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yourfavoritewitchbitch · 3 months

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Evermore - Steve's Ending

Series Summary: It's been 7 years since the love of your life left you behind for his career. When he decides to come back, is it too late to start anew? Will you decide to start over or realize what's been right in front of you this whole time?

Just a small note: Thank you all for sticking around with me on this small journey! Enjoy!

Masterlist found here!

18+ Only! MDNI!

Warnings: Reader is referred to as "Peach". AFAB reader. Tad bit if angst at the beginning, mostly fluff. SMUT. Unprotected P in V. Creampie.

Word Count: 6k

You turned the car around to head over to a house you knew fairly well. You’d been here a couple of times since he had moved Wayne out of Forest Hills.

The black sedan he’d rented sat in the drive as you pulled in behind it, shutting the ignition off and taking a deep breath. You sat there a few moments trying to gather yourself.

You slowly moved from the driver’s seat, as your feet that currently felt like chunks of lead, carried you up the drive. You took the steps one by one until you were face to face with the door.

You hesitantly lifted your fist, knocking three quick times, holding your breath in the process.

Muffled voices came through, he was standing before you as the door swung open. Bright eyes, but a little surprised to see you.

“Peach.” He breathed out.

“Hi Eddie.” You smiled, genuinely. Deep down he knew why you were here. “Can I come in?”

“Sure, sure.” He nodded, moving out of the way for you to enter.

You followed him into the kitchen. “Want something to drink?”

“No, I’m good. Come, sit with me.” He took the chair across from you, bracing for the worst.

“Eddie, I just came to tell you that our kiss wasn’t a mistake, but it made me realize that I should have closed that chapter of my life when you left me. I need to move forward, so should you.” You watched his whole demeanor deflate.

“You shattered my heart, and I was waiting for a different version of you to come back home. We're in such different places in our lives now. I… I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, yeah. I get it. It’s not like I wasn’t expecting it, Peach. But uh… You’ll be seeing me around. I’m not leaving Hawkins. I’m staying with Wayne for a while. Taking some steps to stay sober.”

“Eddie, that’s great. I’m so proud of you!” beaming at him. God he was going to miss that.

“Yeah, already smoothed it over with the boys.”

You both grew silent. Unsure of what to say next.

“Peach, it's ok. I shouldn't have been expecting you to drop everything and pick up where we left off like everything was fine. I can't tell we’ve both changed.” His eyes told a different story, but you didn't say as much.

“So, I guess I'll be seeing you around Hawkins. Come by the Hideout sometime. Maybe you can show these kids you can still rock.” You grinned as he laughed.

“Sure! I'll do that.” His smile grew, but you were unsure if he'd actually take you up on the offer.

“Well, I've got to get going.”

“I'll, uh… walk you out.”

You both stood, him leading the way opening the door as you began to descend the stairs.

“Hey Peach, maybe when you are ready to love someone again, don’t look so far, huh?”

You looked at him, brows pinched in confusion.

“What are you talking about Eddie?”

“You’ve always been oblivious when it comes to him.” Letting out a hearty chuckle. “Bye Peach. I’ll see ya’ around.”

You’ve always been oblivious when it comes to him.

Those words tumbled around in your head as you drove back home.

You didn't want to accept the fact that Eddie saw something you hadn't yet admitted to yourself.

A few days have passed since your conversation with Eddie. You felt you were in a better place, feeling lighter and finally allowing yourself to move on gaining the closure you finally needed.

Steve and Robin weren't entirely convinced. You outwardly seemed fine, but they hovered and watched to make sure you didn't shrink inside yourself.

It was Robin who suggested it.

“Why don't we have a sleepover? Just the three of us like old times?” She blurted out as you all met for lunch one afternoon.

“Who'd watch Maddie?” Steve asked. He didn't want to impose on anyone knowing she usually stayed with either of you if he was busy.

“I'm sure Vickie won't mind. Maddie loves her. Peach, you in?” Looking toward you, wide eyes seemingly begging.

“Why not?” You shrugged.

She couldn't contain the grin that spread across her face as she reached over and hugged you.

“Yes! I'll bring a couple of movies and we can make some popcorn. Could even bring my old sleeping bag. Camp out in the living room all night…”

“I'm stopping you right there Rob.” Steve cut her off before her rambling really picked up. “I’m not 18 anymore. My back and body aren't going to lay on the floor all night.”

You laughed out as she threw a fry at him.

“Party pooper.”

“Daddy, I wan see Peach! I wan go with you and Bobby!” Maddie was protesting from the back seat as he drove over to drop her off with Vickie for the night.

“It's for adults only tonight. You stay at Peach's all the time it's daddy and Bobby's turn. Right? It's not fair you get to have all the fun.” He watched through the rearview as her scrunched brows softened as she thought over his words.

“Just for one night Daddy!” She finally settled down.

“Right, baby. One night.” He let out a small laugh, smiling to himself knowing how much she loves you as she finally busied herself with looking out the window.

He pulled into Robin's, helping Maddie from her seat as she made a beeline for the door. Knocking excitedly, not giving Steve a second glance when Robin opened it.

“Hey bug! Vickie's in the kitchen getting some yummy snacks together.” She said, bending down to greet her.

She stood, meeting Steve carrying all of Maddie's overnight gear.

“Hey Dingus!” She said, taking her small Baby Bop backpack from him.

“Ready to go?” He placed the rest of her stuff on the couch.

“Uh… about that.” He snapped his head toward her. “Don't get mad, but I'm not going.” She anxiously smiled, trying to deflect, holding up her hands.

“This was your idea, Robin! What do you mean you aren't going?” He huffed, placing his hands on his hips.

“And this was also my idea. You can go have a nice night. Look,” she produced a couple of rentals. “You can watch a couple of movies and talk about your feelings. Perfect! And you'll have all night to do…things. Whatever you get up to.”

She grinned wide, proud of herself and her foolproof plan as she looked back at his very unamused frown.

“Steve, just listen to me. She turned Eddie down and it's so painfully obvious to everyone but you two. You're both idiots. Just talk to her! Tell her how you feel! I'm tired of seeing you mope around.”

“I do not mope, and I just don't think I should bring it up right now.” He sighed, already exasperated.

“When's the right time, Steve? You've had 7 years to make a move. You know where she stands with Eddie. It's now or never!”

She grabbed his hand, pulling him toward and out the door.

“Now go!” Shoving the VHS tapes into his chest.

“Have fun!” Slamming the door in his face, not letting him argue or protest.

“Shit.” He breathed out, knowing she was right.

You'd gotten the house ready. Grabbing extra blankets for the living room, in case Robin held you to actually staying in there all night.

It would be good for you to spend time with them.

You totally hadn't been ignoring Steve because you were trying to hide from him and your rather obvious feelings, right?

After Eddie's comment it had you questioning everything. You and Steve were best friends, he wasn't in love with you. Was he?

Your inner crisis had to wait as you heard the front door open.

The hugs that lasted a little longer, the soft touches and sweet looks… fuck.

“Peach?” Steve called out.

“In the kitchen! I'm making your favorite by the way.” You called back, as he came into view.

“Hi.” He grinned, waving as he entered, sitting his overnight bag down on the counter.

“Hi. Where's Rob?” You looked past him, expecting her to follow in behind.

“Uh, she's not feeling well.” He placed his hands into his pockets, shrugging. “Guess it's just us tonight.”

“And that's a bad thing? You look like someone kicked your puppy.” You eyed him warily.

“No, I just didn't want you to be disappointed. S’all.” Shrugging again as he took a seat at the bar, noticing the way his cheeks blushed slightly. Steve was so painfully pretty. The way his shirt was tight over his chest and biceps when he leaned his arms on the counter, had you staring just a little too long.

“Why would I be disappointed? You're my best friend Steve. I love spending time with you.” You smiled, and turned back to the stove, trying to hide the way that your own cheeks heated at your thoughts.

“Steve, are you okay?” Knocking him from his current train of thought.

Best friend. Best friend. Best friend. He didn't need any reminders. His head and heart were both at odds with themselves already. And you were standing there looking absolutely beautiful in just a hoodie and some old shorts, his hoodie. Fuck.

“Hmmm, yeah. I'm fine. Need some help?” He smiled, trying to hide any hint of discomfort.

You put him to work chopping some veggies for a salad. It was easy with him. The way you both moved so fluid around the kitchen. Easing around each other because you've done it a million times before.

Steve was relaxing a little more as you chatted and got the rest of the food prepared but you could tell something was still bothering him.

“Hey Stevie,” catching his attention with a cupcake you pulled from a covered dish on the counter. “Want to ruin our appetites with dessert first?”

“Yes, please. God, I love your cupcakes.” He went to take it, but you pulled it back just out of reach, making him frown with his perfect pouty lips on display. Perfectly pouty and kissable lips.

You slowly peeled the liner from the spongy cake, as he watched you intently.

“You can have one, once you tell me what's bugging you.” You took a bite, with an over exaggerated hum of satisfaction. “Mmmm, so good.”

Frosting was left behind on your lip, that you quickly licked away, he couldn't help but watch the way your mouth moved. It was so unfair the way you were torturing him without even knowing it.

You, on the other hand, were completely aware of the way he was currently licking his own lips watching you.

“Here, have a bite you pouty baby.” Relenting and pushing the cake up toward him.

Instead of letting him take a bite, you shoved it a little upward. Frosting now dotting the end of his nose and top lip, he put his hands on his hips as you flew into a fit of giggles.

“Oh, yeah okay. Laugh it up.” Tongue in his cheek, trying not to give himself away. It was good to hear your laughter. Opposed to the tears you'd been shedding the last couple of times he's seen you.

He turned, dragging his finger through the frosting of another cake and holding it up.

“Paybacks a bitch, Peach.” Wiggling it toward you.

“No, Steve. No.” You started to back up but were caught in the corner of the counter. Nowhere to run as he advanced toward you.

He quickly grabbed the wrist that was still holding onto the chocolatey cake so you couldn't use it against him, as you tried to push him away, but his arms were longer than yours, hand pressed to his chest, still protesting. Easily maneuvering, he plopped the frosting at the end of your nose.

“There now we're even.” His laughter rang out, but he didn't make an attempt to pull away just yet wondering if you were going to try to keep this little game going.

You smiled, watching the way his eyes crinkled with his big, bright grin but then it suddenly felt too hot in the small space. His chest expands with each breath, warm beneath your fingers. All too aware when his laughter faded, and you were left staring at each other.

“Steve?” You asked, almost breathless.

“Yeah?” He searched your eyes for an answer. Anything to give him the go ahead.

“You can let go of my wrist now.”

“Right, sorry.” He let go, but you still felt his lingering warmth. He'd touched you countless times before but this felt different.

You reached for the napkins beside you, wiping the frosting from your nose. He stood there watching you until you pressed the napkin to his face, wiping the remnants from him as well. He exhaled a little loudly, as if he had been holding his breath.

He backed up, but you grabbed his forearm, holding his gaze, his caramel, mossy lined eyes staring back at you curiously.

You didn't realize the moment you inched forward, but your feet and body seemed to be moving on their own accord.

“Steve?” Inching forward still.

“Yeah?” He swallowed, eyes darting down to your lips and back up.

“Do… you want to kiss me?” Coming out a little raspy.

“Do you want me to kiss you?” He asked, hesitantly reaching his hands up to rest on your hips.

Your hand travels to his cheek, stubble prominent from the day scratching at your palm as your thumb barely traces his bottom lip. Hearing his breath hitch sends you into overdrive.

His fingertips find the exposed skin at your side as your (his) hoodie rides up, gripping just a little harder onto your plush, warm skin.

You're telling yourself to stop, but the back of your mind is telling you to dive, to fall headfirst because he'll be there to catch you, no matter what happens.

Your nose finally grazes his, chests pressing together. You close your eyes, lips grazing his as you speak.

“Is this what you want?”

His only answer is closing the small distance between you.

The moment your lips meet it feels like they tell you how it's supposed to feel in all those fairytales and movies. All those stories could never prepare you for the reality of it. Like it was always meant to be.

It was warm sunshine on your skin after winter’s long embrace. Heating you from the inside out.

His lips are softer than you expected, faintly tasting of the cherry Chapstick he always keeps in the car, as your lips mold perfectly to his.

He gently tilts his head, nose pushed into your cheek. He’s pulling your hips into his, tongue grazing your bottom lip, a silent plea as you grant him the access he so desperately craves.

He's dreamt of this very moment more times than he would like to admit.

He's hoping, praying it isn't a dream he's going to wake up from at any moment. He's barely had a taste and can't get enough. He'll never have enough of you.

His mind's racing, your lips, tongue, the way you taste. It's all he can think about.

Your tongues glide along one another, as your hand reaches the nape of his neck, trying to pull him closer as he backs you up into the counter.

Your kiss gets a little more needy, pulling at each other.

Pushing his hips into yours, his hard length presses into your lower stomach as he swallows another wanton moan drawn from you.

He surprises you when his hands suddenly wander to your ass kneading a moment before hauling you up quickly to sit on the counter making you break away from him with a loud squeak, hanging onto his neck.

He easily slots himself between your parted thighs bringing his forehead to yours, gently squeezing the plush of your hips, then moving to rest his hands on each of your thighs. Thumbs rubbing softly across your bare skin, just skimming under the fabric of your thin shorts.

His eyes were blown wide, as he stared down at you. The caramel mossy irises now just a small ring, rimmed around the almost black pools full of lust mixed with adoration.

“Is… is this, okay?” He asks, giving you an out.

“Yeah, Stevie. It's better than okay.” You rake your fingers through his hair, pushing it back from his face.

“I.." "we" you both began.

Laughing at the absurdity of it all. This was Steve, your best friend for the better part of your lives but it was suddenly a little stifling.

You felt bashful under his gaze. Cheeks heating at the possibilities of what might come next.

You wanted him. All of him. Knowing right then and there that one night would never be enough with him.

Grabbing the front of his shirt, you pulled him forward with ease as your lips meet once more. The timidness long gone; you were both greedy. In dire need of more.

Your hands grasp the fabric in your hold, as his begin to roam. Up past your thighs, landing on your hips once more. Trailing up a little further under the hoodie, his fingers found your exposed waist. The soft touch sending goosebumps across your flesh and a little spark to your core making you release a breathy moan that made him grin into your kiss, knowing just his touch could pull those sweet little sounds from you.

His thumb grazed the underside of your breast, making you keen into his touch, craving more, rolling your hips forward looking for a little friction.

Realizing you weren't wearing a bra underneath, he groans, pulling away slightly as if asking for permission, searching your face for any hesitation. You nod quickly, unable to hide your desperation.

His lips found your jaw as his large hand engulfed you fully under your shirt, kneading you softly before his thumb grazes over your nipple causing it to peak stiffly under his touch.

“Fuck, Steve.” You whine out, pushing your chest further into his palm, your head falling back, exposing more of your throat to him.

His lips find a sweet spot right below your jaw, sucking lightly before soothing it with his hot tongue.

You slowly move your hand down his chest and abdomen, hesitating just a moment before you find the outline of his stiff cock beneath his jeans. He hisses lowly as you palm him, breath hitching, hips bucking on their own, as he stops his current ministrations.

“Peach, I… fuck…” his forehead meets yours, arm curling around your waist, pulling you toward him as your core finally meets him.

You roll your hips into his, clit catching on the denim through the fabric that separates you so cruelly, wrapping your legs around his lithe waist holding him there as you moan in unison.

You look up at him through your lashes, he looks as wrecked as you feel, and he hasn't even touched you where you need him the most.

His eyes are closed tightly, brow pinched, and lips parted, releasing a shaky exhale.

“Steve?” You ask.

“Hmmm? Yeah?” Finally looking at you.

“Bedroom?” You smile, tucking your bottom lip between your teeth.

“Yes. Fuck, please.” He nodded, helping you down from the counter. Your body pressed tightly to his as you slid down.

He grinned that soft, lopsided smile as you took his hand in yours pulling him out of the kitchen. He held onto you tightly as you raced up the stairs, giggling like a couple of horny teens.

Pushing your bedroom door open, you swallowed the lump that seemed to be stuck in your throat, as he hesitated at the threshold. An invitation to your bedroom meant more than just sleeping over as friends.

There was a line drawn that you were about to cross. It would mean something more, be something more.

Kissing him had been toeing the line, this would be jumping headfirst.

"Are you sure this is what you want?" He asked whether for you or him you weren't sure.

"I'm sure. I want you, Steve. I… I need you.”

He crossed the threshold, kicking the door shut behind as he entered. Closing the small distance between you in just a few short strides.

One arm snaked around your back, the other palm to your cheek, fingers extending into your hair.

He pulled your face close, nose gliding down the slope of yours as your forehead met his. You moved your hands, one to his bicep and the other on top of the hand that held your cheek.

"Say it again, please." His lips grazed your top lip as he spoke. Wanting to take your mouth fully but he needed to hear those words once more. Making sure it's what you want. Confirming you want this just as badly as he does.

"Steve, I want you. I want all of you.”

That was all it took. His lips met yours once more. A searing kiss but had you begging for more. It was sloppy, teeth and tongues clashing.

He moved forward into your space, your hips meeting his. Taking the hint, you started to walk backwards toward the bed all the while, your lips massaged across his.

When you reach the edge of the bed, he guides you back to lay down. Caging you in. Slotting himself between your thighs as he pressed his clothed length where you need it the most, rolling his hips slightly.

He suddenly stops, body a little rigid and huffs out a small laugh fanning out across your face.

“What? What is it?” Searching his features, a little dopey smile as he pinched his nose.

"Fuck. I uh…," he giggled then. "I don't have a condom; not like I've had any action in… oh I don't know. How old is Maddie, again?"

You lightly smacked his arm and laughed out as well.

It was so sweet, watching him struggle with the words but you weren't any better off.

You looked at him, all innocent eyes when you spoke.

“Thank God for birth control, right? I'm on the pill Steve. You can even cum in me, if you want.”

His dick throbbed with your words, as he buried his head into your neck and groaned.

“You can't say shit like that. I'm already so fucking hard.”

“I know, I can tell. Now take your clothes off.” Nipping lightly at his jaw.

In one swift motion, he sits back on his heels, pulling his shirt over his head. You can't help but admire his bronzed body, still kissed by the summer sun. You've seen him shirtless plenty of times, but it was like seeing him for the first time in a new light.

Your eyes follow the hair from his chest down to the top of his jeans.

“Your turn.” He smirks, as he helps you sit up, taking it upon himself to find the hem of his hoodie and pull it up slowly over your body.

The moment you can't see, hoodie up over your eyes, your chest is exposed. You hear his breath hitch just a moment before you feel his lips latch to your pert nipple. So caught off guard, you barely wrenched the fabric off of your head letting out an obscenely loud moan as he lays you back on the mattress.

“Fuck, Steve.” Your hands find his hair and tugs as he moves to the other, swirling his tongue over you. His hand glides down your soft stomach slipping past the top of your shorts.

You suck in a breath, as his fingers brush past your clit, delving between your already soaked folds making your back arch off the bed with a whine.

His mouth leaves you with a pop.

“You're soaked, honey.” He grins, pulling his hand away, placing his lips back across your chest.

“Tease,” you cry out as he smiles against your skin.

He pulls back once more, hooking his fingers into your shorts, pulling them down and tossing them somewhere across the room. He takes a moment to appreciate you. Eyes not sure where to land.

“You're so beautiful, Peach.” He hums, getting up to pull his own pants off. He unbuttons them, locking eyes with yours, pushing them and his boxers down in one swift motion.

You knew he was big, but all those rumors from high school were true, he was huge. Your mouth hung open just a little, as you watched him spit into his palm bringing it back down to tug on his stiff cock. He was long and thick, curving slightly upward. His ruddy tip leaking a pearly bead of precum, as his thumb glides over the top smearing it back down his length.

“Fuck, Steve.” The sight has your cunt clenching around nothing, aching to be filled.

He crawls back over you, pushing your thighs apart, so he can see your pussy on full display for him. Your folds glisten with your slick, making his cock kick up at the sight before him.

“All that for me? Fuck… Peach, I'm going to be honest with you. I need to feel you, I need to be inside of you but I'm probably not going to last.”

You giggle at his confession, endearing as it was.

“It's okay, I need you too. Please, just fuck me, Steve.”

Your words, your body, everything has such an effect on him. He's afraid as soon as he gets in he's going to blow his load right then and there.

He leaned in to kiss you once more. Less feverish, less needy. Languidly his lips move against yours. Tongues intertwined, tasting and taking from each other all you were willing to give.

He was leaned up on one arm by your head, reaching between you both, fingers dancing across your slit before pushing through your folds, easing into your entrance.

Your head flew back at the sudden intrusion, mouth going slack, as he began to circle your clit with his thumb pumping his fingers slightly.

“So fucking tight, I… fuck. I need you.”

He pulled his fingers away, taking hold of himself and slid it in between your folds. Bumping your clit, once, twice, three times, moaning out his name. He could die a happy man hearing you so breathless for him just for him.

He lined himself up with your entrance. The tip slightly breaching, already feeling like he's going to split you open.

He pressed in, inch by inch, already keening into him from the feeling of his girth breaching your walls, filling you completely. You moaned into each other's mouths. No longer kissing, exchanging short, labored breaths.

Your eyes were closed, relishing in the stretch, the slight burn trying to accommodate him as he bottomed out.

"Steve," you breathed out.

"Mmmm, yeah?" Almost too gone in the feeling of you.

"You can move." You giggled, as he groaned again.

"Yeah, just… I need just a minute." He breathed out, a little ragged. Trying to compose himself.

You let out a small giggle as you nodded.

"Don't, I can feel you moving when you laugh. You're clenching me.”

"Sorry, Stevie." You kissed his forehead, at the same time he moved his hips, withdrawing almost all the way before sheathing himself back in, burying himself completely.

Whatever you were about to say, died on your lips as you gasped, the feeling knocking the breath from you.

He set a pace that had you both moaning. You gripped his shoulders to ground yourself in the feeling of him.

"Oh God, Steve. Y'… You feel so good." He wasn't rushing, his pace near languid. You could feel every ridge and vein moving within your walls.

He hummed in response.

"You feel so much better than I could have imagined. So fucking tight, so fucking warm."

"You thought about this alot, hmm?" You quipped.

"Yeah, yeah. I have." He kissed your lips once more. A peck before slightly picking up the pace.

