching for their next clue.

They’re getting strange looks.

Marinette is the one to quickly wave off people, at least to start. Claiming that her aunts set up a scavenger hunt to help her friends get adjusted to the town for their trip, but it doesn’t work on all of the people they pass by.

Soon enough they find another entry in their ‘scavenger hunt’ that directs them in another direction, to which Kagami of course, instantly tears off in the direction of, practically pivoting on her hip, and a nearby bystander asks Marinette quietly if her friend is okay. Marinette waves off the ‘concerned parent’ vibing adult and grabs Adrien and the two are stuck following after her.

Thankfully heroes can all pretty easily keep pace with each other, so by the time that they reach the third riddle, Adrien grabs Kagami and pulls her aside where Marinette takes the riddle from her.

“Kagami, you don’t need to do everything yourself. That’s why we’re here together.” It’s clearly meant to be encouraging, there’s an earnest look on Adrien’s face, but Kagami pulls away regardless.

“What else is there that I can do beyond this? Marinette is the only one here that is properly fluent in the language to help us gather directions.” Adrien winces, but Kagami either doesn’t notice, or elects not to comment. “I have to do something to… prove, that I should have come along.”

A hand rests on her shoulder, and she spins to see Marinette. “You don’t have to prove anything, Kagami. We said it before, and I’ll say it again, we wanted you to join us, because we wanted to be here, as the three of us. I wish that I’d had the chance to teach you a few phrases before this, but we didn’t have the time, and I’m sorry for that…”

It seems as though the words of comfort don’t exactly work though, as Kagami puffs up further and takes the riddle slip from Marinette. “Let’s just focus on finding your cousin. I’m only good for one thing here, so just.. Let me do it, alright?”

Marinette and Adrien share a concerned glance as Kagami storms off.

“Maybe this wasn’t the best place to try for a first date…” Marinette huffs.

“Yeah but it’s too late now. We can woo her as much as we want when this is over and we’re just doing normal family reunion stuff again.”

Again, if this aired on TV, this would be another commercial break starting point.

But on we go to the third act! We arrive at a harbor, those of you with eagle eyes may notice it is in fact the Yangshan Deepwater Harbor closer to the shipyard than the more natural surrounding greenery. We see a dilapidated broken down car, the plants have long since started to reclaim its metal exterior, and Yun Eun-Ji, once again detransformed, is sitting on the hood of it, She’s messing around on her phone, and there’s a thump, when she looks to the side we see Wu Fei tied up and struggling.

“Calm down, they’ll be here any minute.”

“YUN EUN-JI!”

“Ah! Right on cue.” She gestures behind her, and we see a little flash of teal. “Chiingu, transform me.”

Sun Min did refer to her as ‘An Octopus’ before, didn’t he? Now fully transformed, Yun Eun-Ji pulls out her weapon, a Cat O’ Nine Tails (but with eight tails) and the multiple tails start swaying and lifting, as though they had their own mind.

She flips her hair and turns to the heroes, newly transformed again and smirks. “Well, THIS was what I was waiting for! The Three Leaders of the so-called “New Order”! Sun Min has told so many stories about you lot and I've been DYING to have a little personal fun!” She cracks the cat and all eight tails suddenly stand at attention.

“Let’s play.”

Three against one shouldn’t be a particularly tough fight, but Yun Eun-Ji doesn’t seem to be slowing down any, Fenrir comes at her with his chakram, she dodges, if she dodges into Multimouse’s rope, she throws out her Cat and it tangles in the cats tails, if she backs into Ryuuko’s sword the tails stiffen again and they duel, this back and forth goes on for a time, Yun Eun-Ji seems to know exactly how to counter everyone present. But as the fight goes on one thing becomes clear --

The heroes aren’t fully firing on all cylinders, and Ryuuko in particular looks distracted. Yun Eun-Ji hums, when, for a moment, it seems as though Ryuuko actually hesitated to strike. Quickly taking advantage of the split second, and grabbing hold of Ryuuko and forcing the two of them away from the group, pinning her easily and raising her Nine Tails high, the tails stiffening to a point..

“So Miss Tsurugi, did you tell them the truth?” Multimouse and Fenrir race forward but Yun Eun-Ji points the tip of the tail to her face. “Closer and your girlfriend loses a bit of her beauty.” She humms in satisfaction when the two stop.