In and out. In and out. The heat in your belly started to pool. He was stimulating that spot within you with each pass, as your cunt fluttered around him.

“Fuck, are… are you close?” He hissed out, hips starting to lose their rhythm.

“Yeah, but I know you are too. Cum in me Steve.”

Your words hurdled him over the edge. His lower stomach tightened as he began to spill within you. Thick ropes of his cum painted your walls. A few more languid thrusts, he stilled. Falling forward, chests pressed impossibly close. He let his head fall in the juncture of your neck.

You reached up, fingers playing with his hair lightly at the nape of his neck.

“I'm so sorry. You… I thought you might be closer. It's just been so long, and you felt so fucking good.” Coming out a little muffled, lips pressed to your skin.

“Steve,” you pressed on his chest, “it's okay.”

“No, no. It's not. Can I taste you? I just want you to feel good too.” Sitting up, his face lit up at the prospect.

“Yeah, but you just came…”

“It's ok baby, just lay back. I'll take care of you.” His lips curled into a devilish smirk, as he finally pulled out his softening cock. His spend leaking slowly out of you, onto the sheets below.

“God, you're a mess baby.”

He pulled your legs apart, pushing himself onto the mattress, face so close to where you wanted him. His broad palm held one thigh, as he began trailing light kisses to the other.

“Please, don't tease me.” You whined, as his tongue licked a broad strip up your folds, the tip circling your clit, effectively cutting you off.

“Oh fuck, Steveeeee.” You whined out, hips bucking up, as he pushed you back down, pinning you in place.

His lips sucked your clit harshly, tongue swirling over the bundle of nerves setting you a blaze, humming as you tugged his tousled locks.

His finger circled your entrance, a mixture of his cum and your arousal making it easy to slip his finger in, pulling it back and quickly adding another.

He began pumping, then curling upward to reach that spot that would have you seeing stars in no time.

“Oh, Steve.” Breathless, as you brought your hands up to your breasts pinching your nipples. It didn't go unnoticed, as he groaned watching you.

“Fuck, your perfect,” he murmured into your pussy. Quickly pressing his tongue back to you moving rapidly, fingers continuing their assault against your frontal wall.

“Right… right there. Don't stop!” He kept the pace, lifting his eyes to watch you come undone.

Your eyes fluttered closed, brows pinched tight with concentration. You were so close now.

A few more licks and fingertips brushing that perfect spot, you gasped out. It felt like you were on fire from the inside out. It was pure bliss as those fireworks flew behind your eyes.

“That's it, baby. Come on my fingers. Come f’me.”

He worked you through it, until you had to push his mouth away.

He slowly crawled up to lay beside you as you tried to slow your heavy breathing, opening your eyes to him grinning wide, a sheen of arousal still coated his chin before he wiped it away with the back of his hand.

“Hi,” turning onto your side to face him as he does the same.

“Hi. Was… was that, ok?” He asked a little sheepishly.

“That was amazing, Stevie.” You giggled. “You might have to work on your stamina a little.”

He grabbed a pillow and threw it at you, laughing out, hauling you into his chest. The laughter subsided as you stared up at him, hand splayed over his heart.

“Peach, I hope this isn't a one-time thing… Fuck.” He rolled over on his back, covering his face with his hands, as he groaned. You could tell he was at odds with himself.

Reaching up, you tugged his wrist lightly.

“Hey, look at me. I'm not going anywhere. I'm right here. With you. You… don't regret it, do you?” Sinking into yourself at the thought.

“God no. I… I just… I'm in love with you. I think I've always been in love with you. I don't think I can go back to the way things were… if this… if you…” He closed his eyes, letting out a heavy sigh, ready for a letdown.

“I know, Stevie. I want this. I want us. You, me and Maddie. I can't imagine my life without you. I love you, Steve Harrington. I'm sorry it took me this long to realize it.”

His raised up, eyes softening at your admission. Hand coming to cradle your head, “Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Nodding, as your lips meet.

After what felt like hours of talking, he slowly fucked you into the mattress. The urgency was no longer there, and you were free to explore each other slowly.

Whispering “I love yous”, kissing, touching. Seemingly making up for lost time.

He watched you fall apart beneath him as his cock split you open, spilling inside of you once more soon after.

As you laid beside each other, coming down from your highs, he whispered in the dark.

“Can I keep you?”

Your answer came with a kiss, wanting nothing more than to always be his.

You finally pulled yourselves away from bed, thoroughly spent. Showering together and then making it back down to the kitchen for cold spaghetti, long forgotten between confessions and a love drunk haze. You made sure he got a cupcake this time.

With full bellies and full hearts, you snuggled in close to him. Pressed into his side with your head on his chest.

You were happy, with a man that you were undoubtedly in love with, jumping in headfirst.

The sun brought soft kisses in between the sheets, reluctantly untangling yourselves knowing that Robin would be dropping Maddie by soon.

You sipped coffee together and cuddled close on the couch before making breakfast. It all came so naturally for the both of you.

He couldn't keep his hands off of you. Soft touches to your lower back as he passed by. Squeezing softly at your hips as he came up behind you, pressing his lips to your temple and you couldn't get enough.

The door opened just as you were about to sit down for your meal, tiny feet running quickly through the house.

“Peachhhhh! Daddyyyy!” Maddie yelled, bounding into the kitchen. Bright eyes and chubby cheeks, as she ran straight over to you.

“Hey baby!” Hugging her tightly to your chest as you picked her up. “Did you have a good time with Bobby?”

“Yeah, she let me stay up til’ late an… an then we eat popcorn, but I missed you.” She threw her small arms around your neck.

“Hey!” Robin walked in, throwing Steve a sideways glance.

He just grinned and took a sip of coffee, looking down at his cup as his cheeks heated, turning the slightest shade of pink.

“Well?” She asked, already knowing the answer with his flustered appearance.

“Uh, yeah, Rob. We uh… finally had that talk.” He said, leaning back on the counter, smirking toward you.

“Well, we are going to talk all about this. Not right now of course. Oh my God. I can't believe you finally did it! Steve, you look really happy, and I can tell by that grin you got la…” Slapping a hand over her mouth, realizing what she almost said in front of tiny ears.

“I mean you got… lasagna… Yeah.”

“Nice save, Rob.” You snorted, sitting Maddie down as she ran over to Steve. “He did get spaghetti though.”

“Is that… is that supposed to be code for something?” She looked confused between the two of you. “You know what, never mind. I'm leaving. I'll call later. Bye Maddie!” She called over her shoulder.

You turned, grabbing your coffee and looked over to Steve and Maddie chatting away in the corner. She was telling him all about her night, with big enthusiastic giggles.

Her big hazel eyes and fluffy morning hair, mirroring his perfectly.

He was so focused on her, face lit up with every little detail he didn't notice the way you were staring at them.

A little teary eyed, you were so full of happiness as you watched them. Ready to start a new journey with these people you loved.

#steve harrington #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington fic #joe keery #steve harrington smut #steve harrington x you #steve harrington x reader smut #steve harrington x fem!reader #steve harrington x female reader #Evermore #evermore steves ending

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guessm0del · 9 months

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Little Red Riding Hood

Chapter Two: An Uninvited Guest

Summary: Living a life of caution for as long as she can remember, Y/N has never stayed too long in one place, always moving from town to town in hopes to hide her identity. With the Hunters Moon coming, she knows she must be extra careful, as the local culture resides heavily in the hunting of her kind. One night, when a cloaked figure unveils her secret and narrowly escapes, Y/N finds herself in a desperate situation: kill or be killed. With no face to go by, she must now search through the townsfolk before the stranger can spread the truth about her. But the task proves more than difficult when she realises her only lead is a long, crimson cloak.

Genre: horror, fantasy, little red riding hood retelling

Warnings: cursing, stalking, death, heavy smut (later included)

Pairing: redridinghood!Jungwon x femwolf! reader

chapter one here

chapter three here

chapter four here

Midnight air slips through the town square. The small clearing in front of the monastery lays bare, except for a small crow perched above its tallest wing, scrutinising my every move. The townspeople must be sound asleep in their warm beds. It’d be well past midnight by now, seeing as the way the moon slowly sinks across the stars. I glance to the midnight sky, cursing the way its constellations align so perfectly.

God is taunting me on this night.

He too, has seen my sin.

Perhaps he’s seen all along, and has only chosen tonight as the opportune time to tell me. Observing the empty courtyard to my left, I squint at the quiet townhouses in the distance. No red cloaks hurry through the footpaths.

The fool thinks he can hide from me.

The crow hawks a loud farewell and launches into the midnight sky. I hear it wishing me well as it passes. Smiling, I recount all the times they’ve watched on as I’ve killed the innocent. All creatures of the forest have an equal fealty to werewolves. Even birds know there are loyalties that must never be crossed.

Casting a subtle glance back to the monastery, I watch in silence as the town pastor gently closes the gates.

Shit.

Hearing him approach, I suck in an awkward breath and turn to retreat. His presence will only serve as a distraction.

He hurries forward and touches a gentle hand to my shoulder before I can turn away. “Y/N! I’ve been looking for you!”

Taking in a brief moment of freedom, I release a subtle sigh and turn to face my guest.

Pastor Mikaul has aged fairly since the last time I had seen him. His eyes droop with age, waning on the edge of exhaustion with chunks of hair that seemed to stick to his forehead like a mop.

In Mikeals mind, God was the greatest diety of all, giving sanctuary and hope to all those who send him their precious prayer.

I tilt my head to the side, observing the stern callouses that paint his palms. Some god indeed, stripping his faithful of freedom and leaving them to wander around a chapel all day like mindless fools. Blinded by their faith, High Priests in Avion spend their days locked up without a morsel of food or sunlight. They believe praying is the only thing they need to survive. I suppose it’s silly of me to judge, considering I’ve spent most of my life adapting to the shadows and living by the rules of the forest.

Pastor Mikeal makes an awkward cough as he takes his hand from my shoulder.

Cringing, I watch him shift closer, giving me a stern expression of disapproval. “The Council and I have been wondering why you haven’t been showing up to Church for our Sunday services.” He nearly whispers as he mentions the Council, pointing narrow glances to every corner of the courtyard before proceeding, “I understand your aunt is gravely ill, but perhaps praying for her good health will do better than neglecting your religious duties. You don’t want to break the Council’s trust now do you my dear?” Just as before, the old cripple goes into a hushed tone when mentioning the Council.

I suppress a smile.

Even the pastor fears them.

Under the guise of hiding a sob, I give each eye a firm pinch and wait impatiently for the tears to fall. I spend the next 10 minutes explaining my absences from church, and my dear aunts depleting health that seems to worsen each day. Waving my arms around on occasion, I weave a delicate tale of a hidden antidote, a difficult journey through the Northern treks of Rangaar, and a kind young woman trying to save her only living relative. In this story, and only in this story, I am the kind young woman. I finish my appeal with a long sob and a heartfelt apology thrown in for for his pride.

I watch through the corner of my eye as he stares uncertainly at the ground, catching the way his eyes twist in discomfort.

I’ve been a cold bitch to the him since the day Helena and I arrived in Avion. He wasn’t expecting this heartfelt reaction.

“My dear girl, if it troubles you so, let’s leave it be as it is for now…” he murmurs, briefly hesitating before giving my back a comforting pat.

I force myself into a stuttering mess. “B-but the Council will still be angry-”

“Don’t you worry about them, I’ll let the Council know of your impending troubles.” Giving me a reassuring pat on the back, he sets off in the opposite direction, leaving me to stand alone in the cold. I feel the sad expression on my face wear thin, moulding into the familiar uniformity of a nothingness.

In twelve days, when the winter solstice has begun, he will die. As will most in this town. Nothing has changed.

Our plans are still set, no matter how delayed.

I watch his figure morph into emptiness, chanting the promise once more in my mind.

They’re all going to die.

I turn to continue my hunt, finding myself pushing for any emotion, any small sign of sympathy, but all I feel is my heart sink at the knowledge that it’ll never hold more power over me than my head.

___

The South side of the forest could easily be considered the joyous reflection of the North. Complete opposites in every way.

Ever since Helena and I arrived in Avion, we’ve spent every spare hunting day covering the grounds of the North and West sides of the woods, using their confines of dark solidarity to our advantage while we hunted in secret.

The only few times I’ve needed to cross into the South was to visit Mary, who lives in a comfortable little cottage on the other side of town.

Leaves crunch beneath my feet with weary pace, leaving me to wonder if someone is actually watching me from afar or if it’s just my paranoia. I shake my head, pulling my lavender dress up to avoid a muddy branch in my path. Mary always fusses over my dresses, warning me not to get them dirty or she’ll be forced to do the one thing I hate most; make more of them. While Helena also pushes the importance of dresses as it eases the process of ‘blending in’ with the townsfolk, I’ve never been particularly fond of the discomfort a gown can bring me. Avion may be a quaint and colourful paradise in Summer and Spring, but in Winter the waters soak down through the small winded mud puddles, making it nearly impossible for any young woman to trek through the forest paths. How most Avion women bear the irritation that comes with wearing sun dresses and gowns everywhere they go, I’ll never know. Upholding the social standards of others has never been a concern of mine. Not with my situation.

I look ahead to the narrow stone path closing in, knowing I must be close. Mary usually insists I bring a map of Avion before setting off on my journey to her cottage, as the both of us know it’s not the easiest little place to find. Little does she know, I have a knack for finding people.

The crunch of leaves beneath my boots gradually soften, signalling I’m close. Mary’s cottage is situated in the centre of the most beautiful part of the forest, where the leaves in her garden shine with delicate care as though they’re watered everyday. Knowing Mary, they probably are. Small slivers of sunlight catch a small cottage coming up to my left. Hues of pink and green hover in small spaces of light above the roof. It’s almost as though Mary’s cottage is where the fairies come to congregate. That wouldn’t surprise me, honestly. I can already picture Mary welcoming them with her cinnamon cocoa and warm smile. Unlike the rest of the townsfolk, Mary has a pure heart filled with patience and compassion for the magical elements. Creatures of myth have never scared her, but that’s only because she’s never met a creature of dark magic.

She wouldn’t accept me, and as much as my affection for her stands firm, I certainly wouldn’t expect her to.

The smell of warm chocolate and pastry fills the air as I approach, pushing all thoughts of acceptance aside. Mary usually waits out the front for my arrival, fussing with my coat and boots so that I can enter comfortably, but today, she’s nowhere in sight. Making my way past the small porch steps, I take off my shoes and go to place them neatly by the door, stopping abruptly when I hear voices coming from inside. She must have a visitor. I glance to the small shoe rack by my side, searching for any shoes that mightn’t belong to Mary. I don’t see any.

Strange.

She hates it when people don’t take their shoes off before entering. Pressing my ear to the door, I listen in silence as I hear Mary’s voice accompanied by that of a males. Before I can catch what they’re saying I hear a loud crash followed by a scream.

Mary.

This was no visitor,

but rather an uninvited guest.

_____________________________________________

Authors Note:

Sheesh that took me forever haha, sorry to everyone who’s been waiting. I’m really going to try and punch out another chapter this week cause I’m getting too invested in my own story LMAO.

No fr, send help💀

Anyway hoes comment in the comment section if you want to be added to the taglist (for those that haven’t already asked)

Taglist: @ramenoil @moonmoongi

#enhypen x female reader #enhypen x reader #enhypen fanfiction #enhypen smut #heeseung smut #heeseung x reader #jungwon smut #jungwon x reader #enhypen jungwon #enhypen fluff #enhypen hard thoughts #enhypen imagines

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fivestar-outlaw · 10 months

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New Horizons (Park Seonghwa) (Ch. 2)

Chapter 2: Wishes

Pairing: Park Seonghwa x Fem!Reader

Words: 3.2K+

Warning(s): Mentions of rude customers, MC is stressed(tm), use of time jumps

A/N: Chapter 2 is here! I hope you guys enjoy it. I think its my favorite of the four <3 Not much else to say other than tadaaa and thank you for the love for the first chapter.

Reader is implied to be living in the US bc uh TIMEZONES ARE FUCKY and i didnt realize how reliant i was on mine (PST) when looking up KST

Summary: Attempting an all-nighter while playing Animal Crossing alongside your bias, you didn't expect your turnip prices to be such a high amount... nor did you expect Park Seonghwa to actually accept your offer to sell his turnips on your island.

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You got out of your last class for the day in the afternoon and ready to get your shift done at the bookstore next. It was a warm Thursday but you were glad it was slowly starting to cool off. Shifting your bag your shoulder you pull out your phone and see you got a message while in class. You smile and press the kakaotalk app. Seonghwa had sent you a message.

'Good afternoon for you, (Y/N). I just woke up. I hope classes have been well.' Followed by a cute emote of a cat yawning in bed.

After inviting Seonghwa to your island to sell turnips and take Marshal, you two began playing together. This was initiated by him, saying that he wanted more Animal Crossing friends. You and him swapped gifts for a few days in the game when he asked if you'd like to message through kakaotalk and here you both were now. At first most of your conversations pertained to Animal Crossing but gradually it shifted to you two learning about each other and talking.

And not just over text either.

When Seonghwa learned you were learning Korean he offered to help you out with verbal conversations if you helped him with English. At first you wanted to decline since you knew he would be busy and the time zones would make it difficult. He talked you into it, however, saying on the weekend when he has a shorter practice day and on your Friday nights when you could stay up layer you'd both video chat to show the progress you've both made for the week. Though, soon that would lead to sporadic video chats when either of you had free time.

'Good morning to you. I just got done with classes and I'll be heading to work in an hour. :)'

You replied and a few moments later he responded.

'Want to have a quick video call before I need to leave for practice?'

'Sure, let me find a spot to sit at.' You quickly found a small picnic table in the shade under a tree and put in your earphones. You hit the video call button and wait for him to pick up.

The screen shifted and you see his face. He seems to be at his deak with his phone set up to perfectly capture his face. You could faintly hear his Animal Crossing game in the background. You couldn't help but chuckle at that.

"Hey, Seonghwa. How did you sleep?" You greeted.

"Hello, (Y/N). I slept good." He smiled. "Were classes good today?"

"A bit boring. We just did lectures today and got a good chunk of reading to do for homework. Did you have breakfast yet?"

"I grabbed something small." You watch as he reaches over off screen and he holds up a bowl of cereal in one hand and an apple in the other. "I'll pick up more food when we get to the building." He lightly chuckled.

"Ah, yeah. I was running behind so I didn't have much to eat this morning." You saw him give you a playful scold. "But I'll be sure to pick up something at the café by my job. I have some left overs from last night that my roommate made for us that I am looking forward to after my shift."

"Oh, Redd is at my island and the real artwork is one I already have, the beautiful statue, do you want it?"

"That would be great, Seonghwa. I am missing that one. Man, it seems like Redd really likes visiting your island. He rarely ever comes to mine."

"Well, you've been having the better turnip-"

"Hyung!" Three loud, distinctive voices cut him off and soon you're seeing San, Mingi, and Wooyoung bust in behind him. Seonghwa was clearly flustered as he stared at you then looked back at the three men in his room.

You haven't gotten to speak to the other Ateez members before, nor were you ever begging or asking to. You'd let your friend decide when you'd be introduced to them. Seonghwa frequently mentioned the antics Ateez gets up to and he's mentioned that he has brought you up to them before. You were curious to see how this video call would go.

"Is that (Y/N)?" You see Mingi bend down into frame, looking at the phone. Wooyoung and San crowd around the elder male, who's ears were turning red.

"She is pretty, hyung." Your faces flushes with warmth when you hear Wooyoung not so quietly say. You smile though when you hear his words.

"It's nice to meet you finally. Seonghwa-hyung is always talking about you." San smiled brightly next to a mortified looking Seonghwa.

You chuckle, "It's nice to meet you three too! I hope you've heard all good things."

"Only good things. Hyung never shuts up about you." Wooyoung said playfully, rolling his eyes.

"Want to swap KaTalks?" Mingi asked while already pulling his phone out. San and Wooyoung quickly follow suit.

"Hey-!" Seonghwa tried to speak but the youngest in the room cut him off.

"We want to talk to and get to know (Y/N) too, hyung. And she can help us with our English. Right, (Y/N)?" Woo smiled at you and you can see a hint of mischievousness in his expression.

"Will the schedule Seonghwa and I have for those work for-"

"Yes, it would." San interrupts. "So KaTalk?"

You simply chuckle and immediately exchange numbers with them. You start to see notifications pop up on your screen of them texting you their names and emotes as well.

"Let's be friends." Mingi excitedly said with San nodding along.

"I look forward to talking to you guys."

"I look forward to talking to hyung's pretty friend-"

"Okay, out you three." Seonghwa cut Woo off and glared at the three of them as he stood up from his chair. You watch him shoo San, Wooyoung, and Mingi away, who were all very vocal in wanting to stay in his room and talk to you. You heard the door close loudly and then see Seonghwa sit back down in front of his phone. His ears, cheeks, and the sides of his neck were blushing.

"They seem fun." You tease.

"Try living with them. I'd never get peace if Woo was living in the dorm too." He rolled his eyes but still kept a soft expression. "I do love them despite the teasing."

"So you talk about me to them?"

"W-well, yeah. I consider you a friend and all-"

"Seonghwa!" Suddenly you heard Hongjoong's voice in the call. "Woo told us you were speaking to your game friend!"

You see Hongjoong and Yeosang flank Seonghwa and kneel on the ground while Jongho and Yuhno stand behind them, leaning down a bit to be in frame. The eldest male looked so embarrassed as they started to greet you and asking you to exchange numbers, making sure to tell you how much Hwa has mentioned you.

----------

It was late one Friday evening as you got home from work. You were feeling especially exhausted from dealing with rude customers and from staying up late the night before getting homework done. Your professors must be collaborating to make your homework levels as stressful as possible with all the assignments on top of the readings and the studying for finals next week.

And you swear customers must have planned to be the worst this week with their rudeness or staying in the store way past closing. Today alone you had a lady almost hit you with a book she tossed directed at your head and had a group of teens stay an hour past closing trying to see if they could stay in the store over night.

It hasn't been a good week. You've been so tired and drained, you've hardly been able to really communicate with Seonghwa or the rest of Ateez at all.

You slowly trudged to your room, saying hello and goodnight to your roommate on the way there. You wanted nothing more than to get into comfier clothes and sleep, but you knew your mind was too stressed to fall asleep immediately. Maybe some catching up on youtube or some Animal Crossing will help.

You close your room door and immediately toss your bag in the corner. You quickly grab some clothes to relax in before peeling off the outfit you'd been wearing all day. Almost instantly you felt some of the tension leave your body. You let out a sigh and roll your neck, stretching your limbs in hopes it'll help.

Your phone started ringing.

You look at the screen and see that it was Wooyoung wanting to video call.

Despite it two months since you got to officially meet the rest of Ateez, you were close with all the boys. Though, outside of Seonghwa, you talked with Wooyoung and San the most. Both were very sweet with you and you appreciated them and Seonghwa in integrating you into their friend group with ease.

You go and sit down at your desk and press answer, but didn't turn your camera on. You see Woo and San. They seemed to be outside somewhere, snacking on something. Both smiled.

"Ah, turn on your camera. We haven't seen or heard from you all week." Woo pouted. You really didn't want them to see how haggard you look, but you've come to learn you couldn't say no to him.

"Fine." You say, dragging out the word. You tap the button and see you are now on camera. Bother either could speak you sigh, "I know, I look like a mess. I just got home ten minutes ago."

"Weren't you supposed to get off an hour ago?" San's brows scrunch in concern.

"You look really tired, (Y/N). Are you taking care of yourself?" Woo's voice was gentle. "Have you eaten yet?"

"It's...been a hard week." You bite your bottom lip, feeling tears sting your eyes. "Just a lot of school work and then bullshit from customers. I'm just happy its the weekend tomorrow for me."

"Do you want to cancel the language catch-up lessons?" You felt your heart drop at Sannie's question. "Practice ended a few minutes ago, we just wanted a moment on the roof the relax. After we are done up here we are going back to the dorms soon, we can let the others know for you if that's the case."

"I'm sorry guys. I completely forgot." You couldn't help prevent the tears from finally spilling over.

"No, (Y/N), don't cry." Woo coos. You hastily wipe the tears and make sure to take steady, deep breaths.

"Don't worry about today, yeah? It's okay, we understand." San's kindness and his smile made you feel a little better. "The others will understand."

"Thank you both." You shakily say with a wet smile. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cry-"

"Don't apologize for that." Wooyoung tsk'd. "I wish we were there, I would be giving you a big hug right now."

"Me too, (Y/N)." Sannie spoke, his tone and face exuding sweetness.

"I wish you all were here too."

"Now go eat something. We'll let the others know about tonight." The younger male smiled.

"And we won't tell everyone the details either. Just that it was a tiring week for you." San assures. "Take care of yourself, (Y/N), and remember all of us are here for you."

"You both take care too. Thank you again."

They both smile and wave. The call ended and you let out a soft sigh, feeling a little better. You sit at your desk a little longer just to further decompress from the day. You were mindlessly scrolling on social media for a bit, letting your brain shut off.

---

Wooyoung and San returned to the dance studio a few minutes after their call with you ended. When they walked through the door they saw the others lounging around on the ground, some looking at their phones while others chatted.

"Woo and Sannie are back!" Mingi grinned and got up from the floor. "Now we can head home and talk to (Y/N)."

The two glanced at each other and then back at the others, who were getting up and grabbing their things to leave.

"We actually talked to (Y/N) while we were up on the roof." Wooyoung started. Seonghwa perked up when he heard they spoke with you. He and the others haven't heard much from you this week, which had them a bit worried.

"Is she alright?" The eldest couldn't help but ask, stepping closer to them. Everyone else looked at each other with knowing looks at his concern.

"She can't do the usual language lessons today. She told us she hasn't had a good week so we suggested she just rest tonight." San said. Everyone pulled out their phones and sent various supportive messages to the group chat you were in.

"That's too bad. I hope she is fine." Hongjoong crooned.

"She will be. Like we said, it was just a rough week." Woo nodded, his lips quirked up in a smile. "She needs rest."

"Let's get back to the dorms then." Hongjoong clapped his hands together.

Everyone let out several spunds of acknowledgment and started making their way out of the dance room to the garage to go home. Seonghwa lingered a bit, still looking at his phone before following the others at the back of the group. Wooyoung decided to move to the back with him to walk along side him.

"Are you messaging her?" The younger male asked.

"Yeah, she and I are going to video call and play Animal Crossing when we get back to the dorm and after she eats dinner." Seonghwa hummed, typing a few more things before putting his phone in his pocket.

"You care for her, don't you, hyung?" Woo's voice got lower so the others couldn't hear them.

"I do." Hwa smiled sincerely.

"Do you like her?"

"Of course I do. She's been nothing but a good friend."

"No, I mean as in you have a crush on her." Seonghwa looked to the younger males face, trying to discern if he was teasing him but saw nothing of the sort.

"No, I don't, Woo." The older male said softly. Wooyoung eyed him, but decided not to speak further on the matter. He could recognize Hwa was telling some truth, but he also could tell his friend wasn't completely aware of his budding feelings.

Wooyoung wasn't stupid and neither were the others.

Everyone else began picking up small things that gave it away. Seonghwa has gotten very happywhenever you two texted or video called. Whenever they took breaks during rehearsal, he'd immediately check his phone for any messages. He'd often laugh and tell the others a funny story you told him about your day before you told any of the others. Overall, he just seemed very happy.

And they were happy for him.

The boys were obviously wary at first and had expressed this to Seonghwa. He assured them that you've been nothing but genuine to him. And after them getting to know you on their own they came to that same conclusion. They just hoped Hwa could come to terms with his underlying crush and Woo hoped you could as well.

Only Wooyoung knew you had feelings for his oldest hyung and he hoped the two of you wouldn't drive him crazy.

---

The second Seonghwa walked through the door to his dorm, he immediately rushed into his room to wash up. He grabbed some comfier clothes and walked back into the shared space were Mingi and San were.

"I'll shower first." He smiled to them and didn't wait for an answer as he went into the bathroom. Mingi and San looked at each other before smiling while shaking their heads.

Seonghwa took the quickest shower he has ever taken. He felt less sweaty, clean, and relaxed from practice. He rentered his room and booted up his switch before he unlocked his phone. He sent a quick text telling you to call him when you were ready then got his phone set up for the video call. He did some fishing and bug catching as he waited.

When he heard the ringtone he quickly answered it.

You seemed to be lying on your stomach with your phone propped up at an angle, your switch in your hands. Seonghwa could see exhaustion clear on your face and he could see some puffiness to your eyes. Concern immediately filled his being.

"Hello, (Y/N). I'm sorry the week hasn't been kind to you." He crooned.

"How much did Woo and Sannie tell you?" There was almost a hint of worry in your voice.

"Only that it was a tiring week and you needed some rest." He gently smiled. "If... you want to talk about it, I am here for you. Only if you want to of course, don't feel like you have to share."

"It wasn't anything major. I've just been assigned a lot of homework, finals are next week, and customers have been a nightmare to deal with." You exhale. "I think today, though, stole the show with rude customers."

"What happened?"

"A lady tossed a book at me because we wouldn't accept it as a return and then some teens made me stay an hour late after closing because they wanted to hide in the store over night." You snort at the absurdity of it.

"I am so sorry its been hard for you. At least your weekend starts now."

"At least I get to play Animal Crossing with you. My mind hasn't been able to relax yet- Oh! And there is a meteor shower happening on my island!" Your face lit up and Seonghwa attempted to ignore the flutter in his chest. "Let me open up the airport for you so you can get some wishes too."

Seonghwa quickly had his avatar fly over to your island.

"Enough about me. How have you been, Hwa?" You lead him to a good vantage point on your island to wish on stars.

"The week has been good. We are practicing a lot for the various performances coming up and we've all been working hard. Sannie almost started a fire in the kitchen." He smiled when he heard you chuckle at that. "I'm glad to see you again, (Y/N)."

"I'm glad too. Sorry for being inactive-"

"You don't have to apologize for that. Life gets busy, we all understand. I just hope things in your life get less stressful for you."

"I'm already feeling better talking and playing Animal Crossing with you, Hwa."

"Good."

"Anything else happen this week? I know you can't say specifics but any antics with the guys?"

Seonghwa smiled as he focused on making his avatar make wishes. "Well, Jongho's been progressing nicely with his vocal training and practice. You didn't hear this from me, but he's been wanting to do a video call with you to show you that. Wooyoung and I did a home-cooked dinner for everyone on Wednesday this week. We all wished you could have joined for that. Hongjoong, Mingi, Wooyoung, and Yeosang engaged in a brief prank war from Monday to Tuesday. I had to put an end to it when the rest of us became collateral. And then Yuhno and San put together everyone in teams for a small free style dance battle..."

He was about to continue on but when he glanced back up at his phone, he saw that you had fallen asleep. His features soften at how adorable you looked, one arm supporting your head while the other outstretched with your Switch still in your loose grasp. He could faintly hear soft snores from your parted lips.

Seonghwa felt a tightness in his chest. He could feel his face and ears flushing with warmth. These are things that he has experienced lately when talking with you. His mind suddenly went back to Wooyoung's earlier question, making his eyes widen.

Oh.

Taglist: @stopeatread @hee0soo @pocketjoong-reads @seonghwaddict @tridkeys

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the-sky-queen · 3 months

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Avatar the Last Airbender theories I had that turned out to be false

So unlike literally everyone else, I didn't grow up with ATLA and discovered it sometime when I was in high school. Can't remember exactly when. Because of this, I created a few theories as I was watching for the first time, trying to predict where the show would go. All of these ended up being completely wrong, but they're fun, so I thought I'd share them!

Zhao becomes the Firelord

Sooooo funny story with this one. I actually had two exposures to ATLA before I actually watched it and one of them was THE SERIES FINALE. I didn't see the whole thing, but I did catch a huge chunk of the ending. So before I even started watching officially, I knew Zuko was gonna be a good guy, which is why I never gave up on him. XD This also means that I got to see Ozai's FACE.

Ozai doesn't show his face in book 1, and by the time I started watching, I'd forgotten what Ozai's voice sounded like. I also had very little idea of who I'd seen Aang fighting in the finale was in the first place. So I kinda took one look at Zhao and said "YES. HIM." The theory went like this:

Zhao slowly climbs the ranks of the Fire Nation over the course of the series, growing more and more power hungry as time goes on. Eventually, he gets to the point where he overthrows/assassinates Ozai and becomes the new Firelord. Aang has to fight him in the finale and Zuko has to take the throne that's rightfully his back.

Imagine my disappointment when Zhao got eaten in the book 1 finale. XD I was so convinced of this theory that I didn't even believe he was really gone for a looong time after this.

2. Zuko is a Double-Bender

Remember the Blue Spirit episode? Of course you do. Well, there's this split second clip as Zuko's rescuing Aang where he picks up a bucket of water and splashes it on a guard or something. I completely missed the bucket on my first watch of this episode and concluded that whoever this Blue Spirit guy was, he was a Water Bender. I then proceeded to get my mind absolutely BLOWN when I realized the Blue Spirit was actually Zuko. I started going crazy with theories that Zuko was secretly a Fire Bender AND a Water Bender. Hence, a Double-Bender. I asked a friend about this theory of mind and she sadly debunked it for me. However, this is still my favorite ATLA theory to this day and I have an entire AU centered around it. One day I'll get around to actually writing it.

3. Jet is a major recurring character

So the other time that I got ATLA spoilers before watching it was when I accidentally half-watched most of Jet's introductory episode. The friend I was with at the time groaned in annoyance at Jet, leading me to believe that he showed up A LOT and he was the worst thing this show had to offer. I fully expected Jet to pop up ALL THE TIME and make a nuisance of himself. I was relieved to discover he doesn't come in nearly as much as I thought he would.

4. Ba Sing Se stuff

Rapid fire round! I thought a lot of things about everything that happened in Ba Sing Se:

Team Avatar all get brainwashed by the Dai Lee except for like Sokka or someone, who then becomes wanted by the entire brainwashed city and has to figure out how to reverse all this.

Zuko happily lives out the rest of his days with Uncle Iroh at the tea shop and never runs into Team Avatar again.

5. Azula alone

Team Avatar frees the entire city of the brainwashing. Specifically Joo Dee.

Yeah, I thought all of Ba Sing Se was brainwashed, not just some people.

I was 100% convinced that Mai and Ty Lee were going to betray Azula at some point during book 2 and then join Team Avatar. I guess this kinda happened? Kinda?

Aaaaand this is all I can think of for now. I'll make another post if I think of more theories I had, but this is about it. :)

#Sky Queen #avatar the last airbender #ATLA #General Ozai #Zuko #Aang #Sokka #Azula #Double-Bender Zuko #ATLA theory

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sunnygrey99 · 10 months

Text

Honey, Smoke, Lemon, and Oak Pt. 2

~Trigger Warning: Typical TLOU warnings. (minors DNI) If any other Triggers apply please let me know.~

Story Warnings: Angst, Fluff, Violence, Murder, Death, Smut

A/N: I gave reader a nickname to kind of play around with it. so far both chapters are pretty lighthearted but it will start to get darker in the next few chapters. This is going to be between 9 and 20 chapters. Idk where this story is going exactly so strap in. If you catch any grammar or spelling mistakes please feel free to either PM me or comment. I don't have a beta reader.

Wordcount: 2,947

Summary: Plus size!Reader is a Beekeeper and Medical Scientist living in Jackson. A simple meeting of a new friend slowly becomes so much more. Reader is immune. Reader is given a nickname. (This fic will have very dark tones though out. This deals with the unfortunate reality that men do disgusting things to women regardless of the world having ended. All chapters will include warnings and tag warnings. Please take care in reading.)

The sun rose slowly over the hills and trees as you sleepily walked around the kitchen. Already dressed and ready for spending the day in your barn. It doubles as storage and a lab. It’s where you spend a good chunk of time making any medications you can for the town. Some are more from just herbs and others are straight from a pharmacologist textbook. Luckily even in an apocalyptic world you had or could find the resources to make more modern medicines.

As you pour some fresh lemonade into a glass and bite into some toast you hear a knock at the door. You weren’t expecting anyone specific today so your body froze for a moment, hand hovering over the knife on your hip. Another knock comes to the door and you slowly approach and peep through the small window on the door. It was Joel and a young girl. Quickly you unlock the door and swing it open with a smile on your face. “Hey Mr.Miller! How are you settling in?”

“We are settling in alright, ready to get started on that barn of yours. Brought Ellie here too, hope thats alright.” He pats Ellie’s back before turning his attention back to you.

“That is absolutely fine, Its good to meet you Ellie, I’m Bunny.” You held out your hand to the younger girl. She shook it enthusiastically with a smile.

“Joel said you made all that stuff in the basket, It was so good!” Her energy levels this early in the morning nearly made you want to turn around and close the door, but she was being so sweet. “Do you have a bunch of bees here? Joel said you harvest the honey yourself, do you have one of those bee suits?”

Her questions were only slightly overwhelming due to the early morning. Sighing with a smile you nod, “I can show you later. I don’t really need the suit anymore for my hives but you will definitely need to wear it to meet the bees.” You look from her to Joel hoping to have his approval as well. Ellie doing the same.

He looks between the two hopeful faces and nods, “Lets take a look at that barn first so I can get started and I’ll let you off the hook. You gotta promise to listen to Miss Bunny here and be safe.” He fixes Ellie with a stern look before she nods back.

You can’t help but smile at the two before sliding out the door yourself and starting to lead them through the garden and back to the large barn at the back of the property. Hidden behind apple and lemon trees sits the old red building. It looks to be only held up by the few sturdy poles and one side of the barn is starting to cave in slightly. You hear a low whistle come from behind you and a “Holy shit” in a hushed tone from Ellie.

“I know she doesn’t look great but I’ve at least kept her standing for the last few years.” Your turn to look at the pair sheepishly. “I’ve lived here since I was 18. There was a big storm about 3 years ago and nearly took the barn out. I’ve tried fixing it but I know nothing about construction.”

Joel moves about the side of the building and scratches at the back of his head. “I’m surprised shes still standing at all. I mean no offense by that its just the damage itself looks pretty extensive and this is just the outside.”

“I take no offense to it Mr. Miller, If you can fix it I’d greatly appreciate it. Its a pretty important building. Not only to me but to the town too.” You go to lead him inside to show him. He and Ellie follow with some confusion. As you slide open the big door the building creaks and whines. Its only supports wanting to finally give in and the newer ones you’ve placed taking the rest of the weight. One side of the building is purely food and medical storage for the town that has yet to be transported to the clinic and town kitchen. The other half looks like a fully functional lab. Beakers and jars everywhere on chemistry desks that look to have been taken either from a high school or college science room. “Please forgive the mess I was going to make more rounds of antibiotics and saline fluid bags for the clinic today.”

“You can MAKE the medicine?” Ellie’s excitement launches her into a million questions after you nod. The list of questions just keep pouring out about how you do it and what do you use. How long it takes and do you use this tool? She leaves no room for you to answer any of it so your mouth just hangs open slightly waiting for a moment to answer any of it. That is if you can remember any of the questions.

Joel seems to catch on quickly to what is happening and he decides to speak up, “Ellie quit with all the questions give her time to answer.” He has an eyebrow raised at her as she stops. “And put that down. Don’t need ya gettin’ hurt.” She puts the flint lighter back down on the counter with a pointed look at Joel and then gives you an apologetic look and a soft apology.

You take a deep breath and take the next 30 minutes to go over some of Ellie’s questions as Joel continues his inspection. He takes notes on every major fix that needs done only pausing every few minutes to make sure Ellie doesn’t go off on another tangent. The only reason you stop answering Ellie’s questions is Joel coming over to show you his list.

“Are you sure we can’t just knock it down and rebuild it? The is going to be even more work and take a lot longer if we don’t just start over.” He looks sympathetic as he notices your features drop from the excitement of talking with Ellie to that familiar sadness in his own eyes.

A small sigh escapes you, “I’m sorry we don’t have the recourses to spare to fully rebuild it. And even if we did I don’t think I could say goodbye to this barn. Like I said its important to me. Do you think its stable enough to fix?” You look to him a hope he’ll say yes.

He takes the list back and sucks in a breath. Before the world had ended he would have said no and still suggested to rebuild it instead. He took another look over at the supports you added in yourself and the roof and wall sagging in, the window at this point completely missing. The air he held in his lungs releases again as he looks back to you, “With your supports added in… I can fix that.”

Its only an hour later that Joel returns with a truck full of materials, tools, and Tommy to assist with getting started. Ellie insisted on staying with you to learn more about what you did and help with the days chores. The last 16 years you had done it all yourself so it took a lot of convincing from both Ellie and Joel to accept. He and Tommy were unloading the truck next to the barn when you approached the two with a tall cool glass in each hand. Ellie still content harvesting green beans in the garden. “Tommy, Mr. Miller Thanks for all this.” She handed each of them their drinks.

Tommy immediately drinking the refreshing liquid and Joel watching to see what it might be. He simply nods to Joel to drink. He hesitantly takes a sip and is surprised to find its sweet tea and mint. He takes another bigger gulp of the amber drink. “It’s no problem Miss Bunny, Thank you for the tea and all the food you gave us. Its very kind of you. Ain’t had anything this good in decades.”

Tommy’s eyes widen and he gives an incredulous look at his brother before Bunny is talking again. “That’s very kind thank you…I’ll uh leave you guys to it then if you need anything I’ll be with Ellie in the garden.” You smile at the two and start walking back to help Ellie who is already excitedly talking and trying to show you her haul of green beans.

Joel watches for a moment as he continues to sip the tea in hand. It’s not till he hears a cough from next to him that he snaps out of his trance and looks back at his brother who’s still giving him a look. “What? What’s that look for?”

“Miss Bunny?” He gestures to the woman across the property.

Joel looks from his brother back to her and then back to his brother, “Yeah? What about it? I’m just bein’ friendly. You told me when we got here these were all good people and to be nice. So I am.”

Tommy gives him another pointed look, “That ain’t just bein’ nice, you are flirting. And you are horrible at it. And you let her call you Mr. Miller. You ain’t ever let anyone call you that.”

“I ain’t flirtin’…” Joel gives his brother a fixed look back. “I ain’t…”

“You don’t sound so sure to me.” Tommy ignores his brother’s huffs and continues unloading the truck and assisting his brother in repairs for the rest of the day.

It’s nearly sundown when you and Ellie wrap up making dinner after spending the first part of the day doing chores around the farm. As reserved as you are she found a way to weasel into your heart quickly. You chalk it up to having been so lonely the last few years only having a real friendship with Maria and Tommy. You are friendly with the other people in town but you don’t feel the need to go any further in getting to know them. Ellie excitedly talks your ear off as the two of you set up the dinner on the picnic table outside, Tommy and Joel approach as they each wipe the sweat from their faces.

“What’s all this?” Tommy asks as they reach the table.

“We cooked dinner! Bunny showed me a bunch of stuff on cooking with seasoning. Did you know she makes her own seasonings too? Like she makes everything from scratch not much of it is found from outside the walls.” Ellie’s broad smile gives you more hope for a future where people can heal and go back to a more normal way of life.

“Well that’s awesome, Sorry I can’t stay. Gotta get back to Maria.” Tommy gives your arm a reassuring squeeze.

You chuckle lightly, “That's alright I already figured as much. We made enough for you to take back with you for Maria too. I know how much she likes roasted chicken and veggies.” You pull another weaved basket from the bench and hand it to Tommy. “I also put one of those cakes she likes so much in there.”

“You are a saint, Ya’ll have a wonderful dinner. I’ll be back to help Joel again in a couple days.” With a quick goodbye to everyone Tommy is in his truck and back on his way home.

It isn’t long before the three of you were sitting and chatting about the day and how they are liking Jackson so far. Plates full of food and glasses full of more Sweet Tea.

“So are you going to be going to the school they have here or just jumping straight into a trade?” You take another bite of your veggies as you wait for Ellie to answer.

She rolls her eyes and sinks a little as she answers, “Joel said I have to do school until I’m at least 17. But I think I can just hop in on patrol. It’s not like I’ll use any of that other stuff.”

You couldn’t help but giggle slightly, “Yeah I thought that growing up too. I actually ended up using it a lot. Especially my science courses. Without knowing any of that and math I wouldn’t be able to make medicine for the town or hell even farm.”

“But don’t you just put seeds in the ground and water them?” She seems genuine in her question which made it all the more obvious her previous education was probably more so rooted in survival and combat.

Joel beat you to the answer, “Its a lot more complicated than that Ellie. A lot more steps most rural schools use to have year long classes around just farming not to mention cattle care and environmental sciences.” Ellie looks to you for confirmation.