“Did you? No? How disappointing. Yet not surprising.” She chuckles. “Teenagers are all the same when it comes to emotional sincerity. You might want to consider doing it though Kagami! Do it now! You could die! I could take your head off before those two even thought of a plan!”

“ Tell them. The. truth.” She glanced up at the two again, unsurprisingly Fenrir and Multimouse are… confused. But as Yun Eun-Ji continues we focus on Kagami, and her mounting rage. “Tell them that you like them both and you’re afraid of being a stick in the mud! How two people who are fun and vibrant could never go for someone so dull as you! That deep down you’re afraid that they only say that they like you because while they had their own shit going on they NEEDED someone who wasn’t interesting at all to keep the team together.”

She pressed into Kagami a little harsher. “How afraid you are that you were only ever instrumental for them, and now they don’t need you anymore.”

“STORMBRINGER!” Kagami vanishes into the wind and escapes her grasp. Reforming just quickly enough to land a solid punch onto Yun Eun-Ji, and with Ryuuko free Fenrir and Multimouse hop into battle, and from there the tide begins to turn. Until Ryuuko has her sword at her throat and-

“Alright! Alright! I yield!” Ryuuko looks maybe about to ignore that herself for how incensed she still was, but Mutlimouse cuts in by wrapping Yun Eun-Ji with the jumprope and Fenrir asking over the book.

“Well maybe your cute cousin could answer that for you.”

Naturally Adrien then approaches A-Fei, and when the ropes are sliced through with his Chakram, A-Fei stands and reveals that she’d been holding the book between her chest and legs this whole time, and had in fact been flipping through it since they arrived.

Yun Eun-Ji winks at A-Fei who blushes a bit “The Tome is about these things called… uhm… I’m not sure how it translates into french, but I guess.. Miracles?”

“Miraculous.” Marinette corrects.

“Sure. Anyway, they’re like… embodyments of virtues… or… concepts? I’m not sure which one is a more faithful translation.”

“That’s the Tome you guys wanted right? The one that shows how they’re made?” Yun Eun-Ji flips her hair. “Did they have an entry on the Octopus in the Tome you guys have?”

“No, it’s only got a few miraculous, it's mostly like... potions and rituals.” Adrien responds, and finally, Finally, Kagami seems to chill enough to take her sword off of Yun Eun-Ji’s throat.

“That figures- Thank you.” She rubs at her throat. “That was a healing tome, since Fu was being trained to be a healer when the war happened.” She folds her arms. “Healers tend to be given more passive Miraculous than our warrior or scholar counterparts. The Octopus, for instance, is the Virtue of Kindness.”

“You guys basically walked right into my shop with a banner over your heads that said ‘Our PROBLEMS have problems’ so when Dragon Girl over here came to regroup with me alone I assumed something was going on, and used my power. Assist helps me find out what’s wrong with a person and the best way to solve their main issues. And Tsurugi Kagami, yours were to talk about your problems with these two like the grownup you so desperately want everyone to think you already are.”

Yun Eun-Ji shrugs. “I’d hoped you’d just follow my advice so I gave you guys ample time to talk and walk, but apparently I underestimated just how stubborn teenagers can be.” Kagami, unfortunately, is pissed again and takes a step forward, now with her fist again instead of her sword.

“Calm down, I only took matters into my own hands because you couldn’t.” She sighs. “Look, Love lives getting mixed up in all of this is tricky, maybe not the wisest course of action, but on the same level, affection for each other might save your team in a way that only a few of my family may be saved. We don’t… care much about each other anymore. At least not in the way it supposedly used to be.”

“But nonetheless they ARE still family, and with Sun Min’s… more controversial… stake in the Paris situation, I shouldn’t be too rebellious myself, it’s… gonna be a chore getting him out of there with everything in tact when this is over, but for now the Tome should probably stay in Shanghai.”

She takes the Tome from A-Fei and hands it over to Multimouse. “But if you don’t mind your cousin continuing to be involved, I don’t see why SHE can’t help. Hm?”

“She told you everything didn’t she?” Mutlimouse turns to A-Fei whom shrugs.

“I know enough Xiuying.” A-Fei winks at Multimouse whom groans and buries her face into the book.

“Yeah sure, just leave my cousin without a Miraculous and way too much information alone in the city with only one person whom we can’t even be SURE we can trust.”

“Hey! I just let you get your grubby French mitts all over an ancient Tome of Miraculous! Be a little nicer!”