Conversation continued to flow the rest of the way through dinner. As you started cleaning up Ellie and Joel followed in suit behind you. The way back into the house just barely still being lit up the quickly descending sun. Turning on the lights as you set the final dishes in the sink to be washed later you spoke back up, “Thanks again for doing this Joel. You don’t understand how much it means to me that the barn sticks around.”

“Well I’ll do my best. I wasn’t lyin’ when I said it would take a while to fix. Even if I’m here all day everyday it’ll take 2 months at a minimum.” Joel’s response sure and confident.

“It’s worth it in the end. Which brings me to the next order of business. Your payment.” You disappear past the archway into your living room.

“You've already given us so much ain’t no need to give us anything else.” Him and Ellie follow you into the living room of the ranch style home.

“Non-sense, you both have put in more than 8 hours of work. Thats worth more than just some food.” You pulled the boxes from the coffee table and handed one to each of them. “I would have given you each more if I knew Ellie was coming to work too. So its not much but its better than what I know they probably left you with in that old house.”

Ellie opened hers first and pulls the fabric from the box. “Whoa did you make this? Its so soft!”

You smile at the girl’s reaction. “I did. These are only summer quilts. They’ll keep you more cool through the night but still have some weight to them. Makes you feel just a little bit safer at night.”

Joel opened his and ran his hand over the fabric. It looked like it was made from new fabric too. Plain colors like Ellie’s his in dark greens and creams versus the deep reds and grays of hers. All Joel could do was thank you and have Ellie do the same before parting ways for the night and heading home.

~~~

Joel spent that night covered in the new blanket. He fell asleep much faster than he had in years and without the need of medication and booze. She was right. The weight of the blanket did make him feel just a little bit safer. Him and Ellie would spend the next 2 months going through the same routine of waking up and helping you with chores around the farm. However some days you insisted you still needed to make some of the medications for the town. Joel and Ellie would respect that however both refused days off and would still do what they could to help you. If you were working in the barn they would spend the day transporting what needed taken to the clinic and town kitchen.

You had gotten use to Ellie’s constant company and enjoyed teaching her all about your farm and the bees. Before long you dreaded the goodbye at the end of the night. You’d draw out dinner as long as you could. Sometimes simply enjoying sitting silently listening to Ellie go on about one of her particular interests or tell funny stories about Joel over the time the two have known each other. You loved most the way he’d poke little jokes back at her and tell his own short stories of Ellie. The look each of them had in their eyes while talking with each other. Joel’s looks of proud father and Ellie’s smug look that can only be a result of father daughter bonding. It felt good to be a part of it, but all good things come to an end. Tonight was the last night Joel and Ellie would both be there. Ellie was going to start school tomorrow.

It was Joel that finally decided it was time to head home for the day. “Alright kiddo. I think we’ve stayed long enough. You have school tomorrow.”

Ellie puts on her signature pout. “Fine. But I can come over after school again tomorrow?”

Joel looks back over to you in a quiet question. You nod to him that its up to him. “Alright but bring your homework and do that first before to do anything else.”

Ellie groans and you all start standing from the table. “Alright well I guess I’ll just give you guys the weekly payment and then let you go for the night.” You pulled the same basket you’d been giving to the pair weekly with extra goodies back out and handed it to Joel. Your hands brushing against each other as you hand off the basket. You lead the two to the front door and lean against the frame as you bid them a goodnight.

Part 3

If you would like to be tagged in my works please feel free to message me and let me know who/what fandoms you’d like to be tagged in. I plan to write for at least The Walking Dead, Shameless(US), Marvel(MCU and Comics), DC(All), Teen Wolf and The Last of Us

#reader insert #long reads #potentially triggering #joel miller x y/n #joel miller x you #joel miller x reader #joel miller #ellie williams #maria miller #tommy miller #the last of us #tlou #jackson settlement #plus size reader

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bleach-boyz · 9 months

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Chapter 3: Poo Diving

prev. // next

In the weeks following the party, you and Dico slowly got more furniture, and soon your apartment was almost resembling one that real adults would live in. Almost.

That apartment became one of the most common places to go for hangouts due to almost everyone else still living with their parents. You’d occasionally host parties there too, but you’d insist on moving all the breakable furniture to yours and Dico’s rooms before people got there.

You’d planned to invite your downstairs neighbors again to the next party you’d thrown, but in the weeks leading up to it, you’d noticed a woman entering and exiting their apartment almost every day. Dico later found out after talking to the other neighbor that the one you’d slept with had a girlfriend, and that was the woman who was there all the time. You felt so ashamed and annoyed by this that the next day you waited outside for the woman to show up so you could tell her what happened. Needless to say, you never interacted with that guy again beyond an awkward pass on your way in or out of the apartment building.

You begged Dico not to tell the guys about that whole situation, but the group wasn’t very good at keeping their lips sealed over another person’s embarrassment. The crew teased you for a while, but soon everyone forgot about it. There was always something new to make fun of someone for.

The rest of 96’ and 97’ was mainly just a blur of partying and the same shit y’all always got up to. You’d finished a full year at West Chester University and immediately decided to drop out, not finding any fulfillment in your time there. You didn’t aspire to be a doctor or lawyer or anything that required a degree; you were totally fine having a day job and spending the rest of your time having fun with your friends. Your parents didn’t really care either, because you were making enough from the record store job to support yourself, and they trusted your judgment, which you were extremely grateful for.

1998 was the year that things started ramping up for the crew because that was the year that Jess officially formed his band, CKY. A new member of the band and friend group was a guy named Chad, whom you actually started dating after hanging out for a few weeks. He was six years older than you, which was a little weird at first, but you clicked really well. Plus, you’d never had a serious partner before, so you thought you might as well try it out. The boys would occasionally ask you inappropriate questions about your sex life because they couldn’t help themselves, but surprisingly, they mostly left you alone about it. It was just the new normal.

In terms of everyone else’s relationships, that same year Bam started dating Jenn, who you got along with easily. Jenn had actually been a friend of your older brother’s back when they were in high school, so you recognized her immediately when you first met. The two of you would go out to dinner or the movies every now and then to have a more normal, chill night without the boys. The rest of the crew were just sort of in and out of random relationships, none of which were particularly noteworthy.

Bam had also decided to take on an extremely ambitious project in 98’, which was to make a film compiled of the crew’s skate tricks and stunts while featuring CKY’s music. It was basically just a longer version of the videos you all had been making for years, and you spent a large chunk of your free time helping film and edit material for the project. You made it into the film a few times, including a stunt where you skated down a tiny half pipe straight into a brick wall, but admittedly you liked working behind the scenes a little bit more. You particularly liked sitting with Bam at his desk, going through hours of footage, and helping him execute his fast-paced editing style that would become unique to all his future videos and films.

It was the first CKY film’s release in early 1999 that really ushered you and the crew into a new, crazy chapter of your life. Instead of just being stared at on occasion in West Chester, people were starting to come up and talk to you all at random places and even buy you drinks. The popularity of the film, in combination with Bam’s steadily rising level of fame as a skater, also meant that he was getting sponsorship offers and calls from all sorts of people wanting to work with him. But it was after the more widespread release and popularity of CKY2K the next year that he was approached for MTV’s Jackass.

After Bam had been flown out to LA and talked to the creators behind the show, it was no question that you’d all be participating in its making. Bam had explained that it was being made by people who worked at Big Brother Magazine, which you were all already familiar with and fans of ever since Bam had been featured in it for his skating. That, combined with the fact that you’d be getting paid not only with money but with exposure, was enough to get you on board. You’d made an okay amount from CKY2K’s sales, and MTV wasn’t exactly promising to pay you much, but getting money and recognition for the thing you enjoyed doing the most was all anyone could really ask for. Bam was the only one who was really getting paid good money, but that didn’t really bother you; his fame made him a lot more important to the project.

The commitment to the show meant that you all had to make a ton of content quickly, which was different from how it was in the past when you’d just film whenever you wanted. It was the pressure that came from knowing you were about to be seen by such a large audience that drove everyone to come up with and participate in the most gruesome and disgusting stunts any of you had ever done.

The most memorable day of shooting for you was for a stunt called "Poo Diving" in which Ryan would be swimming in a pool of sewage and shit at a treatment plant.

You wake up with a raging headache and an overwhelming feeling of nausea. You groan and look at the clock to see that it’s already the afternoon, and you and Dico had to be at Bam’s house in an hour to film.

Yesterday, you and Chad had broken up, and you’d spent the night getting drunk in an attempt to feel better about it. You two hadn’t been spending enough time with each other lately, with him touring with CKY and you now working on the show. You’d just drifted apart, and although you both agreed to end it on good terms, you couldn’t help but feel a bit upset. After all, you'd been together for almost two years.

Your hangover in combination with your grief would have probably resulted in you staying home on any other day, but today was the first day you’d be filming with the camera crew from LA, including the creator Jeff Tremaine. Also, you knew you would never forgive yourself if you missed seeing Ryan swim around in liquid shit, so you down a few ibuprofen and get ready for the day.

You roll up with Dico at Bam’s house an hour later, and based on all the cars in the driveway, you can assume everyone else is already there. You two walk through the front door and see Bam, Ape, and a few other strangers who you assume are the LA crew standing in the kitchen.

"Well, look who’s here!" Ape says and pulls you into a hug.

"Hey Ape." You hug her back and then turn to the unknown people.

"I’m Jeff. This is Trip," Jeff says as he points to the guy next to him and shakes your hand very professionally.

You get introduced to everyone, and soon after, Ryan shows up, acting way too enthusiastic for someone who was about to do what he had to do.

"Excited for the air time?" You ask him as you buckle your seatbelt for the ride over to the treatment plant.

"Damn right."

Once you get there, Ryan strips down to his underwear, and the boys start taping the fabric to his legs so that no sewage can get into his ass. It’s very legit.

"So he just has no problem doing something like this?" Jeff asks you.

"Well, some people lose their dignity, and some are born without it." You respond, and Jeff laughs.

Ryan puts on his floaty and positions himself above the sewage.

"Don’t forget your snorkel buddy." Dico says to Ryan and tosses it to him.

"Right, that was almost a disaster." Ryan sighs as he puts on the snorkel.

As soon as Jeff makes sure all the cameras are good to go Ryan jumps into the tank, much to the disgust of everyone else around him. After a few seconds, he pulls himself out, and Bam informs him that they didn’t get the shot and he has to do it again. You hold back a laugh, knowing there’s no way they didn’t get the shot the first time, and watch as Ryan jumps back in for a second time.

After he gets out for the second time, Ryan runs around, trying to smear some of the sewage on anyone close by. He nearly grabs you, but you manage to dodge him quick enough, so he sets his sights on Bam instead. The smell of shit and sewage coming off his body combined with the nausea you were already feeling from your hangover causes you to dry heave, and unfortunately, someone on the crew catches it on camera.

Bam soon sprays Ryan down with a hose, getting most of but not all of the sewage off of him. On the car ride back to Bam’s house, you roll the windows down all the way to try and minimize the smell that was still coming off of Ryan.

"It’s kind of an improvement on how you usually smell." Dico teases.

Once you get back to the house, Ryan presents himself to a horrified April, who insists that he must eat the dinner that she made for everyone outside. You watch her take a plate of food out to Ryan, who is sitting on the side of the road with a tiny table in front of him, and you laugh at the absurdity.

You have a good time at dinner, telling funny stories and cracking jokes with everyone, but you decide to cut out right after and head to the local bar. Thanks to the fun you had with everyone, you are feeling a little better than you did yesterday, but you still want some time alone to indulge in self-pity.

After you have a few drinks, you step out for a cigarette, and it is then that you see Ryan, Dico, and a couple members of the camera crew get out of Ryan’s car. They walk up to you, and you’re immediately hit with the overwhelming smell of perfume that Ryan had clearly doused himself with in order to try and mask the shit smell.

You cough slightly. "I think a shower might have been more effective."

Ryan shrugs his shoulders and pulls out a cigarette from his own pack.

"We’re gonna get a round." Dico says as he and the other dudes they showed up with head inside the bar.

"I heard about you and Chad." Ryan says after a few moments of silence. You sigh.

"Yeah.. what are ya gonna do?" You say and take a long drag from your cigarette.

"Well, I’m here for you if you like—need to talk or whatever." Ryan says, and you smile a little.

"I’m sorry it’s hard to pay attention to anything you’re saying when you reek of poop, Ape’s perfume, and now cigarettes." You joke, and Ryan scoffs.

"Hey! I’m trying to be genuine over here, so you better cherish it." He says, and you laugh.

"I know. Thank you. I appreciate it." You reply. "How are things going with you romantically?"

"Well… I’m not sure we need to get into all that." He says.

"So, unsuccessful?"

"Definitely."

"What happened to that girl that you brought to the last CKY show here?" You ask.

"We’re on a break right now; I’m pretty sure she was cheating on me with her ex." He says and shakes his head.

"Oh shit, I think I remember Dico telling me about that. I’m sorry, man." You say and go to put a comforting hand on Ryan’s shoulder before remembering where he was a few hours ago and retracting it.

"It‘s all good; I only broke like three pieces of furniture raging about it. And I don’t know; I’m supposed to get dinner with her this week, so we’ll see." He explains.

"Well, good luck, I guess." You say and put out your cigarette on the wall behind you. A few quiet seconds follow, where you can tell Ryan is debating saying something, and you cross your arms, wondering what it could possibly be.

"You know, a few years back, when you and Dico first got that apartment, I had a bit of a crush on you." Ryan finally admits, and you raise your eyebrows in disbelief.

"Oh really? Why didn’t you ever say anything?" You ask.

"Well, I was gonna try to put the moves on you at your housewarming party, but then you disappeared with your neighbor, and after that, I just assumed you weren’t interested." He says and then stamps out his own cigarette.

"Hmm.." You think back to that time, which was now almost four years ago. You’d admittedly never thought of Ryan in that way, but you honestly might’ve said yes if he’d asked you out. You obviously got along really well, and you had kind of noticed him slowly getting cuter as he got older.

"Why are you telling me this now?" You decide to ask. It’s not that you don’t appreciate the honesty, but you are desperately hoping that Ryan isn’t bringing this up to try to make a pass at you the day after you got out of a long-term relationship. You don't know if you'd be able to handle it.

"I don’t know; I think it’s a bit funny now, I guess. It was so long ago, I thought you might get a kick out of it." He smiles, but you’re not entirely convinced by his answer.

"Yeah," you say, feeling a bit awkward and weirdly nervous for a moment before deciding to try and crack a joke. "Wait, so you were gonna put the moves on me? What moves do you even have?" You tease.

"Oh, come on, I have moves; watch." He says and puts his arm against the wall behind you so that his face is close to yours and he’s blocking you in. You might have blushed if it weren’t for the horrible smell that wafted toward you when he got closer. You duck under his arm and head to the entrance of the bar.

"The move you need to make is towards a shower." You say and signal for him to follow you. He rolls his eyes and comes with you, and you spend the rest of the night drinking and laughing with the others inside.

During the following days, your mind would occasionally drift to Ryan’s confession, and you’d ponder why he’d decided to tell you about it then. Maybe he really just thought it was funny, and the intention was sincerely to make you laugh, but the tone in which he said it just felt a little off. You thought you’d detected some longing or something.

A week passed, and you’d decided to believe that you were just overthinking it after finding out from Dico that Ryan’s dinner with his ex resulted in them getting back together.

Regardless, though, the conversation made you reflect on your entire friendship with Ryan. It was weird; you hadn’t really noticed how much care and attention he’d been providing you with since the beginning. It made you feel like a bad friend for not appreciating him, and it also brought up some other, more confusing feelings. You didn’t think you could say you’d become attracted to him, but you could say that you’d maybe developed more of an affinity for him.

It made you want to pay more attention.

———————

Actually driving myself crazy trying to keep this is accurate as possible to the real life timeline of events- sorry if I mess anything up. There was just so much going on lol.

Thanks again to everyone who is reading 🙏 I feel bad that I can’t follow people back or engage as much as I want to because this is a secondary blog 😢 but know that I appreciate it soooooo much hehe.

#ryan dunn #bam margera #brandon dicamillo #chris raab #cky #cky crew #jackass #jess margera #cky imagine #viva la bam #cky x reader #rake yohn #my fic

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gamerdog1 · 7 months

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Devilman Crybaby Review

The human body, for all its flaws, is surprisingly malleable. With the billions of people on this earth, living their own unique lives, one can find a variety of shapes and forms across our species.

But while the body can be beautiful, if twisted, it can also become monstrous. Stories of transformations and deconstructions of the human body have been around since ancient times, with each culture having their own that are passed down from generation to generation. Why is it, though, that we fixate on these tales of human transformation, of monster-hood? Perhaps they confront our fears head-on, tackling tough topics such as bodily autonomy, disability, racism, sexism, and the like. Whatever is the case, stories of humans defying their bodies and undergoing transformations have stayed in the minds of many for ages, and continue to be told and retold for generations.

All of this is to say, that when a major series concerning this type of story is brought to me, I'm sure as hell to pay attention. One of my favorite story arcs is tales of human transformations, so when this anime was assigned to me for this month's Anime Exchange, I was very excited. How could it not be good? Its a guy who turns into a monster! Unfortunately, things aren't so simple...

Devilman Crybaby is an anime series produced by Aniplex, and released by Netflix in 2018. The series, based on the manga Devilman, by Go Nagai, follows a highschooler named Akira and his best friend Ryo. When Ryo and Akira discover a burgeoning population of demons in human disguise, Akira fuses with a powerful demon, and the pair form a crime-fighting duo bent on eliminating the monsters. Along the way, Ryo's motivations become more and more sinister, and Akira struggles with his newfound powers and the responsibility he feels comes with them.

Akira's journey, from 'crybaby' weakling to monstrous hero is shown in a way that prompts audiences to weigh the pros and cons of his new powers. Akira's new powers come with a more conventionally attractive and muscular body, one that brings him unwanted romantic and sexual attraction from women everywhere. He's the fastest on the cross country running team, but is plagued with nightmares of monstrous women. Rather than giving Akira this new, improved quality of life with his demon powers, the anime goes out of its way to show that even though he's a superhero now, his life isn't any easier.

However, it would have been nice if the series pushed this dichotomy a little bit harder. On the surface, Devilman Crybaby is a textbook example of the 'Descent into Monster-hood' story: a plot in which an ordinary human is infected with or otherwise acquires a monstrous alter ego, which they can transform physically into. The human grapples with this newfound power, and must struggle to control their violent urges or incredible strength, as they hide it from family and friends. (gif relevant)

While the first chunk of episodes follow this plot archetype well, giving an interesting take on it, the series doesn't show enough of Akira struggling with his powers for it to feel satisfying. Sure, he has a massive appetite, and runs like a lizard on cocaine, but we never really get to see how his powers clash with his 'ordinary' life. This, then, makes his transition into accepting his demonic nature feel a bit rushed, skipping the most important part of the 'Descent into Monster-hood': the descent itself.

The visuals of this series are... perplexing. Equal parts graceful and beautiful as it is wonky and hilarious, the animation is something that you can't look away from, for love nor money. Characters that are standing close to the center of the shot look wonderful, and move with slick, sweeping motions, their eyes sharp, as if everyone is wearing mascara. But when the camera angle changes, and the shot pulls further back, characters turn into shapeless blobs of color, leading to important characters doing important things looking laughable. A scene where Ryo waves a gun around and beckons for Akira to join him becomes instant comedy once the camera moves to a wide shot, for example.

This, combined with the total lack of shading on any living thing in this anime, leads to a look hurts the series more than it helps. Its amazing how the art style of this show swings back and forth, between really stylish and nice, to ridiculous. At times, I wanted to snap a screenshot of a scene and see if I could fix it myself with shading and more solid shapes at a distance, but its not like that would help.

Adding shadows to characters wouldn't be enough to distract from the most glaring issue I had with this series: its portrayal of women. I know that its basically common knowledge in anime these days, that you shouldn't go looking for good female representation in shonen/seinen series, but I believe that genres and demographics can change with the times. Every modern adaptation of an older property has the chance to do justice where the original failed, correcting the mistakes caused by short-sighted ignorance and old-school biases. Dororo, a series I reviewed earlier this year, shows that this can be done without an issue, without affecting the plot in major ways.

And yet, we have this series, which only ups the ante in terms of making women the target of every crime and misfortune, going out of its way to portray them either as screaming victims or walking pairs of breasts. Out of all the female characters in this anime, the amount that were never shown naked, in sexual situations, or dying horribly is pretty low, possibly zero. Yes, its a dark and violent reboot of an already violent manga, meant to be a cautionary tale about humans being too quick to judge others and destroying the world because of it, but this also came out in 2018. Most people would expect a little bit of decorum, at least.

The first incident, the club scene in episode 1, was shocking, but made perfect sense. An underground sex club full of drugs, topless women, and neon lights is the perfect setup for Akira's worldview changing as he fights his first demon. Its wild, colorful, and the bass is loud and constantly thumping, like a heartbeat. It makes the carnage seem surreal and fantastical, like the audience is tripping alongside Akira.

But then we learn about Miki, Akira's childhood best friend, and her illicit model job which she feels that she must do in order to make money. In one scene, Miki travels to her boss' house, and uses his bathroom to rinse off after getting caught in the rain. Unbeknownst to her, the bathroom has a one-way mirror, through which her boss takes nude photos of her without her knowledge. Later, when Akira meets with Miki on her balcony, a scene that was probably intended to further their romantic chemistry is shattered when we see that Miki is wearing a see-through nightgown.

Then there's Miko, Miki's running rival, whose main characteristic that she is first introduced by is her large breasts that bounce when she runs. Unlike her rival, Miko has a more compelling story, revolving around her accepting a demon into her in order to prove herself against Miki, all for a nickname and a sense of pride. When Miko finally admits her jealousy to Miki, the two share some tears, in a heartwarming scene of acceptance amidst strife and chaos. Her arc, of rising above manipulation and sexual assault to become a powerful monster, had me worried at first, but had me in a good mood by the end of the series. Yet no matter how important Miko is, no matter how cool they make her 'Devilman' form, the show continues to emphasize her breasts, which expand to a ridiculous size and bounce around with each movement like water balloons.

Not everything is horrible in this anime, though. The music is stellar, full of thumping club songs, and a remake of the original Devilman no Uta, the theme song of the original Devilman series. A lot of the soundtrack is now on my personal playlists for writing, because they have this dark, yet energetic vibe to them.

As well, the violence in this series is top notch. In a show where a teen turns into a monster and beats up other monsters, you'd be a fool to not expect some bloodshed. Still, this series lays it on thick, bathing in a pool of yellow and red blood from the carnage of each episode. Akira's transformation in the first episode is a stand-out moment for me, just because of its sheer coolness factor. His eyes, the point-of-view shot from inside the demon's mouth, Akira's chest heaving with effort, its just a beautiful shot that I wish I could print out and stick to my wall.

At times, Devilman Crybaby reminded me of Castlevania, the other major violent, monster-y Netflix anime with critical acclaim. While both shows have vastly different approaches to pacing, monster design, art direction, and nudity, both hit that sweet spot of 'one guy killing lots of monsters in a shower of blood' that kept me coming back for more every time.

Devilman Crybaby is not a bad anime, but its not perfect either. Its visual quality is inconsistent, its main character's story arc could use a bit more polish, and as someone assigned female at birth, it made me pretty uncomfortable with how it treats it's female characters. At the same time, when it looks good, it looks great, especially during fight scenes, which are full of guts and glory.

Still, my mind can't shake this anime's apparent obsession with naked women. Any time they appeared on screen, I wondered what the purpose of them being there was. Is every topless, moaning woman necessary for each scene? Am I supposed to be feeling something other than fear, disgust, or annoyance when they appear onscreen? And would it kill these guys to give Miko a sport's bra when she's running?!

I went into this series with three memories of it, from when I tried watching it when it first released: drug-addled club scene gone wrong, ripping a snake in half, and a guy running weirdly. While I sure got all three of those, they also came with more bare breasts than a womens' locker room, with all the subtlety of a clown. At least, as the end of the day, I know understand all the people shipping Ryo and Akira.

#anime and manga #anime review #review #film critic #anime #anime critique #devilman #devilman crybaby

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leffee · 24 days

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Day 4: Lake house

Important info, like actually important: this fic/drabble was directly inspired by my conversation with @lpsluvblr AND is actually partly "written" by them too. The beginning as well as a good chunk of the dialogue was written and sent to me by them (we were just bouncing some ideas around as you do).

While I did edit it to fit my style and this specific story as well as added stuff like dialogue tags and basically everything between words, like half of this story is (in this way) by her.

Just to show you what I mean at the end I will give an example.

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Vinnie lay still on the sterile hospital bed, his mind a foggy abyss where memories danced just out of reach as his eyes fluttered open. The soft hums and beeps of machines as well as the distant chatter of nurses filling the room greeted him, but Vinnie felt lost in a world of uncertainty. His breath felt uneven and heavy, his mind scrabbled about for any recollection of the events leading up to this moment, but each attempt only deepened the dull ache throbbing in his head which just enhanced the pain in his chest. Fragments of images flashed before his eyes - water, blurred darkness, quickly disappearing light - but nothing coherent enough to grasp.

Just when his mind was starting to make sense again, his train of thought was interrupted by a screech of the opening door followed by the loudest silent gasp.

“Vinnie, what the hell were you thinking?” Was the first thing that escaped Sunil’s mouth once he reached the bed. “You scared the living daylights out of me!”

Vinnie gaped at the other dumbly for a moment before he managed to utter in a monotone, whistling voice, “Relax, Sunil, I'm fine. It's just… a scratch.” He tried to catch his breath in between words.

“A scratch? You call this a scratch!?” Sunil spat out, stopping his hands just in time before they could grasp his friend’s wrinkled clothes. “You were lucky to survive that! Do you- do you even remember what happened?”

“We were… hanging out in that lake house we had rented, I… went outside, and then I was in… that lake.”

“That’s… surprisingly coherent.” Sunil stared at the other while clenching the side rail of the bed and then sighed. “But yes, since you know exactly what happened you know it’s not just a scratch! I’m not even sure how long you had been lying face down in the water when you were found!”

“Hm. Who found me?”

“Penny. She wanted to catch some fresh air and then saw you. You… you could have…”

“I guess I should thank her now…” Vinnie’s whisper trailed off, his half-lidded eyes fixed on the ceiling for a while before returning to meet the golden ones, “Still, I'm tough, I've… been through worse.” He coughed dryly.

“Tough!?” Sunil hollered, leaning closer to Vinnie’s face, almost tugging at the numerous tubes connected to his friend. “That's not the point, Vincent, you could have died out there! Died! Do you even realize that?”

“Look, I get it, okay?” Vinnie huffed, not breaking their staring contest. “But I'm here now, aren't I? Calm down…”

“Just because you're here doesn't mean you're okay. You have a pneumonia, some respiratory syndrome and who knows what else. You need to take this seriously,” Sunil emphasized in a strong voice, maybe stronger than anyone has ever heard from him, that was certainly true in Vinnie’s case who sighed breathlessly and rolled his eyes.

“I'll be fine, Sunil. …I just need some rest and I'll be back on… my feet in no time.”

“Oh, my fucking-!” Sunil’s hands reached to pull on his hair as an animalistic growl escaped him. “You always brush things off like they're nothing, but this time, it's different! You need to listen to me, Vinnie! Your life is not a joke-.”

“Well, everyone sure treats it like that!” Vinnie abruptly hissed through clenched teeth making Sunil flinch.

“W-what?”

“You heard me, everyone… treats my life like a joke!” Vinnie repeated this time with even more force in a hoarse voice. “Everyone… everyone treats me like a joke!” His voice died down only to come back with twice the force despite the ever-breaking breaths. “Who gives a shit if I die?! Honestly, who would care? Everyone I… meet just thinks I'm a stupid inconvenience who can't take care of himself. And look… maybe they're right…” He gestured stiffly at himself.

“Vinnie…” Sunil's voice softened as he finally slumped into the seat next to his friend. “That's not true, not at all. And you can take care of yourself, I know, it's not your fault you fell into that lake-.”

“How do you know it's not my fault? How do you know I haven't done that on purpose?”

Just when Sunil thought the situation couldn't get any worse.

Suddenly, the room became quiet, and Vinnie wasn't facing him anymore.

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So far in those May (why tf the names of months are capitalized in English, I keep forgetting about that ;-;) prompts Vinnie either dies or causes someone else to die, that's it, wtf (aside from day 2)

He needs some milk

And here's the promised example:

“Tough!?” Sunil hollered, leaning closer to Vinnie’s face, almost tugging at the numerous tubes connected to his friend. “That's not the point, Vincent (changed from Vinnie), you could have died out there! Died! Do you even realize that?”

The stuff in red is what I added, the original color is what they wrote (and I stole), so that's what I mean saying that they wrote a good chunk of like half of the dialogue in this one but I edited some of it and added stuff.

#lps 2012 #may prompts #day 4

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sgt-morgan · 1 year

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Steam Heat 🖤

18+ ONLY! MINORS DO NOT ENGAGE!

Summary: You and Din are out working on rebuilding Mandalore. Some alone time and a crazy dragon fight leads way to some sexy sexy fun times.

Warnings: AFAB/Female identifying reader, sexual content, fingering, p in v unprotected sex (wrap it before you tap it, babies are a lot of work.), fighting, blades, big lizard monster, monster guts, explosives, injury, blood, cannon typical violence. We like to have fun here. If I miss something, hmu.

A/N: SHOWER SEX! SHOWER SEX! SHOWER SEX! I am living for all the Pedro love and I’m capitalizing on it. This can be read as apart of the making a home universe or not. Up to you.

Mando Masterlist

In your relationship, you and Din had never taken a vacation. Sure, you’d had time off, but you always had the baby, and not that you didn’t like having the little womp rat with you, because you did, but it was nice to know that he was safe, out of harms way, and not relying on you at the moment.

This technically was not a vacation. You had gotten word there was a covert hanging around this planet, and you had decided to extend an invitation to join the ‘Mandalore rehabilitation initiative’ as Fennec had forced everyone to ‘oh so politically’ call it. You were hoping, that this trip would go as smoothly as the last, and that you and your newly minted riduur could enjoy the benefits of the wonderfully wet planet you found yourselves on, but the maker had other plans.

Unusually, all it took to recruit a covert was to show the local mandolorians the darksaber, have a conversation with Din about what was happening on the home world, then they would chose to stay in the home they built, or to continue to build on mandalore in a homestead that had already had necessary accommodations prepared. They would of course have to sign the newly ratified planetary constitution, but that was really only a formality. It did state though, that the creed is a fluid thing, to be followed as one sees fit in their own clans and coverts, and it’s where he lost some people. A major point of malcontent being the place the constitution made for non mandolorians, including you. This is what they were arguing over now, he and the many clan leaders you happened upon here on this water planet did not like the idea that the creed was to be seen as a living thing, something to be followed as each clan seemed fit. Most of them understood this, and understood that the good of a clan comes down to what the clan ultimately decides for itself. The arguments had gone on for hours in Mando’a, and you were picking it up in chunks. You felt like an outsider the moment you got here, hefty glances and whispers murmurs in corridors depicted a telling picture of your image here, and you weren’t sure your coming was the right move. You felt like an asset not an ally, and though Din would never insinuate such a thing, you felt it in their conversations. Even now, you had missed the conversation moving to your presence, because you were day dreaming about the waterfalls you had seen in the caves that held this little society, but someone must have brought up you being Din’s riduur, and people were not taking it well.

“You ask us to rally to your cause, and you riduurok this- this outsider! This aruetti! She shouldn’t even be in these conversations!”

A clan leader said throwing his hands up in exasperation, and you heard Din practically growl at the perceived slight against his wife, his warrior, his queen. He stood, almost kicking his chair over in his haste to stand and thrash the di’kut who dared insult you. You placed a hand on his arm to calm him, and sighed deeply through your nose.

“Don’t waste time my love, I’ll go, let me know when you’re done.” You rested your foreheads together for a lingering moment, and left the room to a chorus of grumbles from the others in the room. You rolled your eyes and let it go. They weren’t likely to come to Mandalore. You decided to wander top side, let off some steam and grab some essentials for you and Din to make the journey home easier. It was all going swimmingly, until a beast tried to attack the younglings.

You were grabbing a new set of clothes for the both of you, having outstayed the expected number of days you were to be here, you were tired of washing the clothing you had been wearing over and over, and wanted to just be lazy that evening. It was while paying, that you noticed the giant lizard running after a group of kids. You recognized them as children from the covert, and you knew they weren’t supposed to be out here, you also saw the way every person in the vicinity was turning away from them and doing the same, terrified of the giant beast. It was massive, blue scales, purple tongue, sharp teeth, green spikes. Whatever the hell it was, the color scheme and the way it was growling screamed ‘I like to eat small children’ and you weren’t gonna let that happen on your watch. So you drew your blades.

You leapt into battle, swinging your swords at the beast with a ferocity the very few Mandolorians watching we’re not expecting. You flipped yourself to the top of the creature and went for the back in large slashing motions. But your blades merely skate off the scales of the large beast dealing no damage. You roll your eyes at the inconvenience, great, now it’s annoyed and you have nothing to show for it. You leap back to a roof top and let others attempt to distract the beast while you try to see just what could be done about the invulnerable nightmare fuel. Clearly, it had a tough hide, though hides always hide vulnerable insides, so you reasonable infer the monster was vulnerable from within. How to kill it though, teeth are razor sharp, eye sight is shoddy, but it’s hearing seems sensitive, it’s hearing every move you make, hunting by sound not by sight. ‘Think!’ You scold yourself, ‘ it has a weakness, how do we work with our advantages.’ Then you eye a bell in the town square. There, that’s an in. You throw a brick while it’s distracted and hit it in the eye, drawing its attention. “Hey! Bantha Breath! Over here!” The beast gives chase and the whole town looks on in astonishment. You run across rooftops and try to lead the beast in the path of least destruction. You eventually reach the town square, and you thank the maker that Din had gifted you those explosives you’d been dying to try. Welp, no time like the present. You get to the final rooftop and you put yourself in the path of the beast’s terrible maw, then you shoot a pulse blaster at the bell and it lets out an all mighty chime, further echoed by the force of your hit. The beast covers its ears to the best of its ability, and roars in its anger. While its maw is gaping you have just enough time to throw in your explosives and dive away before it snaps you in its terrible jaws. You didn’t get by without a scratch though, one of the beasts claws snags you on the way down and you take a hit to the ribs. Ouch. Then

KABOOM!

The monster exploded in a shower of blue goo, and you and your blades were covered. You sigh and are once again thankful you bought those new clothes. You’re never wearing these again, and with the giant hole in them and the blood of both you and the monster dripping into every seem, they weren’t salvageable anyway. The people of the town stared as you deftly scampered down from the roof and flung the blue goo from your blades before re- sheathing them in their holsters on your back. ‘Kriff it all’, you think, ‘they’re probably gonna blame me for destroying the town, but at least the kids are safe.’ You limp your way through the sea of gaping jaws, holding the cut in your side. You make your way back to the clothes seller where you left your merchandise. She’s kind enough to throw in some undergarments, and you slip her another two credits to pay for them. You look sidelong at the group of kids from the covert who were chased by the beast, they’re staring at you with something akin to wonder. You give them a very meaningful wink, and press a finger to your lips. Language is different all over the galaxy, but the universal sign for keep this quiet is always the same. You nod in the direction of the covert entrance, and they scamper off. You slowly circle back around to an entrance, trying not to call attention to your state and the hidden whereabouts of the covert so they can remain secret if they so choose.

The staring wasn’t much better when you got back to the Covert. The faceplates of many Mandos following your movement in the halls as you tried to remember how to get back to your room or at least to a refresher, or some bacta, your ribs sting like you’ve been run over by a Krayte dragon, or at least his very flashy cousin. Then you were approached by an armored warrior, she introduced herself as the mother of one of the children you saved, who was peeking at you shyly from behind her legs.

“Thank you, if my son is to be believed, you are a mighty warrior, and you fiercely protected them as your own.” She said, ushering you down the halls to somewhere you could clean off and patch up.

“This is the way.” you shrugged reflexively, then you whipped your head at her, hoping you hadn’t offended her by saying such a thing, you weren’t a Mandalorian after all, at least not in their eyes.

“This is they way.” She replied and nodded, “They may say you’re an outsider, but I believe you’ve proved ten times over your strength as a warrior today. You’re as good as Mandalorian to me, I owe you a debt.”

“Cuy ogir'olar, it’s irrelevant, it’s what any good ma- person, would do.” you replied. “Anything for the ade, children are our most valuable asset, they should never come to harm. Not if something can be done to stop it.” She stared at you for a second longer, and then she opened the door to an honest to good shower room. You almost wept with joy. “Now you REALLY don’t need to worry about a thing, I haven’t taken an honest to good real shower in months.” You laugh, shedding your swords.

“Well then, why don’t you hand those weapons off to me, and you can go enjoy, the water comes from a natural hot spring, so it’s always perfectly warm. I got you some bacta spray as well, should hold up enough for you to at least shower and find some patches. Stay as long as you like, no danger of running out of water here. I’ll have these silly verd’ika clean your weapons, it’s the least the foolhardy lot can do after almost getting you killed, but if you fight as they say, it was a mild inconvenience.” You both laugh as the boy takes your goo covered weapons with a grimace.

“Thank you, I will remember your kindness.” You nod taking the bacta with a smile, and she leaves you to it, taking the boy with her and speaking to him sternly along the way.

You sigh when you’re finally left alone, and you pull your clothes off, dumping them into the now empty bag of replacement clothing with a grimace. You’d find an incinerator later, those were totaled. You carefully turn on the shower, and are delighted to find that the shower falls like a natural waterfall, like the ones you were dreaming about all around the caverns. You stepped into the spray with a groan, and relished the fact that the water was perfect. Not so hot to be scalding, but hot enough to ease the tension in your muscles from the battle. Taking down a giant lizard monster is hard work, you never believed Din before, but by the maker you do now. Krayte dragon or no, big lizards are formidable foe.

You eventually scraped most of the lizard blood out of your hair, glad that you didn’t actually have to cut off all your hair as you had thought you would need to ten minutes ago. You scrubbed it from your skin, paying special attention to clean your cut. You sprayed it well with the bacta and it stopped the bleeding. Ah, the good stuff then, in a race of warriors it pats to have the good drugs you suppose. Once patched up, you leaned against the wall, forehead resting on your arms letting the water slide down the sore muscles of your back while you took a breather after the fight with your hair. Who knew blood was so sticky? You were basking in the heat of the water, like a loth cat in the sun, when suddenly, two very familiar hands started rubbing the sore muscles in your neck.

The moan you let out was practically obscene, and the voice of your husband groaned sympathetically. “Oh, my strong, beautiful, capable Riduur, are you sore baby?” His hands kept kneading at your muscles with care and you groaned in appreciation, turning to greet your husband with a smile. He placed a kiss to your lips and continued to knead at your abused muscles. “Shhh, let me take care of you my dearest. You’ve fought great battles I hear ner kar’ta. Slayer of beasts they say, that true? Are you ner verde? My warrior?” You grin at him lazily and he smiles back at you like you hung the stars in the skies. You feel yourself slowly melting at his words and his smile almost splits his face, loving the way his beautiful and slightly terrifying spouse seems just to melt at his praise.

He diligently checks your cut, making sure the bacta was doing its job. Then, the wonderful man he is, he scrubs your hair again, blessedly freeing you of the rest of the monster goo from your exploits. He runs a hand up your chest, over your neck, and into your hair, tipping your head back and running his fingers through to the end. The movement exposes more of the soft column of your neck and he takes every opportunity to kiss every inch he can reach. “I see you got us more clothes my love, how thoughtful of you. You’re such a good Riduur, taking care of us, taking care of our clan.” You’re practically a pile of goo on the floor as he works through your hair and speaks such praises to you, you’re a relaxed ball of mush and feelings. Sentimental slime. He scrubs down your back and your shoulders, making sure that there is no spot on your body he hasn’t lovingly purged of the filth and muck of your battle, paying mind to not mess with your tender cut. You’d done this a million times for him, and he’s done it for you on the occasions (slim to none with him, the big, over protective, rust bucket he is.) where you’ve not both been too tired to help each other.

Once he deems you relaxed and clean enough, he sprays the cut one more time so it won’t reopen, and his hands go wandering again. He grabs the back of your neck and rotates you around so you’re back is to his chest. He runs a hand up your stomach, over your breasts, and lets it come to a rest around your neck. His other hand rests just below your breasts, and now you’re moaning for a whole other reason. “You relaxed? Hmm?” He starts slowly curling and uncurling his fingers around your neck. It’s like every nerve in your body has gone into hyperdrive, and you can’t help but wiggle against him in anticipation. Feeling where you’ve gotten him all excited. “One of the mothers of the kids came in, told us all what you did. The kid said you were the mightiest warrior he’d ever seen. Said you brought down the beast all on your own, saved the whole town from being terrorized. No casualties, no broken houses, couple stalls damaged, but everything is fixable. You’re so talented, so good at protecting people.”

His hand resting on your stomach ran lower, inching closer to where you needed him most. His words of adulation still dropped from his mouth like honey. “You’re a warrior, a powerful warrior. Can’t wait for you to give me more warriors. We’re gonna have a whole clan full.” You moaned at the thought this statement conjured of your vows. “Together, ner mesh’la sarad, we will raise warriors.”

He started his slow assent to your already soaking folds and moaned at what he found. You were soaking wet, it had been progressively building, but with all this talk of children and love. You’d become a little more than excited. “All this for me?”

Din said, working you open on his fingers, preparing you for his cock. He loved the feel of your walls clenching around his digest as he riled you up further. There’s just something so sexy to you about how appreciative he is of your skills. He adores you, from these soft moments, to your battle hardened temper ready to protect and defend at any time. His appreciation of your body and your mind was addicting. You’d give him the moon on a string if he’d ask. You relaxed into his touch, whining in protest when he took his fingers away and stuck them in his mouth.

“You’re always so sweet for me, but there will be time for that later.” He chuckles, you feel him reach down and line up

With your entrance, and you arch your back enticingly, hoping he’ll go faster and give you the relief you crave. When he does, you let out an unholy moan of pure ecstasy. He fits like he’s made for you. Filling you so completely and perfectly you know you’ll feel him deep inside you for days. When he moves, your whole world shifts and you can’t help the unrestrained noises of bliss that pour from your lips as he pounds into you from behind. “S-so good-d” you gasp, curling your fingers

Into his hair as he keeps your pace languid and unhurried, not wanting to mess with your ribs, but needing you like air. You tug at his brown locks gently and he groans in satisfaction, your body is sheer perfection he thinks, his nirvana was found here, in your arms.

“Like this perfect little cunt was made for me.” He growls, working you both towards your end with his fingers starting to circle around the little bundle of nerves at the apex of your sex. Every drive of his hips pushed you further towards your climax, the head of his member perfectly prodding at something devastating inside you. The salacious sounds of your passion are echoing around you in the space you were in, the water providing relief to your poor muscles who were aching again for a whole other reason now. You feel a band of heat tightening in your stomach, pressure and pleasure coming to a boiling point in your fits of ecstasy. “I-I’m-“