“She won’t be without one for long though.” Adrien finally speaks up, when all eyes turn to him he shrugs. “I mean that Tome shows how the Miraculous were made, right?”

A-Fei’s eyes light up as she darts over. “You’re right! I can just… just like… FIND another virtue or concept that hasn’t been accounted for yet and just... MAKE a new Miraculous like that!"

She grins brightly at Marinette. “I’ll join the fight soon Xiuying! Don’t you worry about me!”

And Wu Fei thrusts a fist into the air. “And soon my fucking friends won’t be able to call me a Damsel in Distress any more!”

When we cut next it seems to be the next evening as dinner is still being made, But this time with another face in the crowd, Auntie Cheng is scolding A-Fei about bringing a guest without clearing it with anyone else going on to insist that Xiuying made DOUBLY sure it was alright with everyone before bringing her friends in place of her parents, and how A-Fei was making herself kind of look bad in front of everyone else. A-Fei’s just kinda… dying inside… you know how it be. Marinette places a hand on her shoulder in solidarity, but Yun Eun-Ji seems unbothered and covers for her ass.

“Wu Fei is such a kind young lady, I’m terribly sorry for any stress my presence has cost, it’s simply that, I mentioned while we were all getting to know each other that all of my family is back in Seoul, and the pain that distance can cause, so she’d offered. I had no idea it would be such an imposition. I'm terribly sorry!”

There’s a pause. “Oh! Well if that’s what it was all about I suppose that’s fine.”

Yun Eun-Ji winks at A-Fei as her mother turns her back.

As expected from the previous night Adrien and Grandpa Yan have cleared out a space in the corner of the house and it seems like Grandpa Yan is trying to teach Adrien a thing or two about fighting ‘the proper way’ and the littles are sitting on the floor watching and giggling.

Marinette is getting pulled into the kitchen with the others as now she CAN have a hand in putting some Fancy French Spins onto dinner tonight, see what her mother has taught her.

And once again, Kagami is sitting alone. She seems a little more at peace with it than last time though. As she glances up she unintentionally meets Yun Eun-Ji’s eye. The Octopus wielder raises her brow and nods in the vague direction of the others before returning to her conversation with A-Fei’s father. Kagami huffs and moves to stand, but before she can choose someone to go to first, Marinette strides over and grabs her arm.

“Kagami! You’ve GOTTA tell everyone the story about the musical Akuma! I can translate for you, but you’re the one who was right on the action!”

“Oh! We’re talking about Show Stopper?” Adrien walks over now followed by a gaggle of children. “Yeah! You gotta tell everyone! You’re hands down the best storyteller of all of us.”

“And determined”

“And your wry sense of humor is really funny”

“And pretty.”

“INCREDIBLY pretty.”

“Oh, and don’t forget her elegance!”

“WHO could forget that?”

“And you’re literally SUCH a great leader!”

“And an amazing teacher too!”

Kagami’s face grows redder with each comment the two make until she smacks a hand across each of their mouths.

“I get it. I’ll tell the story just-... Shut. Up.”

For a quick moment before the teenagers get the attention of the adults again, Adrien leans in and presses a kiss to the top of Kagami’s head, she shrinks away averted eyes trying to look cool, but runs right into Marinette whom gently grabs her cheek and yes, this is where we get that sweet sweet Kagaminette smooch.

“You’re both incorrigible.”

“Okay we’ve got a story folks!” Adrien turns and addressed the group again. “Xiuying will be translating!” He puts an arm around Kagami’s shoulders, Marinette clings to her opposite arm.

But we’re not done just yet folks. Because as the story blurs in the background, Kagami speaking in french Marinette translating to Mandarin, we pull away to see Yun Eun-Ji again, this time she’s on the fringes of the group, and her phone rings.

She of course takes a step outside to answer, and on the balcony just outside, surprise surprise, she answers “Master Wu?”

“Yun Eun-Ji.”

“Is there something wrong? I haven’t heard from Sun Min recently.”

“Your friend is a traitor to our kind Yun Eun-Ji. He’s turned from our ways under the fool’s hope of a ceasefire that cannot be attainable. It was a mistake to allow him the Lion. His bleeding heart could never be quashed, and now look at where it’s gotten him.” Wu Lian huffs on the other side of the call. “I blame myself.”

Yun Eun-Ji…. Looks very…. Uncomfortable. She huffs and puffs about how this is… SO surprising! She had no idea he would fall that way! Oh gee she should have kept a closer eye on him while they were in training!