“Go on, I’m right there with you my love, cum for me. Need to feel you when I fill you with my warriors, need to feel the way I want you, the way I breed you.” That’s all it took, the mention of you being round and full of his babies snaps the tension in you, you fall over the edge with a shout of his name, and you feel his stuttering hips chase your climax only seconds after. You rest in each others arms for a moment, and if you thought you were relaxed before, we’ll, now you were positively zen. You were Jedi levels of calm, you think you’ve reached enlightenment.

After you’ve both come down from your highs, Din slowly pulls himself from you and you whimper in protest, hating the loss of contact, but desperately wanting to be clean. He shushed you gently and looks down at where you were connected, watching your shared desire drip from you in a filthy display he could watch for hours. “I know my love, it’s such a pretty sight, but let’s get you cleaned up again hm? I think you need some rest after the day you’ve had, gotta get a patch on those ribs.” He carefully cleans you up and shuts off the water.

He carries you to the towels, using two to carefully dry you off and keep you warm, before carefully bandaging your cut with a bacta patch he must have brought with him. He helps you as you struggle to pull on clothes past the exhaustion and the injury, then sets you on the bench in the corner of the room as he pulls on his new clothes and pulls his helmet back over his head. He must have left the rest of his armor wherever you were staying because all that’s left are your soiled garments in a bag, and his old clothes that he balls up and carried under his arm. Once dressed, he proceeds to scoop you onto his back, letting you bury your face in his neck. He carried you from the room and begins heading to where you can only hope your room must be.you’re glad he left the armor off, grateful that the warm comfort of his skin is what’s pressed against your ribs and not the cool sharp edges of his Beskar. You’re sated and relaxed, body clinging to him as he either confidently walks you back to your room, or parades you around the halls in an attempt to find it. He’s making niceties as he goes, showing off his clearly pleased and well cared for riduur in the process.

“I can walk you know.” You mutter into the gap where his helmet doesn’t quite meet his shoulder. Relishing in the small bit of skin to skin contact it affords.

“Of course you can my love, but I want to. Let me care for you, you deserve to be spoiled after the day you’ve had.” He chuckles. As he wanders, you contentedly dozing in the crook of his neck, he’s stoped by other Mandalorians. Nobody says anything about the way he’s carrying you, either used to the overtly affectionate clinging of couples, or understanding you to be tired and injured from your battle that is slowly churning the rumor mill in the covert. Din grins and accepts compliments for you, and is happy to see that you have totally won these people over. Once again, your dedication to the younglings and foundlings of their communities has warmed their hearts, and the fact that you’ve proved yourself to be a fearsome warrior doesn’t hurt either.

After what feels like ten seconds or ten days from where you dozed on your big Mandalorian heating pad’s shoulder, you eventually find yourself in your room. Din lays you down and helps you kick off your pants and he strips off his shirt. Once you’re all settled in, wrapped up in each others arms so tightly, you can’t tell where he ends and you begin, you recount the days happenings.

“Then I threw those explosives in its mouth and the rest is history.” You sigh, giving Din the full rundown of your little fight in town square today.

“Ah, so they work. Good, we need to stick up.” He muttered, checking your bacta patch again while you lay on your stomach, eyes closed in contentment, happy to let your husband patch you up.

“Yeah, I’ll just use one next time though, brig covered in lizard guts is no fun.” You sigh as he finishes his fretting with your unjust, and placed a kiss on your bare shoulder.

“You gonna make a habit of fighting giant lizards?” He chuckles, snuggling into bed and helping you splay out on his chest so he can play with your hair.

“Maker no I hope not,” you yawn, snuggling down into him with a satisfied groan. Din swears you almost purr at the contact and it brings a new wave of sappy

Feelings to his heart.

“Well good, rest my warrior, you’ve earned it.” He kisses your hair, and you smile.

“Ok baby,” you yawn again, “but let’s do make a habit of fucking in the shower though, that was a blast. Love you.” You mutter finally falling asleep.

Din chuckles and rolls his eyes, fondly pulling the blanket higher over your frame. “Your wish is my command, you di’kut, I love you more.”

#the mandalorian x reader #the mandolorian #mandalorian x reader #mando x reader #mando fanfiction #the mandalorian #mando #mandalorian x y/n #Mandalorian #starwars #pedro pascal character fanfiction #pedro pascal fandom #pedro pascal #mando x you #mando fic #mando x y/n #the mandolorian x reader

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oswildin · 6 months

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Love Is A Dagger (Loki x OFC) - Chapter Four

Summary: When Loki is apprehended by an organisation called the Time Variance Authority, he didn’t expect to be roped into helping a certain agent hunt an elusive variant that had been terrorising the TVA for years. What he also didn’t expect, was for the variant to apparently be connected to his timeline, to him. He couldn’t have anticipated where this whole venture would lead. The woman from his future, exposing truths about the TVA, and one big branching mess. Sacrifice, grief, anger and love… But which will prevail?

Warnings: ‘Loki’ spoilers

FIC MASTERLIST // PREVIOUS // NEXT (coming soon…)

ABANDONED SETTLEMENT - LAMENTIS-1 - 2077

"Well, isn't this lovely."

Loki said wryly, glancing round at the run-down buildings, mostly metallic shacks and trailers, smoke coming from some of them from meteors crashing into the structures. Ruri rolled her eyes, looking back at Loki as he trailed behind her.

"If I had known we were seeing Lamentis-1's must see sights, I would've brought a camera." Loki continued, hands in his trouser pockets as he let out a sigh. Ruri stopped in her tracks, whirling round to look at the God, eyes narrowed.

"Will you shut up?" She snapped, shaking her head. "Make yourself useful and look for something that looks like it has power and could charge the TemPad." She ordered him, tone holding no room for argument as Loki raised a brow.

"You're not very fun." Loki muttered. "Taking all the joy out of an end of the world experience." He said lowly, tone wry.

Loki was not known for being serious. And it was clearly showing. Even now, when they were stranded on a doomed moon, he was still making comments, trying to get a reaction from the woman. And it was working.

Ruri once more rounded on the God, anger evident on her features. "Apologies if I'm not running around, shouting from the rooftops how 'fun' this all is-" She began, voice raised. "Some of us have to stay focused, we can't all just- Breeze through life and stop to smell the roses-" Her eyes flickered over Loki, his brows raising in surprise at her outburst. "Also I've spent years of my life in these hellholes, so pardon me if I am not exactly being joyous and enthusiastic about possibly dying here."

God, he really is... so... Stupid.

"So, if you'd rather stay here, enjoy the ambience-" She said sarcastically. "Be my guest. Give me the TemPad and I'll get myself off this rock."

—

Loki lowered his gaze, a sheepish expression appearing on his face at her words. She was right. It was hardly a time to make jokes. Their lives hung on the line, and in a way... It was his fault. He sent them there. And she had lived a good chunk of her life experiencing the horrors of dying worlds, and he had made a joke about their surroundings...

Idiot.

"Okay- Alright-" Loki sighed, moving his hands to his hips, looking back up at her. "You're right." He gave a curt nod. He watched as Ruri's jaw seemed to relax slightly, glare softening. They held each others gazes for a moment longer, before the woman turned round once more, continuing on.

Loki moved to follow, eyes once more scanning the buildings, spotting something glowing in the window of a nearby trailer. Narrowing his eyes slightly, he turned to walk towards it. It was a neon sign. But it had power.

Bingo.

"What about this?" Loki called over his shoulder to Ruri.

—

Ruri sighed, turning back to see Loki looking at a neon sign, as she realised he was serious.

He thinks that could charge an inter-dimensional time-hopping device?

He wants fun. I'll show him fun.

Ruri quickly moved towards the God, seeing him turn to look at her as she approached, a hopeful glint in his eye. "Maybe." She said lowly, moving up the ramp to get closer to the light. "If we can reroute the power into the TemPad through its intricate wiring system-" She rambled, knowing it would make little to no sense to Loki. "-then maybe it could give us just enough juice to get off this rock." She glanced back at Loki over her shoulder.

"And you thought I was useless?" Loki said with a faint smirk.

"I never said that."

"No, but it was implied."

"I mean..."

"So, we can use it, yes? Reroute the... power through the er- thing-" Loki spoke with his hand, brows furrowed, clearly clueless on what she had just said. Ruri stood back up straight, turning fully to face him as he stood at the bottom of the ramp. Ruri let out a short laugh, making Loki blink in confusion.

"No, you idiot." She said in amusement, smirking, striding back down the ramp. "We cannot charge the TemPad with a nightlight." She raised a brow, tilting her head faintly. "Maybe leave the tech stuff to me, yeah?" She said, tone condescending but playful as she patted his arm patronisingly before walking past him. "You're right. That was fun."

—

She is so...

Loki closed his eyes, jaw tightening as he let out an exasperating sigh. He looked over to see her walking ahead, shaking his head before following after her. "Very funny." Loki called dryly after her.

"I thought so." Her voice called back cheerfully to him.

"Make you feel better?" Loki asked, raising a brow. "Patronising a God?" Ruri spun round, looking at him as she walked backwards.

"Actually, yes. Yes it did." She mused, smile tugging at her lips. Loki couldn't help but feel his own lips quirk faintly, reluctant amusement entering his blue eyes.

"Well, I'm glad to hear it." Loki shrugged, feigning nonchalance. "Simple minds only seek simple joys I suppose." His voice held a hint of his own condescending tone. Ruri simply shook her head, rolling her eyes playfully before turning back round to look ahead.

—

Ruri spotted a trailer up ahead, a light seemingly on inside. She narrowed her eyes, beginning to head towards the steps. Her hand swiftly moved to the hilt of her dagger in her holster, gripping it tightly, pulling it from its seethe. She knew people could be... unpredictable when it was the end of the world.

Maybe someone is home.

"Let me do the talking." Ruri told Loki, beginning to ascend the small number of steps. "People tend to not like you when you open your mouth." She commented, a hint of a smirk on her lips. Loki rolled his eyes, following her. As they reached the small platform near the door, Ruri felt a hand grab her arm, stopping her as she turned to look at Loki.

"It could be dangerous." He said lowly, keeping his gaze on hers. "We don't know who is in there and you're not exactly the most charming person-" Ruri let out an exasperated groan. "And you're holding a dagger." Loki added, nodding towards the weapon in her hand, raising a brow.

"I have been on my own for years, dealt with many dangerous people and situations-" Ruri told him lowly, pursing her lips, chin raising slightly in defiance. "I think I can handle it." She gently shoved his hand from her arm, turning away to head to the door.

—

Loki opened his mouth to say something, hand raised awkwardly in the air, before he glanced down.

This isn't going to go well.

Just as Ruri was moving to knock on the door, Loki peered inside through the grubby window, noticing a photo of an older couple sat on a nearby table. An idea struck.

Time to 'make myself useful'.

Loki's form shimmered into the man from the photo, as Ruri turned at the sound of his magic, instantly looking irritated. "What are you doing?!" She hissed, narrowing her eyes as the door opened. But Loki didn't listen, simply stepping in front of the now open door, making Ruri step back. He could feel her eyes burning holes in the back of his head.

In the doorway stood the woman from the photograph, a large gun-looking weapon in her hand, aimed towards them, eyes narrowed. However, as she saw Loki disguised as someone clearly she knew, her eyes widened.

"Patrice?" The woman's voice asked, surprise clear in her voice. Loki, still as the old man, gave an emotional nod, hands clasped in front of him.

"It's... been a long time." Loki sniffled, playing the part.

—

Oh, for Gods sake.

Ruri shook her head, a hand moving to rest on her hip, unimpressed at Loki's 'tactical' move. They had no idea who this woman was, who the man he was disguised was, and he was seemingly just hoping he could play it off and get her to trust him.

"You're as beautiful as-" Loki continued, voice soft and weary, but before he could finish his sentence, a blast of energy suddenly knocked him off his feet, his facade shimmering away, sending him flying into the air before landing hard on the gravel below. Ruri couldn't help but let out an amused huff.

I know I keep saying it... but... what an idiot.

"Nice shot." Ruri looked at the woman, nodding, a pleased smirk on her lips.

"Patrice never said anything that nice to me in thirty years." The woman stepped closer to the doorway, her eyes flickering between the pair suspiciously. Ruri instantly took a small step back, holding her hands up slightly placatingly.

"If it's any consolation, I enjoyed that." Ruri said wryly, nodding towards Loki who was just sitting up, grimacing as he ran a hand through his hair. "I may need to get myself one of those." Ruri thought out loud, eyeing the weapon in the woman's hands.

"What do you want?" The woman clearly was not in the mood for idle chat, and Ruri couldn't blame her.

"Right, yes-" Ruri cleared her throat, putting away her dagger. "Is there anything nearby that has power? Like- A lot of power?" She asked, raising her brows. "We need a source that could charge something rather..." She paused, biting her lower lip briefly. "Big." She landed on, sighing.

The woman paused, eyeing Ruri before speaking. "There's a city not far. Shuroo." She told her lowly. "They'll have something. It's got enough power to send the Ark to space, so it'll charge something big." Ruri furrowed her brows, hearing Loki's shoes on the gravel approaching the bottom of the steps, breathing slightly heavier than normal from being winded on impact.

"The Ark?" Ruri asked, tilting her head.

"The evacuation shuttle." The woman said, furrowing her own brows. It was clear the pair weren't from around there. "There's a station on the outskirts of the town-" She nodded towards the direction. "Train goes directly there. But you'll never get a ticket."

Ruri glanced back at Loki, both of their expressions shifting into ones of determination.

"Then we have a train to catch."

—

Loki cracked his neck, jaw tightening as he held out a pained breath. That blast had caught him off guard. He really thought his plan would work. He heard Ruri snicker beside him, his gaze glancing down at her, eyes narrowed.

"Go on, laugh it up." He huffed, moving to adjust the collar of his jacket. They were heading through the settlement towards the station the woman had mentioned, meteors falling in the distance, quiet booms sounding through the place.

"And you were worried about me." She scoffed, shaking her head in amusement.

"I was not worried." Loki quickly said, brows creasing.

"Uh huh."

"I just wanted to save you the embarrassment-"

"You mean by embarrassing yourself?"

Vexing woman.

Loki sighed, turning his gaze ahead once more, deciding not to respond. He could practically feel the woman's amused smirk.

"Don't be so hard on yourself." Ruri continued, shrugging. "Like I said, you're just a bit rusty-"

"I am not rusty!" Loki huffed, head snapping to look down at her, seeing the pleased look on her face that she had managed to get under his skin. Loki shook his head, pursing his lips. "You're rather annoying. If I do know you in the future, I expect I loathe you." He muttered grumbly, rolling his shoulders to loosen them.

—

Ruri couldn't help but let out a quiet scoff.

If only you knew.

"Such a strong word." She mused, raising a brow. "Come on, I'm a little bit endearing." She looked up at him, tilting her head. "Just admit it." She paused, smirking. "You find me entertaining at least."

"As entertaining as watching paint dry." Loki quipped back, making Ruri roll her eyes. "I mean, you've pointed my dagger at my throat multiple times, shouted at me, ordered me about, won't tell me who you are to me-" He listed off as Ruri pursed her lips.

"Yeah, yeah, I get it." She waved a hand flippantly. "I'm 'prickly', like you said." She sighed, glancing back at their surroundings, seeing the station in the distance. A few moments of silence passed between them.

—

Loki's gaze flickered down to the woman walking beside him, quietly observing her, studying her features. There was a lingering sadness in her eyes, despite their usual hardened appearance. He wondered what she was like before she was on the run from the TVA. Whether she was lighter in spirit, not so defensive and angry. He supposed she had hardened over spending time jumping from one apocalyptic world to another. She probably had to.

And she was a magic wielder. That interested him greatly. It was rare for him to come across another who possessed such power. The only other person was his mother. Loki's own expression softened at the memory of Frigga, a flicker of sadness passing over him. He'd never see her again. Not if the TVA was right in that he couldn't return to his timeline.

And if he couldn't return to his timeline... Then he wouldn't know who this Ruri was. Well, at least not in the way she seemingly knew him before all this mess. But there would be time for answers later. Now they had to focus on getting board the train, making it to Shuroo and charging the TemPad.

And overthrowing the Time Keepers, of course.

#loki #loki laufeyson #loki x oc #loki fanfic #loki x original female character #loki x ofc #marvel fanfiction #marvel x oc #mcu x oc #loki x reader #mcu loki #loki marvel #loki laufeyson x oc #oc fanfiction

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popculturebuffet · 7 months

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Little Retrospective of Horrors: The Musicals (Monthly Muppets Madness) (Comission for Emma Fici)

Welcome back all you strange and intresting plants to both my little retrospective of horrors AND monthly muppet madness my (usually) monthly look at anything muppet related. And after a blood apptizer or the original corman film, you can find that review HERE, i'ts time to get to the chunks of fileted dentist main course with the stage musical and one of my all time favorite films, it's 1986 film adaptation.

Originally I was going to do the stage version seperate... but when I sat down to watch the best visual and audio quality one I could find on youtube, the 2008 production from the American Musical Theater of San Jose which you can find HERE if your curious.. I found out that in addition to being a great movie on it's own.. LIttle Shop of Horrors is an EXCELLENT adaptation: While there are changes to make it work better as a film, cut songs for time and some changes in Seymours character we'll get to, most of the dialogue and music is exactly as it was in the stage play. At it's core the film is simply the musical as it's best self, taking all the great parts of it, trimming a bit of fat and giving us some knockout performances in the lead rolls. The film has some issues, we'll get to that like everything else... but on the whole even looking past my nostalgia.. it's still just a complete joy to watch and a love letter to the original

So i'll mainly be looking at the movie, but still covering the stage play here and there including the cut songs.

Good then let's dive into the giant man eating plant under the cut and see how it still talks, moves, sings and busts our balls after all this time.

Ya Never Know:

Little Shop of Horrors was the second collab and the brekaout one for the duo of Howard Ashman and Alan Menkin, a lyrcist and composer respectfully. It's , to my shock this very musical that caught Disney's eye, leading to the two composing songs for The Little Mermaid, Oliver and Company, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and of all things Cartoon All Stars to the Rescue, which I covered this 420. Sadly Ashman passed away in 1991, same year I was born, of AIDS, never seeing the finished Beauty and the Beast. His lost is a tragic one and i'ts sad a voice was robbed from us too soon by a disease that might of had better treatment had the goverment not been homophobic idiots. Menken is still working for Disney to this day, often returning for the unecessary live action remakes. Hey if it gets a certified legend a paycheck, at least some good comes out of those.

At any rate, back then the two were theater writers, whose previous show, God Bless You Mr. Rosewater, hadn't done well. Wanting a fun project, Ashman thought back to an old play of his about a plant that had a magnetisim about it, a cult of personality.. and then realized it was a ripoff of beloved film from his teen years, Little Shop of Horrors. He pitched the idea to Menken who after seeing the film was absolutely in love, with it's 60's setting giving him plenty of inspiration.

"Howard and I work fairly quickly once we have the handle on what we’re doing. But we did go through a long period of outlines and song styles that we discarded. I decided that I wanted the musical approach to come from some early 1960s music—the girl group sound. It has a very dark, menacing ring. You can almost hear whips and chains in the background. There were two ponytailed teenagers in the movie and we decided to turn them into a black trio that functions as a Greek chorus, commenting on the action.”

Ashman added in the same interview

“People who see our show say, ‘It’s just like the movie.’ It really isn’t. The movie falls apart in the middle and has a weak ending. We added the S&M romance between Audrey and the sadistic dentist. We dropped the character who eats carnations and got rid of Seymour’s mother, who had an iron lung and bitched about everything. Most important of all—the bodies fed to the plant in the movie were accidental deaths, like a bum who is hit by a train. In our version, the deaths are planned by Seymour and he kills off some very important characters. I think our show has a more coherent structure. Once the musical was finished, a major problem was to find someone who could play Audrey II, the malevolent plant that reduces the cast to a minimum.”

This tightend up but still rediculous show was put on at the two's regular theater, the WPA (which they joked stood for "We put on anything). It was soon a success and much like Audrey II grew, and grew and grew, with the play being a sizeable hit with critical acclaim, paticuarlly for it's puppet. Said puppet was done by Martin Robinson, a seasame street vetran who'd play snuffleupaguss, and did a great job making nit really seem alive.

Some Fun Now:

One of the plays producers, David Geffen saw the Film's Potetial, and wanted to make a film adaptation, and got some pretty big names attached: both Martin "Old Genius Yells at Cloud" Scorcse and John "Multiple Murders" Landis were attached at one point, the former wanting to shoot it in 3D

Geffen then offered the film to an at the time rookie director, but one who'd still more than proven himself. Frank Oz. Muppet Maestro extrodinare, co-director of the Dark Crystal who was just coming off Muppets Take Manhattan. Oz turned it down at first as he didn't really have a cinematic approach to it. Once it came to him though he quickly agreed. They had a script.. but Oz wisely noticed it was stage bound.

This is important as some musical adaptations fall flat simply because of staging: for instance a good chunk of the flack the adaptation of in to the woods got.. was that it was shot and staged like a play.. despite being you know a movie. It probably also didn't help it was shot like someone took a baseball bat to all their lighting rigs.

So Oz's first priority being "take this already great script and simply make it cinematic" is one of the very first great things I can point out about the film. Having now seen both while the Stage PLay is excellent as is, Oz takes what's there and elevates it: While most of the action's still in the titular shop, the shop itself is now split level and most musical numbers are taken beyond one of the plays three locations to really make them pop with Skid Row now being a giant crowd number to show how desperate things are, Da Doo being a full flashback that's ironically presented like a stage play, Dentist being mostly set in Orin's office and on the back of his bike, and Suddenly Seymour being taken to a back alley. All simple touches but ones that make the numbers feel a bit more alive and keeps the setting from feeling clostrophobic: we still spend most of the picture in the plant shop but unlike the musical or original film, you don't start to FEEL it. Giffen and Ashman liked what he had and thus we were off to the races.

Casting wise there dosen't seem to have been a lot of drama. The only real bit I got form the interview I used is that Cyndi Lauper was considered for audrey, and while she would've been great i'm sure, I wholly agree with Oz that Ellen Green, who originated the role, was perfect. I can't imagine anyone else in the roll.

A Strange and Interesting Plant:

That brings us to the puppetry and if anything proves this has muppet blood it's the team Frank Oz assembled: To design it he brought on Lyle Conway, the designer for Dark Crystal, to make it he brought on the team from Labyrinth and to move it he brought back Robinson and added Brian Henson. I can't overstate how much Oz was the right man for the job based on this alone: someone else COUDL'VE done it but the effects wouldn't of been nearly as perfect without a team of this level and someone to put it together of Frank's level. It's far from the only reason this film is good, but it's certainly one of the highest.

I can't gush enoguh about the plant puppets: it looks real, the rubbery nature of it resembling the texture of a rubbery plant in real life, the lips being perfect to open and emote and usually resting in a mildly unesettling smile, perfect for the smug manipulator Twoey is.

Something I hadn't really taken note of before but Oz pointed out was the baby versions designed, with it's flowers resembling a bonet, a nice touch to show how harmless it looks at first.. which helps sell the message: just because something or someone LOOKS harmless dosen't mean they can't be dangerous in the right circumstances.

It only gets better with each phase and I notice how Twoey looks creepier at each phase... being fairly mundane in it's first two, a bit unerving when we get to "I can talk and I can move" , and truly terrifying in it's last few phases, with it's teeth growing and growing each time as it's powers grow.

As for getting it to move right that took a trick I"m STILL impressed by and still looks near seamless: so when playing the dailies back, Oz noticed tooey didn't quite move right. It was a bit slow.. but he noticed when rewinding or fast forwarding it Toey moved just as it should. So he had a bit of a bonkers idea: have the actors move slower in scenes with the plant as a puppet, so they could speed up the footage. And to his credit while many a director would just run with this and tell the actors to get over it, especially at the time.. oz genuinely worried about the problems this faced and was sympathetic in pitching it. And to their credit... everyone was game. They saw it as a fun challenge.

Otherwise productoin seemed to go fine... with two big exceptions. The first was after test screenings, the studios wanted to replace Levi Stubbs with Rodney Dangerfield to make the plant less scary

Look I love Rappin Rodney. He's the best. He gave us one of the greatest lines in all of cinema

He's dearly missed.. but while he CAN sing, unsuprisingly, he's just not a good fit for this role. Audrey II is a tempting force, a manipulator, a smooth talker, and Rodney is none of those things. A schemer yes, a loveable everyman yes, a rap god, yes. But he was not Audrey II, Levi Stubbs was and i'm so damn greatful this abomination didn't happen, as hilarious as it would've been.

There was ANOTHER problem with test audiences, one i'm sure you all know and if not your going to... but that's best saved for when we get to the end. For now with all the behind the scenes behind us, for now, let's take a look at the events that started on the 21st day of the month september, in a decade not too long before our own, when the human race suddenly encountered a deadly threat to it's very existence. And this terrifying enemy suddenly surfaced, as such enemies often do,

In The Seemingly Most Innocent and Unlikely of Places.

We open the film with our title track.. and the stage show too but i'll just be saying "the film" for simplicites sake, though i'll still be covering where the versions diverge, unique stuff to both etc.

The title track is a decent , fun number to introduce it, done over a black screen on stage and in front of Mushniks in the movie.

Regardless of versoin it's sang by Crystal, Ronette and Chiffon, a trio of black singers and local teens who serve as our greek chorus. Their treatment is also one of the bigger diffrences between the stage and screen versions: on stage the three interact with the cast more and are more actual characters, getting a whole number with Seymour we'll get to and trying to get rid of Orin.

In the musical while two of their scenes interacting with the main cast remain, Mushnik shoing them away and the trio recommending Audrey date Seymour, their role as a greek chorus is emphasised, with the three appearing in more places and costumes, like on a roof in evening gowns for "Some fun now' in the dentist office for "Dentist!", in the florist at night for "Suppertime", and in an office in "The Meek Shall Inheret".

I prefer the film version. While they still had to have them as characters.. .after act 1 of the play they mostly vanish aside from chorus bits. This not only gives them more to do, but helps create a nice little question mark: are these three showing up everywhere, is it in the characters heads, artistic lisense, are they magic? We really don't know and I like it that way. The scenes of them as real people are still there.

Tichia Arnold, Michelle Weeks, and Tisha Campbell do a phenominal job in the roll and have a hell of a vocal range. They aren't given as much as the rest of the cast and it is a shame three of the only black performers in the cast aren't given as much to do in this version, but they still make the most of what screentime they have. Fun fact, Arnold and Campbell would later go on to both be on the sitcom Martin. I've never watched Martin, I never really want to, but I figured it was worth pointing out.

It's once we actually get inside the shop, Mushnik's Skid Row Florists that we meet our three leads: Mr Mushnik, the shop's owner played by character actor Vincent Gardenia, shrill voiced and gold hearted Audrey played by Ellen Greene as previously noted and my boy, the man the myth and the legend, Rick Moranis as Seymour Krelborne, Mushnik's hired hand, adopted son in all but legal papers, and hopless nerdy klutz.

The trio are perfectly cast.. granted that goes for everyone. Gardenia is hilariously shouty as the hammy Mushnik, being a worthy sucessor to the original film's equally hammy highlight. Mushnik is made a bit more of a dick here, as instead of being mad at Seymour for simply being really bad at his job he abuses someone whose just a tad clumsy, who he adopted and he basically treats as an indentured servant. He's also bumped down from Deutragonist to main cast.

Audrey gets a huge glow up going from a pretty forgetable character, to a tragically heartbroken one, a woman who assumes, very wrongly, she deserves the abuse her dentist boyfriend Orin gives her. Granted I don't like how Ashman seems to think BDSM is the same as domestic abuse, but Oz does a good job in the film downplaying the bdsm part, instead making it clear Orin is just a sadistic bastard. More on him later. Greene plays audrey perfectly: she has a goofy, perfectly doofy voice for adurey.. but she portrays it with such sincerty and heart. Audrey is a genuinely kind person: you can see why Seymour falls for her even if she can't see it. Audrey is someone who, as I relate to all too easily, hates themselves and sees their not worth it. We also get some nicely sex positive messaging with her, especailly for the 80's: while the bdsm mentions have aged like Ragu on a sidewalk, especially after 50 shades of grey ALSO didn't get what BDSM was and linked it to abuse, the internalized misogny audrey has, that just because she was a stripper (as is heavily implied) once and likes to dress how she pleases she's unworthy.. when really she's fine as is and fine as who she is. It's Orin who deserves to die.

Finally we have Seymour himself, played by the man, the myth, the boy, Rick Moranis. Rick Moranis slaps. He was an icon of the 80's and while he had to leave to raise his kids, he left at the height of his game. Moranis was the nerd of the 80's so he was perfectly cast. What this film also shows off , and thus i've always known about, but dosen't get shown off in say ghostbusters or other awesome roles.. is the fact that Moranis can sing. Moranis has a gorgeous voice, as does most of the cast here, and perfectly captures this version of seymour: someone who like Audrey, dose'nt think much of themselves but wants more for themselves, they just don't see a way out of where they are.

And where they are is DOWNTOWN, aka skid row, one of the best numbers of the musical. While it's decent enough in the original stage, Oz takes it up a notch, making it a giant, impactful crowd number, taking us all around as we hear just how hard it is for the people of skid row and how hopless it is.. and how much both Audrey and Seymour want to escape it despite the odds being against them. it's a beautiful I want song and one of the best, backed by Beatrice Reading's beautiful belting to open the song. A true masterpiece

So after that number we get a fun time passing montage, as with each shot we see it pass... and eventually see Mushnik throw up his hands and give up. They haven't sold anything all day, and he's going to close down the place.

Seymour however has a solution: they need a hook, an attraction. IT's him rather than Dick Miller who has the idea here which honestly... is just plain smart. While they sadly cut the Dick Miller Flower Eating guy out of the musical versions, I get he was suplerflous and he gets a perfect succesor in a moment and it makes way more sense for Seymour to just present the idea of his strange and intresting plant himself.

Seymour brings it up, the Audrey II. Audrey is flattered, Mushnik thinks the idea that this will work is laughable but figures why not... and then a weird man enters. This weird man is played by future comedy legend Christopher Guest of Waiting For Guffman and Best in Show Fame. I.. I can't understate how much I loved this guy even before finding out he was christopher guest a few years ago: his weirdly hammy way of talking, his suit, the way he says "what a stragne and intresting plant" you have to see him for yourself sometime. I also love how he titls his head when everyone says "twice as many"

As for how Seymour got it that leads us to Da-Do, a fun doo wop exposition number that in the movie is turned from just Seymour telling us in frame, to a neatly staged bit that looks like a play in construction. He buys it from Chang (Da-Do), a chinese botnist who sells him weird and intresting plants. Chang didn't make this one though, as TO-TAL ECLIPSE OF THE SUN! (ding), leads to the plant beaming in and while neither man knows how it got there, Chang sells it to Seymour anyway for a dollar nintey five.

The strange man almost walks bout but then comes back to buy a dozen roses , then TWICE AS MANY, TWICE AS MANY? (Twice as many?), leading to a flood of new customers and the florist being saved

Problem is Tooey isn't feeling so good Mr. Krelbourne, so Seymour's forced to spend the night trying to fix it. It's then we get another banger, Grow for Me. Spoiler: this entire soundtrack is fucking great in both versions, but especially the film. Oz shows his smart framing again here, having the number in the basement rather than the main area, giving us a bit of breathing room. The number is really just rick singing to the plant while moving around but his awesome and sincre vocals and the hilarious lyrics make it a joy.

When Seymour asks "whaddya want from me blood"... Tooey's response is...

So he opens a vein and the plant grows for him, leading to Seymour getting an interview on the radio

In both versions the interview is off screen, with us only seeing it through Mushnik and the trio (in the stage) and audrey (in the film) listening. What the film adds is a nice extra bit of Seymour actually going to the station. The station bit is really there for one and only one reason: so we can get a John Candy cameo. And frankly every film while he was alive should've been mandated to have a john candy cameo

John Candy is a comedy legend who died too young. He also has a history with Moranis, as the two were on the awesome sketch show SCTV in the 80's, so it was likely an easy ask to get Candy on here. The two also once did a song together on SCTV. It is also not necessary to this review but i'd be doing a diservice if I didn't play it for ya

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Even when the man is trying NOT to play good he slaps. if anything the fact he can sing well enough to sing awkwardly on purpose and still have it not HURT to listen to and be funny.. god I love this man.

Anyways John plays Wink Wilkin, a local DJ whose really just there for John Candy to show how hilariously awkawrd it is when a dj does a bit while someone's standing right there watching it. He's also on the Blu Ray cover for some reason

This SCTV character is not vincent gardenia, what are you doing.

Anyways in the stage version Seymour coming back from the interview, after failing to give the adress, leads to "Ya Never Know", our first cut number.... KINDA.

See while the other three cut numbers are entirely gone from the musical, Ya Never Know was simply remixed into "Some Fun Now", taking the last part of Ya Never Know and making it into a slightly diffrent song. This change is for the better as while Ya Never Know rocks, it tightens up the pacing and instead of a random mid day musical number, we get a later juxtopistion of the fun and upbeat "Ya never know" with Seymour giving more and more blood to Toey.

Before we get to Some Fun Now though we have another number as the trio ask Audrey what the heck she sees in Orin. And what I do like is that while most people around Audrey tell her to "Just leave"... the film and stage show make it clear that it isn't that easy. It's honestly a great depection of abuse: while the idea that most victims have low self esteem isn't great, the idea that their abuser chips away at that and exploits that is very clear in how Orin treats her and how Audrey sees herself. Not only that, we get a very VALID reason why she dosen't leave him "If he does this when he likes me imagine what he'd do if I left?". The only people Audrey has in her corner are a kind nerd she dosen't want to see horribly mangled and an old man who would certainly try. No one would protect her if she left, so she can't. It's a horrible and tragic circumstance and a shockingly frank depection of abuse in what's otherwise a pretty light musical, and a hint that this musical.. isn't nearly as light as it appears on the surface.

So all Audrey can do is dream of a house somewhere that's green, leading to our next number. And as a kid.. I hated this one. It was long, it went on forever and I didn't really find the jokes that funny. oh hahaha 12 inches was a big screen.

As an adult... it's heartbreaking. Audrey is so trapped in her situation all she can do is pine for a future she thinks she can only dream about, one she feels deep down she and Seymour will never have and will never live to see. The last part's true depending on the ending, which makes it hurt that much more: knowing what's comign for her, knowing what twisted version of her dream she gets.. it hurts. It tangibly hurts.

Outside of being beautiful, well crafted sad, this sequence also brings an element I really didn't notice before to the foreground: captalisim. The film really takes the screws to our society, how some barely scrape by and can only dream and how some can ONLY get ahead through sheer luck. Seymour only found Audrey II because of a freak TO-TAL E-CLIPSE OF THE SUN! (ding). When your poor.. the world just wants to keep you that way and while working your way out IS an option.. it may not always work out. Mushnik has a nice flower shop for what he can get.. but it's dying simply because he can't afford a place not on skid row, where few people can really afford what he sells. And as the film goes on we see sometimes the way out... will eat you alive in the process.

Anyways, captalizim aside, I also love the designwork here. I used not to register just how much work it must've been to make this sort of thing but OZ and co really went out of their way to make some truly neat sets that feel unreal and plastic. So while it's still not a song I go back to a lot, it's one I apricate a lot more.

So we then get Orin.. and to my shock his intro's a bit diffrent in the stage play. Him riding up on his motorbike while singing on a purposefully crappy green screen is so awesome I hadn't thought "Well yes Jake but that's impossible to do on stage. ". Instead he talks with the Trio a bit. As you can probably guess... I prefer the film version, and once again it's less nostalgia or familiarity and more just showmanship. It's not really a fair contest as Frank made sure this was as film friendly as possible, so each number is him going all out while on stage it's just like any stage musical: it's what you can do on a stage. Dosen't make it any less awesome, my hatchetfield reviews should make that clear, it's just hard to compare to what OZ pulled off.

At any rate Dentist! is one of the most iconic numbers of the film and that's thanks in addition to Menkin's perfect 50's greaser ditty, to the charisma of one Steve Martin. Like Moranis I shoudln't have ot introduce steve martin who at 78 is not only still acting and has never quite stopped, he's also currently starring in the popular Only Murders in the Building with fellow SCTV alum Martin Short. I'd love for Rick or Ellen to pop up on there frankly even if I don't watch the show.

At any rate, Dentist is a gloriously hammy, surpisingly dark ditty about just what a monster orin is and how since "his temprament's wrong for preisthood and teaching would suit him still less" his mother recommended he become a dennnntttiiist and he'll be a sucess. And he is.. somehow. 1960's I suppose. The film gleefully outlines him as a hamm over the top villian, not just from shooting puppies with a bb gun and poimsning guppies when he was done but from little things Martin adlibed, with Orin just flat out socking his nurse in the face and tearing the head off a doll. It's so over the top it's hilarious and the song is so damn catchy and well done you can't help but sing along once you know the words. Add on the fact Steve Martin does a shockingly good elvis and you have one of the most perfect musical numbers and most hilariously over the top villian songs there is.

We soon meet Orin properly and what I love is that while Steve Martin gleefully hams it up with orin most of the time... he tones it down just enough when audrey enters. It's best shown when he meets Seymour. With Seymour he's flashy, happy to see him and recommends he get out of skid row asap. With Audrey.. he's quitely meancing, getting snippy when she dosen't add DDS to his name and snapping at her when she dosen't. But what makes it work.. is that it's kept realistic. Yes Orin is a greaser dentist about to be eaten by a plant, yes he's a bit goofy.. but the actual effect of his abuse and how he does it is played creepily real. He dosen't hit her in front of Seymour, with us only knowing he does because orin keeps leaving bruises, but it's very clear he has a tight control over her and Seymour's deeply uncomfortable the whole time, unable to actually DO anything to stop the guy despite knowing Audrey going off with him will only result in more pain for the poor woman.

Before Seymour can get an out for that we have to go back to the stage for one of the most suplerflous subplots i've seen in some time: So Mushnik is terrified Seymour is going to leave him and take the money and run, so he tries to adopt him. A 25 year old baby boy. Or 30 if you go by the movie which cut this out. We do get a great number out of it "Mushink and Son", where Mushnik tries to convince Seymour who mostly disagrees because he can see the lines but then Mushnik holds his breath for too long and Seymour agrees to become his son. It's entirely stupid and I love it, but I can see why i'ts cut. As a joke it's fine, hilarious and the number is fun. As part of the plot.. it goes nowhere. The florist shop is renamed Mushnik and Sons Skid Row Florist.. and that's it. It has no impact on Mushnik's later demise, the plot or anything but making Seymour feel on top of the world, which he already was. It's a nothing plot point only likely kept in all future versions because otherwise Mushnik's actor dosen't get a song.

So we get back to the main plot from that cul de sac and Seymour has a bit of an issue: while he could feed Twoey himself fine, he's not only tapped from previous feeings.. but Twoey is HUNGRY.. and with a loud whimpering feed me, Seymour finds out his plant can talk, he can move his trap he can demand more food.

With this Audrey's voice actor joins the party, Levi Stubbs. Stubbs was a member of 60's vocal quartet the Four Tops, a vetran singer who to my suprise was one of the inspirations for Hall and Oates. And their STILL active, switching out members as they go. They were such a big deal that Stubbs had to get the rest of the group's permission for this but thankfully he did.

Stubbs is a standout, perfectly nailing Twoey's character, maniuplative, smooth, and sinister. He can slip from threatning to tempting in an instant. One minute he'll be talking up Seymour the other he'll be telling him "does this look inanimate to you punk?" or telling him "Must be blood, must be fresh" one of my faviorite line deliveries from Stubbs as it's just so damn creepy. It underlines what Twoey needs.. someone to die for it. And a line Seymour isn't ready to cross.

So to push him over it we get the best song in the film, Feed Me (Gonna Get It), it's the first of THREE villian songs for Twoey in the film, two in the play, and it's the most iconic, outlining what this plant is right away: A deadly force.. but also a smooth manipulator, offering Seymour WHATEVER it takes to get him some lunch. The iconic "Would you like a cadilaic car, or a guest shot on jack par, how about a date with Hedy Lamar you gonna get it?". The I don't know bridge also nicely shows that Seymour. .isn't sold... this is a lot to ask and it's a high price tag. He sees the dollar signs.. but also sees the blood stains he'll have to clean out.. and the blood he can't ever scrub off his concious.

WE then get my faviorite part of the movie period. Twoey loudly belts out "a lotta folks dessserrrveee to die" a deftly manipulative line: after all it's a bit easier to muder if the person is bad right? One less scumbag right? or rather.. one lest dentist as in both versions Orin hits audrey where Seymour can see it and thus we get one of the best duets there's ever been as the two sing together. a one, a two IF YOU WANT A RATIONALE, IT ISN'T VERY HARD TO SEE NO NO NO, STOP AND THINK IT OVER PAL! THE GUY SURE LOOKS LIKE PLANT FOOD TO ME, THE GUY SURE LOOKS LIKE PLANT FOOD TO ME!

Now (It's Just the Gas0

So Seymour goes to GO GET IT. Cue the dentist office. And the movie adds something back the stage musical took out. While most of it's characters were either excised for serving no real purpose (Seymour's Mom, Dick Miller, The Sex Worker, the Mourning Lady, the Cops), or changed up (The two teeny boopers becoming the trio), Oz saw fit to bring one cut back: the dental mascochist, Arthur Denton in this version.

For this cameo Oz once again casted a big name, this time on purpose: Bill Murray, asshole and comedy legend. Look recent reveals like.. dangling a teenager over a garbage can and rampant sexual harassment may not have me liking him as a person, and it's certainly hurt films I love such as Meatballs. But as usual with these sort of assholes.. I HAVE to give credit where it's due. Murray is, as usual fucking hilaroius, nicely playing off Martin, a pairing we really haven't gotten outside of this one scene, with Orin being disgusted since Denton gets turned on. And like Nichelson Murray has this hijlarious jolly energy, though his is a bit more over the top fitting his style.

Anyways Seymour goes in for his checkup, which like the original film, Orin plans to take WAY too far and fuck up his mouth, giving Seymour ANOTHER reason to want the man dead. And it's there things change... as in both versions the same event happens, if slightly diffrently. It's been shown before this in Dentist! that Orin is addicited to Nitrious Oxide, having made up his own special gas mask to endulge, a weird bubble helmet in the stage and a simplier one on screen that's still JUST goofy enough. Problem is ... the thing works a bit too well and Orin snaps off the knob... just as, in the film at least, Seymour points a gun at him.

HIs death is utterly horrifying in both versions. I like the films as Martin does a fantastic job selling orin is dying and the horror that he's dying as he's laughing, coughing wildly between laughs. I also LOVE the exchange they have, something original to the film that sums things up perfectly

Orin: What'd I ever do to you?! Seymour: It's not what you did to me.. it's what you did to her. Orin: Who? (it dawns on him as the lights start to go out) Oh... her.

It's a simple moment but it shows in one last bit.. Orin realizes why his grave was dug.

The stage version of Orin dies the same way.. but it's extra unerving.. as he SINGS while it happens. Our penultimate cut number, Now (It's Just the Gas). I get why this one was cut: while the others were either reformatted or simply too suplerflous to live.. this one would've been fine. Here's the best live version I could find on it's own. Jake Gyllehal is seymour for some reason

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As you can see it's a nice mix... it's horrifying.. and really puts Seymour in a moment of truth: he COULD save Orin... but he ultimately can't bring himself to. This change is also big as it adds more moral greyness to Seymour: BOTH let the man die, but Seymour in the musical thinks it over more. Let's it set in more.

WHile I prefer the theater version... I still love both scenes and for what it adds to Seymour: it's forever a question of "did he let orin die on purpose or simply got too nervous to decide and the time ran out?" In both versions the guy simply.. can't pull the trigger.. but is letting Orin die a horrible death any better? is it REALLY Seymour's right to kill the guy? It makes the world better.. but was that his call? I like that the musical dosen't really answer these questions. Seymour feels GUILT.. but for what, for wanting audrey and clearing the way or for killing someone? For how orin died? All that's clear is there's no blood on his hands.

After this we get a stunning scene of Seymour feeding Audrey II. The stage version is excellent, with shadowed lighting as seymour throws the parts in. I really love the OZ version though, as he throws in a jazzy instrumental of mean grene mother from outer space... and some horrifying laughter as Seymour throws him parts wrapped up. Originally the parts were NOT wrapped up but the MPAA took issue with this.

Can't imagine why.

So with this we enter act 2 and finally get past our last cut full song, Closed for Renovations. It's cute and it exists, that's about it.

So the store's doing better, Seymour's star's rising and he only has nightmares from guilt every OTHER night.

He's not the only one as Audrey has a jolt of guilt from Orin's death. How varies, with the movie version talking to the cops and the musical version getting a far more heartbreaking jolt: Seymour wearing a jacket like his to try and impress her.. only for the ptsd and guilt to get to her. Audrey WANTED him gone.. and thus fears this is her fault. Seymour, who knows exactly who made him plant food comforts her.

This leads to one of the shows best numbers and one of it's signatures. It's also one of the few that's really not that diffrent between versions: Oz simply adds a sunset for a nice cinematic touch. IT's a tender, genuine romantic ballad between Audrey and Seymour finally confessing to one another and confriming their better than their brains give them credit for. Can relate. It's tender, well done and REALLY shows off Greene and Moranis' vocal range. The two REALLY hit the high notes, ESPECIALLY Greene. While Somewhere That's Green let her show off a little this is a whole damn parade of her vocal talents. It's nice, warm.. and very sad given what's about to happen in 2/3 versions of this story.