“You know I’d LOVE to head over there and straighten him out myself, but my duty toward keeping the Tome safe has to take precedence! Duty before passion! That's the healer’s creed, you taught me as such Master Wu!”

Something is spoken, and we focus on Yun Eun-Ji alone, the voice on the other end too quiet to be heard. A-Fei steps out, concerned as to what’s taking her new friend so long, a hand placed on her shoulder, and the other girl is… shaking, ever so slightly.

“...What do you mean Master Kai has started deciphering the old combination spells?”

#Miraculous Rewrite #Rewrite #Mod vega #Mod Aimee #Miraculous Ladybug #Shanghai Special

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jetsetreid · 4 years

Text

ignore me like we never met before - spencer reid x reader - chapter 1/?

Summary: Spencer Reid annoys you. Enemies to lovers with a side of BDSM (to follow -- no sex in this chapter, sorry!)

A/N: New to CM fandom, hiiii. With the s7 cast (the elite) but set post-Maeve storyline. Title from Ignore me by Betty Who.

Word Count: 2.5k

Spencer Reid was annoying. And not just in the normal ways you might find someone annoying. Spencer was annoying in an extraordinary way, that only someone with an IQ of 187 and an eidetic memory could be. The most annoying part was that he never really met your quips or participated in your banter.

It made you look like an asshole, which was completely unfair of him. Because you knew Spencer returned your feelings. You annoyed him as well. He avoided you constantly and when he did speak to you, he made sure it was case related. You didn’t sit next to each other on the jet, or at team outings. Hotch almost never paired you together. You recognized, in the back of your head, that you should be thankful for this, but you just found it to be another thing about him that annoyed you.

Despite your lack of time spent together, you couldn’t help yourself. When an opportunity presented itself, you just had to push back. It didn’t matter though, because he never said anything back. He always let you insult him and looked away without a reaction.

Your favorite pastime. Team drinks. And you were stuck sitting next to JJ and across from Spencer, with everyone else further down the double-sided booth. Spencer and JJ had been chatting all night about her kids and a film festival Spencer went to every year and had recently joined the board of organizers. If it wasn’t for the fact that Spencer was involved, the film festival might have actually sounded interesting.

Instead, it was mind numbingly boring. You tried to focus your attention on Morgan and Penelope down the booth, but they were too caught up in each other to notice your desperate attempts to strike up a conversation.

Emily showing up to team drinks was a godsend

“Emily, thank god,” you shrieked. “Sit next to me!”

Emily slid into the booth next to you and quickly ordered a drink before the two of you fell into a conversation. You were discussing Emily’s new girlfriend and how tangled up in each other they’ve been. You’ve missed her lately. This was the first time she’d actually shown up to team drinks in months.

“You know, I like Eleanor and I’m happy for you, but falling in love is gross.” You said it with no bite and a smile on your face. You were teasing her.

“Actually,” Spencer cut in, “Falling in love has a similar neurological effect as getting high on cocaine.”

You rolled your eyes so hard they almost fell out. What did boy wonder know about falling in love? And why was he involving himself in a conversation that had nothing to do with him? Spencer and JJ had been ignoring you all night. Okay, maybe JJ tried to include you in their conversation, but still.

“Another fact you read, but don’t know in practice, right?” you asked, eyeing him with spite. You were fairly new to the team, almost a year in, but you just knew there was no way Spencer Reid had been in love before.

Emily tensed up beside you and JJ fell silent as well. You figured Spencer would ignore your comment, like ways. He never ever rose to your insults.

“What about you, we all know you’ve been high on cocaine. So even though you’ve never found anyone to love you, it’s almost the same thing.”

JJ choked out a laugh. Emily smirked without meeting your eyes. All you could do was glare.

The team knew about your party days in college, although you’d never outright said you’d done cocaine. The reality is that you had and quite a bit too. Your first couple of years in college were a blur of a party until you calmed down your junior year and took academics seriously.

But Spencer never challenged you, so what made this so different? Maybe you hit a nerve. Everyone knew he was lacking in the relationship department.

“I’ve found plenty of people to love me,” you said with a smirk.

“For the night,” Spencer added, with a bite.

You should’ve been annoyed or angry, you should’ve told him to shut up, but you didn’t. Because seeing him take the bait after almost a year of digs made something in your stomach flutter. You were finally getting to him.

“Yeah, wouldn’t you like to know?”

Spencer meet you with hard, scowling eyes. Emily and JJ followed your back and forth like a tennis match.

“What’s that saying? If you caught fire, I wouldn’t piss to put you out.”

“Jesus, Spence,” JJ muttered.

“Those are Fall Out Boy lyrics,” you responded with a glare. He was such a dick.

Spencer shrugged. “Sentiment stands.”

You dropped it after that. You hated to give him the win, but another round of drinks appeared, and Emily quickly changed the subject.

Spencer didn’t stop after that. It was becoming a problem. Mostly because Hotch could shrug off your mouth before. Most of the team thought you were just teasing, and because Spencer never reacted, they all saw it as harmless.

But he was reacting now and the two of you were trading insults like siblings. You were being childish, but so was he so you didn’t stop. At first, it was almost fun. But Spencer was too quick, too smart. He didn’t even have to try.

Another case, another jet ride.

“Maybe the unsub has something on these victims. With this amount of overkill…” you trailed off, eyeing the photos in front of you on your tablet.

“Actually,” Spencer started. This was the fifth time he’d interrupted you (yes, you were counting) and you’d only been on the jet for 30 minutes.

“Oh my god,” you groaned, snapping your finger in front of his face. “Does anyone get to give an opinion on anything without you actually’ing them?”

He swatted your hand away. “That’s not a word,” Spencer sighed. “Maybe I always have to interject because like your vocabulary, your opinions resemble that of a 3rd grader.”

“Focus,” Hotch commanded. You could tell by the tone of his voice that he was absolutely done with both of you so you dropped it and you kept the rest of your opinions to yourself. The worst part of Spencer finally participating in your insult war was that he was always winning. He was smarter than you and he wasn’t afraid to let you know it.

It didn’t bother you at first, but after weeks of him always getting the upper hand, it started to. You felt stupid and you started to question your spot on the team. You absolutely hated that you let him get into your head like this.

The case wrapped up later that week. Unsub caught. Another jet ride home.

You gathered your things from the bullpen when Hotch appeared, singling for you and Spencer.

“I need to see you both in my office.”

Derek winced and Emily patted you on the back. “Try not to murder each other in there.”

“Yeah, good fuckin’ luck,” Derek added with a laugh as they both headed to the elevators.

You ignored them and started walking up the stairs, quickly followed by Spencer. You both took a seat with your eyes glued to Hotch. You knew what was coming.

“Y/L/N, Reid,” Hotch started. “I’m not happy to be having this conversation. Your behavior has been juvenile and unproductive.”

You twisted your hands in your lap. This felt like getting reprimanded by a parent and you did not like it. Your stomach twisted with guilt.

“I don’t care about whatever rivalry the two of you have going on and I certainly don’t need you to be best of friends, but your behavior is affecting the team. And I need it to end.”

You nodded, refusing to look anywhere near Spencer.

“I understand, sir,” you breathed, voice low. “Consider it ended.”

Spencer nodded, “I apologize. It won’t be a problem anymore.” You saw him looking your way out of the corner of your eye, but you refused to take your eyes off Hotch. You felt terrible, having disappointed your boss.

You both exited his office with a quiet sigh. Your heart felt heavy.

You wouldn’t admit it, but you were secretly glad Hotch put an end to things. You knew you had started all of this, but Spencer’s words were like a poison. They were all you could think about some nights, tossing and turning. Were you really that stupid? Like a 3rd grader? Did everyone see it? You often wondered how you even landed this job after the things Spencer said about you.

Hotch’s door clicked shut behind you as the both of you walked to your desks. You could tell Spencer was just as upset as you and you wanted to comfort him somehow, but you quickly pushed down the foreign and unwelcome thought.

Spencer lifted his bag over his shoulder, eyeing you finally. “Just stay out of my way from now on, Y/L/N.”

You really wanted to fight back, but instead you felt tears prick at your eyes. How fucking annoying. You absolutely refused to cry in front of Spencer Reid, but you knew he could tell how emotional you were. He was a profiler after all, and you weren’t even trying to hide it.

“Just stop, Reid,” you whispered, grabbing your purse and exiting the bullpen. You didn’t wait for him at the elevator. In front, you hit the “close doors” button rapidly until they slid shut, leaving you alone.

Weeks passed. You were quietly miserable. Spencer ignored you. Hotch watched the two of you constantly. Everyone else did as well, and it was suffocating. You barely spoke up anymore, always having to be prompted by Hotch, or sometimes Derek and Emily. Even JJ and Rossi. Anyone but Spencer. He didn’t care what you had to say and he didn’t even bother pretending like he did.

You knew you were acting unreasonable, but you still felt scolded by Hotch and now isolated by the rest of the team. Realistically, you knew that wasn’t the case, but Spencer had known them all for a decade and sometimes it felt like they all took his side. It hurt your feelings, as irritating as that was to admit.

Things boiled over in Phoenix. An unsub that the team hadn’t exactly profiled right. A mistake you made, dropping your gun and moving close. You thought you could talk him down. You were very, very wrong.

It happened so fast. The unsub grabbing you, bringing you to his front, your back firmly against his front. He wrapped his arm around your neck, applying pressure.

He was using you as a human shield. His other hand rose and you felt the cool metal of the unsub’s gun against your temple. You couldn’t speak. Why couldn’t you speak? You were trained for this, but right now you felt helpless. Derek and Spencer stood in front of you, trying to talk him down, but you couldn’t make out their words. You could tell they were panicked, and you knew this wasn’t going to end well.

The unsub – Randall Gaines – tightened his arm around your neck, cutting off your oxygen just a bit more. You felt a tear slide down your cheek. You were going to die in a shitty motel in Phoenix, Arizona. Right in front of Reid and Morgan. Bullet through the skull. They were going to walk out of here with your blood splattered all over them, but you weren’t walking out of this room at all.

You felt your grip on reality slip as his chokehold tightened, your eyes slipping shut. Darkness.

You woke to Derek crouched in front of you, breathing a sigh of relief. You were still alive. You were still in the shitty motel room.

The unsub was dead next to you, both of you on the ground. You’d passed out, but only for a couple of seconds. You were fine.

Derek helped you up, snaking an arm around you for support. He loaded you into the backseat of the SUV while you waited for backup.

The ambulance came and checked you out, the coroner carried away the unsub’s body and the three of you left. No one spoke, least of all you.

The jet ride home was not pleasant. You avoided everyone’s concerned eyes by taking a seat in the back and putting your headphones in. You didn’t even listen to anything, but it guaranteed that everyone left you alone.

When you got back to Virginia, Hotch grabbed your shoulder, leading your away from the team out into the hallway. “Take a few days, okay, Y/N?”

You nodded. “Okay.” Your voice was barely there, a rough whisper at best. The paramedic had warned you of this. Loss of voice, coughing, trouble swallowing. Red eyes, headaches, bruising. Even nausea. Although you weren’t sure if that was from the injuries or the situation in general.

Hotch eyed you, sighing. “I want you to know you are a valued member of this team. See you next week.”

You nodded again before rushing to the elevators. Which would have been great, had it not been for one Penelope Garcia.

She saw you and scurried over, pulling you into an embrace. “Y/N,” she breathed. “I am so happy you’re okay.”

Maybe it was because it was Penelope, or maybe it was just because of the day you had, but you hugged her back, clinging. She pressed a kiss to your forehead. “Movies and takeout?”

You found yourself nodding without realizing it. You had missed this. The past couple of weeks you had been so closed off, so worried about your place on this team. But now you were too tired and too distressed to worry. You followed Penelope out of the building.

Derek showed up with a 12 pack of White Claw and a bottle of white wine.

“Your favorites,” he grinned.

Emily and JJ followed with Chinese takeout. The five of you spread out on Penelope’s couch and the floor in front of it. You smiled despite the burning in your throat, the hoarseness of your voice and the bruising you were sure was developing around your throat.

You smiled and cracked open a White Claw, attention on the latest episode of Saturday Night Live. You missed your friends.

Until the door quietly opened and Spencer Reid appeared. He looked uncomfortable. He brushed his his hair behind his ear and sat down on the floor with his legs crossed next to Derek.

“I brought DVDs,” he said, holding up a handful of them.

“Thanks,” you whispered. You didn’t mean to say anything, but you didn’t take it back. You even offered him a small smile.

“Pretty boy, it’s all about streaming these days,” Morgan rolled his eyes, “but it’s the thought that counts.” And then he ruffled Spencer’s hair. You smiled again.

Even with Spencer Reid in the mix, you were happy.

#criminal minds fic #spencer reid #spencer reid x reader #spencer reid fic #mine

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