Though what happens next no matter the version isn't exactly chipper as Mr. Mushink confronts Seymour. And this.. is one of the biggest changed scenes in the whole musical and those changes are deeply important. In both Mushnik has figured out he killed orin the film version saw Seymour hacking and slashing up the corpse, the musical version got a call seymour had a bag there and saw red spots on the linoleium.

While those are still similar enough what seperates the Mushniks is intent: despite his earlier greed, Gravis GENUINELY wants to help Seymour in the play, begging him to come tell the cops his side and part of him clearly not beliving Seymour did it or if he did, he had a good reason.

The film version.. is the utter bastard we're used to. He holds Seymour at gunpoint and offers to let Seymour run away if he gives him the plant.. framing it as helping but really just wanting the money. One is a suprise show of decency.. the other is exactly what you'd expect, but with Garendia still giving Mushnik a nice tinge of clear horror at what his surrogate son has done. Either way it drives home how far Seymour's sunk, with Audrey before this showing the consequences. He killed a man..a nd he dosen't get to walk away.

Or does he? After all Twoey would prefer the more manipulatable person and thus sings to Seymour to feed Mushnik to him What I like is no matter the version, it's ambigious if Audrey II is actually communicating with Seymour.. or it's simply the Audrey II in his head. Mushink dosen't HEAR Audrey II but is that artistic license or is what's about to happen all seymour?

Well how MUCH it's Seymour depends on the version and it's something that hurts the original ending of the film: In the play.. Seymour is fully responsible. Twoey's talking him into it sure.. but Seymour tells Mushnik to look into the plant for the money. Which is stupid, and a nice takeaway from the original film, sure, but he still actively lead Mushnik there.

In contrast in the film... Seymour's at gunpoint, nervous and reluctantly backs him up to tooey, and is geninely unsure of how to tell him how to care, drawing it out.. and once again making it hard to tell if Seymour simply got nervous and Twoey took advantage or Semyour led him.

It's a key part of the film version; Seymour's guilt is way more ambiguous, which makes him more sympathetic. It's hard to tell how much is just making the wrong decision under pressure, and how much is intetnional. He also shows way more guilt.

Where Do I Sign?

What dosen't help is that both versions of the film cut out something important, the bridge of "The Meek Shall Inheret". The Meek Shall Inheret is a number I love, as Seymour's fame rises.. but as shown by Moranis' deft acting, it's eating him alive as the guilt is. And the bridge makes this clear.. but also makes him once and for all acountable.

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Now did Oz go a bit TOO hard on adapting this bit? Fuck yes. I don't even know exactly what i'm looking at. There's a good bit or too like the bleeding painting of mushnik.

What's important is the singing and my GOD does moranis fucking kill it. This is easily his best vocal performance in the film..a nd it got left to the soundtrack. A real shame even if I do GET cuting this goofy version, if not you know, simply reshooting it. You don't NEED Audrey hugging a plant. Or plant seymour.. or most of this. The vines are a nice touch tho.

What's needed.. is Seymour's moment of weakness. WIth Orin, he simply acted too slowly and let a bad person die by his own hubris. With Mushnik, it was a moment of weakness or a moment of stress. Both left men dead and both aren't something he can walk back and will always carry with him.

The question is.... does Seymour give into the plant or fight back, does he KILL the beast before it grows and loose everything to do the right thing or selfishly give in? IT's the latter.. that seals Seymour's fate. That little last speck of insecurity and self hatred, that tiny voice that convinces him Audrey loved him for the plant and not who he is. And that's.. how Audrey II wins.

And leaving that out meant he couldn't POSSIBLY win. Which brings us to our finales.

Schrodinger's Audrey

The leadup is the same: with his guilt spiraling , Seymour asks Audrey to run away with him and get married, leaving Audrey II behind. The stage version.. runs on plot contrivance. Up to this point it's well plotted and the actual tragic finale is a heartbreaker.. but how we get there is

Okay so Seymour talks to Audrey about running away.. IN FRONT OF TWOEY. The one person he shoudln't. And it's not like the play dosen't have an alleyway set or they can't just dim the lights so it's implied he's not in the shop. I get the final plant puppet is MASSIVE but you COULD hide it. even just have Seymour throw a sheet over him.

Then while he's getting Twoey some sirloin, Audrey comes by because she can't sleep. That's it. The entire tragic ending.. happens because of stupidity and concidence. And seymor's hubris and weak spine, but the fact the last 15 minutes happen because of this just. .baffles me. The play is so good otherwise, honest, and the rest of the ending is great. But this one part just.. astounds me in both how flimsy it is and how it's never been re-written. WHy wouldn't you?

So Twoey tricks Audrey into getting him some water. She's nervous and senses something's off... but sadly not before Twoey eats her alive. And it's with that action the ending snaps back into the quality of the rest of the show, as Seymour comes in to save her.. but it's too late. His actions have had a consequence and his refusal to try and kill Tooey while he still could... cost him the only good thing in his life that didn't come with strings attached and never had. Audrey, selfless and kind as always, asks to be fed to the plant, not realizing what Seymour has become or what he's done and simply wanting to be with him somewhere tha'ts green. And to their credit while Twoey is a monster... in both this version and the film, he let's Seymour gently place her inside, honoring her sacrifice.

Seymour is left a mess after this, and only snaps out of his suicidal spiral when a salesman offers to make MORE Audrey II's... and thus Seymour gets the picture: The plant wants to conquer the world.As brilliantly put in the film in one of my faviorite parts in the whole thing.

Seymour: Every household in america, thousands of ya eating, that's what you had in mind all along isn't it?

Seymour: We're not talking about one Hungry Plant Here, we're talking about world conquest

Audrey II: And I wanna thankkkkkk youuuuuuu

It sells that this is SEYMOUR'S fault.. and in the play at least.. it's too late. He made the wrong choice... and it's too late to save the world.. or himself. Despite every attempt, despite going into the plant to kill it.. Seymour dies. THe plant gets sold to every supermarket in the world... and as "Don't Feed the Plants" plays, we learn everyday jerks like Seymour bought the deal. The world is doomed... and evne if the chorus tells us "we still have a chance" it dosen't seem likely.

And this ending.. is fantastic. It's a well needed aseop: that ANYONE can do horrible things with the right motivation. It's probably less shocking nowadays in the true crime boom built off that premise, but even then most people watching that stuff think "Naht hat isn't me". The point of the show is ... no it could be. Seymour isn't a HORRIBLE person, he isn't pure evil... but he still let two people die horrible deaths because it was easy and backed down from the hard path... and paid the price. Actions have consequences, and doing horrible things to get ahead just isn't worth it. It's not worth loosing your soul to feed the plant.

So that leads us to the film which infamously has TWO endings. The original was a variant of this one, the other something diffrent Both start the same way though: Frank fixes one of the few problems with the play by.. not having Seymour be a complete putz. He makes the plans to flee where he thinks Tooey isn't watching, in the Alley, and tries to sneak out, then does the sirloin thing as a compromise, clearly planning to leave after that. And rather than hapinstance.. it's Twoey that kicks off the finale. Seymour's going to renege on their deal? Well that's just fine.. then he's no longer of use.. and neither is Audrey. So he calls her over and reveals himself, with a truly nice shot from her apartment across the street as we see the plant grinning. She's certainly feeling uneasy.. but her kindness and trusting nature make it easy to see why she tries to feed the plant some water when asked.... and ends up lunch.

This is where the two endings split. A Schrodinger's Audrey if you will: She's not alive OR dead despite the obvious implications towards the latter while being eaten.. i'ts only when she's pulled out can you tell which ending you have: if her wedding dress is clean, it's the theatrical cut, if it's blood i'ts the original.

So before we talk about the different endings, you have to ask

Most films have test screenings: these are a way for studios to see if they have a hit on their hands or arbitrarily bury a movie, gage audience reactions, see what might need to be cut or what needs to be reshot. These aren't a bad thing entirely as sometimes testing can really help a film.

In this case it did and it didn't. The film was a cinch to get raitings for most of it... laughter, hollering. It was a crowd pleaser... until we get here. Until they kill Audrey then Seymour. Hearts are broken and the bad guys win.. and no one was happy with them getting only 16 percent liking it. Oz suggested another test.. and same result.

So while he wasn't happy about it, as the original ending had a lot of expensive puppets, minitures and fit more aseop wise.. he changed it so the film would get released.

It was then.. that the original ending was lost. All frank had was a black and white workprint which he DID put on the dvd.. till Giffen told him to take it off and said "Oh we'll just put the color one on" now where did I put it..

Yeah he didn't have it and it still frustrates me the ending was mostly lost. Thankfully a fan happened to have the original print and it was restored in 2013, but for most of my life the theatrical ending WAS the ending. I only saw the original one in a lifestream someone was doing around halloween and in the janky workprint.

So on paper it'd be obvious with ending is better: The original, the director's intended vision. But it's just.. not that simple. The hard truth is , as much as I love this film NEITHER ending completely works. Both are good.. but neither COMPLETELY fit the film Oz made

The original is , as said, close to the plays: Audrey is pulled out and Ellen green acts her heart out as she asks to be fed to the plant. If ther'es one big tragedy to this ending not getting in it's that Greene didn't get her oscar for this scene. God damn.

So Seymour decides to unalive himself out of guilt, only to meet the sales guy, realize tooey's plan and go to stop him. We also get one line that isn't in the thetrical cut "Your a monster and so am I" it shows tha tunlike the musical.. Seymour has realized their both monsters.. but only one is getting out of here. He has to do the right thing even if he dies.

He tries his best as we get one of the best numbers int he musical, my clossseeee second faviorite mean green mother from outer space as Audrey II talks about how badass he is in one long, awesome villian song, one of the best in existance. He easily beats Seymour. Ashman and Menkin made this for the film, to get nominated for best original song, which worked. They lost somehow but hey, points for trying. MGMFOS is a banger, and one of the musicals best in any medium, nad i'm glad stage productions added it in as damn is it fun. IT's also a puppetry feast as the giant final puppet moves, grooves and has little backups. it's a truly awesome musical moment and a spectcale for the eys, a deserving finale

And it's also... why this ending dosen't quite work. In the play Seymour goes down swinging and while still likeable, wasn't the best person by the end. His death went down easier. Movie Seymour showed WAY more visable guilt, being wracked with it and while he tried to dodge it it was clear it was eating him alive... and without that bridge, without that one moment of weakness... he comes off less as someone who willingly sold out to twoey after the two murders, and more as somone whose swept up in the tide of all he ever wanted but desperate to escape it as he knows the price tag is caked in blood. And as bad as he was.. some of that blood was his father figures.

As a result a 3 minute musical number where Seymour is humilaited AFTER the guy nearly killed himself AFTER having to give up the love of his life, knowing it was all his fault she's dead... is a bit much. It's karmic overkill. Seymour dosen't deserve to walk off scott free, he has to live with what he's done. But OZ both made Seymour way more sympathetic.. and then piled on way more punishment. I'm again not saying Seymour deserves to get the hell out of this unscathed, he let two horrible things happen and needs to stop the monster he created. But this was overkill

It dosen't help that after Seymour's death, and the plants taking over... the ending drags on for a WHILE. The director's cut does have GREAT puppet and miniture work that's just outright wasted in the theatrical cut, cool shots of the plants taking over the world. It's neat stuff. But it's also not edited like it probably would hav ebeen had it been propertly released, so it's about 30% good content and 70% the plants fucking shit up while laughing a lot. It's cool at first but after a while you just want it to end. And the end of Audrey II bursting through the screen is awesome but I GET why the test audiences hated this: It's not just the bad guy winning, that's a horror staple, i'ts that he basically rubs your nose in it for 15 minutes. The ending isn't terrible and I do get why people prefer it, as THEMATICALLY it's better.. but I wish we could get a cut with it edited down. otherwise while still a LOT of overkill for seymour, it'd flow way better.

So that means the focus group ending is 100% better right?

Yeah while I like the theatical cut ending a touch more... it's far from perfect. It's not bad: Seymour rescues Audrey, realizes what's going on from Jim Belushi (And we get the iconic line "IF you two kids would just stop singing for a minute"), and goes to confront the plant one on one to atone for what he's done. It helps that while we don't get the great your a monster and so am I line, we do get Seymour going in. He COULD run from the thing.. but he knows running is what got him into this. being passive, not helping anyone when he could. It's only actoin that will get him out

Mean Green Mother works WAY better as a villianous last stand than as a victory lap. It's still boastful, still awesome and Seymour is still outmatched.. but it works better when it's not "Someone whose genuinely trying to atone for horrible things getting battered" and more "A hero barely surviving against the beast he created. " Context helps.

It's HOW Twoey goes out that makes this kinda weak, as is Seymour just.. getting away from it. Feed the plants and you can escape the consequences of your actions! You can just bluescreen them to death and get your somewhere tha'ts green..e ven if it comes with a strange and inresting plant.

Thematically the ending dosen't QUITE work, changing it more to "accepting personal responsiblitY" than "your actoins have consequences and you can't just avoid them less they destroy you". But honestly.. it dosen't hurt the film bad enough. The changes to Seymour mean we root for him more. We're probably not supposed to, but Rick Moranis is just too damn likeable and sympaathetic and portrays the guilt too well. But the new aseop "When you do a bad thing, you need to own up to and face it not run away from it or claim you could've done nothing" DOES really hit in an age where many a person will deny they did anything when their ugly past takes root. Seymour did fuck up, but he coudln't exactly tell the cops, and while it took a push risked his life to undo his mistake. Again it's far from perfect, but for an ending that had to be made on the fly it works well and for the film Frank Oz made.. it works perfectly.

So that's Little Shop of horrors... and as should be obvious.. I love both vresions. The movie more, ending issues and all. It has phenominal performances, wonderful numbers and top notch effects. If you haven't seen it and this hasn't convinced you, I don't know what else I could possibly say except.. thanks for reading.

Next Time: We finish this retrospective with the piece of little shop history we all like to forget.

#little shop of horrors #halloween #ellen greene #rick moranis #steve martin #vincent gardenia #audrey II #seymour krelborn #horror #musicals #musical theater

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fioreofthemarch · 11 months

Text

Finding Her - Chapter 8

Link makes notes, takes photos and keeps time on his quest across Hyrule, in the hopes of finding Zelda and staying sane until he does. [ Previous | Next | First | AO3 ]

A photograph of Blachery Plain in Necluda; the ground undulates gently between small knolls and shallow ponds. Ruined walls dot the landscape, and now among them are chunks of sky islands that have fallen to the surface. Between the ruins, wildflowers grow.

A photograph of Fort Hateno and the aftermath of a fierce battle. In the foreground is a motley crew of Hylians and a single Goron, lead by their Captain, Hoz, who carries a hand sewn Hyrulean banner. They stand with fists raised, victorious.

A photograph of Hateno Village from a distance, the lights from its houses twinkling in the dusk. Wafting lazily across the horizon is a dragon, Naydra, a tail of silvery blue light following in its wake.

A photograph of a lone house in Hateno, in the old pre-Calamity style. It has a single chimney and a rendered brick exterior. Beside the house is a small garden with a large oak tree and a pond that glints in the moonlight. There are frogs in the water, strategically located beneath a concert of fireflies that have gathered at the pond.

Caption: Haven’t felt like writing. But Hyrule is still beautiful, so had to snap a few photos.

---

Log date: 20:30 6th month, 19th day, 104AC Location: Hateno Village Weather: Mild, clear skies.

Well Zelda, I’m here. Our house is just how we left it.

Did we ever call it ours? It was always just ‘the house’. I’m going to stop by the house. We’re out of Hylian Rice at the house. Did you close the shutters at the house? It gets hot during the day.

I guess I’d always assumed that, after the Calamity, you’d go back to Castle. But you said you’d prefer somewhere with people, so we came here, and I offered to sleep on a mattress while you took the bed on the loft. That didn’t last long, did it? Two teenagers, with no responsibilities or parental oversight, spending all day together and sharing a candle-lit dinner every night? I think I woke up in your arms before the summer was over.

Not that I’m complaining. We made our own little world here and fell in love in the quiet comfort of home. I’ll never be able to praise Hylia enough. Now that it’s been a couple years I was thinking of adding a few extra rooms. Enough space to live comfortably, for a library or a world-class pantry or… or a nursery. I never told you any of that. Why did I never tell you any of that?

Silver linings. The house is safe, just like the rest of Hateno. I know you’ll be glad to hear that, wherever you are.

A photograph of the pantry underneath the stairs. It is mostly empty except for a few jars of staple goods like wheat and rice, some limp looking vegetables and an empty bottle of milk. There is an old loaf of bread, tough as rock salt, and a half-eaten nutcake, blooming unpleasantly with mold.

Caption: Need to get provisions for the house.

---

Log date: 12:00. 6th month, 20th day, 104AC Location: Hateno Village Weather: Humid. Summer showers later in the day.

Busy morning. My gut tells me something is brewing in Hateno, otherwise I’d be back on my horse and riding out of here by now. Started by nosing around the new well next to the house. Definitely didn’t read Zelda’s diary and definitely don’t have some new gear that she made to hunt down in Hyrule Castle. But if I did, I would be very grateful, just so that anyone reading this knows, and am sorely missing a certain someone’s expert tailoring. Because I do miss it, quite a bit.

Anyway. Bought carrots and goat butter from the general store. Traded some nuts for milk with Dantz up on the hill. Making creamy vegetable soup for dinner.

Popped in on Robbie at the Tech Lab. He asked if Josha managed to reach me with the Message Medallion and laughed at my shock. He said he wasn’t mad, more proud she’d been brave enough to try. To show he meant it, he added a sensor to the Purah Pad and gave me a Travel Medallion, which he swore to Kakariko and back was 100% reliable. We’ll see.

From there wandered back down the hill. Stopped by the school. Symin looked harangued. Half a dozen kids in his care and no second teacher to help wrangle them. I promised him I’d come back tomorrow and take a class if he wanted. He said he’d just be happy to have a moment to sit down.

Saw Mayor Reede tending his field. Tending is the wrong word. Attacking, more like. Taking to it with a farm hoe with so much vigour the dirt was flying five feet into the air. His wife Clavia saw me passing by and pulled me aside to ask if I had a moment, but seeing my arms full of groceries she said she’d find me later. Next ran into Medda by his new Hylian Tomato crops. He asked if I still wanted a garden put in at the house and I told him I’d have to check with Zelda first. Eugh. So used to saying that, in the past when her being away meant she was down at the shops or working late at the Tech Lab, or on a research trip and home soon. Medda just sighed and put a hand on my shoulder. Real sorry, we’re all real sorry, he said.

Next dropped into Sayge to get the paraglider serviced. He said to come back in a day, and asked if I had any photographs of wild animals he could use for new designs. I showed him a photo of a cucco I took in Kakariko Village and he said ‘Everyone knows what chickens look like’. Gotta dig through the dozens of photos I have on this thing now. Gotta be something good on here.

Finally, to Cece’s, for a new Hylian hood — except she’s not open for business at the moment. Something about a new collection of hers. Can’t say I’m holding my breath. Not really a mushroom fan. I’ve eaten too many on the road that turned out to not be mushrooms and to actually be poisonous fungi. But I suppose that’s not the mushrooms' fault, and her designs seem really popular now, especially after Zelda took a liking to them. She had this pretty mushroom dress she used to wear around town, wonder if it’s still here…

Back at the house now, making the soup. I’ve laid out dinnerware for two, lit a candle, and said a prayer to the Goddess, which used to be done just before we ate, one hand in Zelda’s as she sat across from me at the table. Old habits, I guess.

Overall, nothing seems amiss in Hateno, just yet. Will stay one more day.

A photograph of the cauldron outside of Link and Zelda’s house. A carrot, mushroom and wild greens soup bubbles gently. It’s at least enough to feed four, or more.

Caption: Maybe Medda will accept soup and an I.O.U for the garden.

---

Log date: 16:00. 6th month, 21st day 104AC Location: Hateno Village Weather: Warm, partly cloudy.

Nevermind, something is indeed amiss in Hateno. Should know to trust my gut.

It happened in a flurry. I was back at Cece’s to bargain for a hood (really need some new, clean clothes) when Reede barged in. Stamping his foot and red as a pepper, demanding she take down the mushroom lamps, and she, unphased, called him an out of touch old fool holding Hateno back from true prosperity. Your mushroom decor is ugly! Your vegetables are boring! Pointed fingers and lots of shouting. The tension in the room was so thick I was prepared to Ascend through the roof to get out of there.

It all came to a head when Cece proposed an election to decide the fate of Hateno. Now every other resident is asking who I’m voting for, Clavia suspects her husband is up to something, and Cece’s sister Sophie claims she has a dark secret. Plus Reede and Cece both want my help with their campaigns — Cece gave me a stack of mushrooms to hand out (like… bribes?) and Reede is trying to hunt down an old family recipe (unsure how that will help him).

It would be so easy to teleport to a shrine on the other side of the Kingdom. Or build a Zonai glider and soar away. Or throw myself into the nearest Chasm. Politics was Zelda’s expertise. And every moment I’m here is another moment I could be out looking for her.

But. I’m still here. Hateno might not be covered in Gloom or under threat from some monster but… this is my home, and these are my people. Zelda’s too, aren’t they? It’s something we haven’t had since the Calamity. And now they’ve asked for my help. I’ve never said no to that before. It would be wrong, to start here, to start now.

Whoever we choose as the new mayor, I hope we choose soon.

A photograph of two large racks inside a Hateno-style house belonging to the dairy farmers Dantz and Koyin. On the shelves are wheels of cheese - a novel invention once thought lost to Hyrule. Koyin poses happily in front of her creations, blushing as her photo is taken.

Caption: Forgot to mention. It’s cheese! Cheese! They make it out of milk! It’s gooey and rich and perfect. I bought as much as I could carry.

---

Log date: 21:00. 6th month, 23rd day 104AC. Location: Hateno Village Weather: Cool and clear.

Well, sometimes the trouble sorts itself out.

Cece’s big secret is that she likes Reede’s vegetables, and Reede’s big secret is that he likes Cece’s designs. Who would have thought. After another argument between them on Election Day, Sophie and Clavia banded together to help them see that they could just work together, and all agreed. Reede is still mayor, but Cece’s designs remain the new life blood of the town. My role in the end was to be just nosey enough to uncover all that needed uncovering, and to cook a great meal in the process. It’s Hylian Tomato Pizza all around while the town celebrates the end of the election. I managed to get a new Hylian hood from Cece, plus a hat she made that in all honesty reminds me of some of the poison fungi I once ate…

First light tomorrow I’ll saddle up Spot and we’ll head back on the road. Earlier today I saw Naydra heading north, towards Lanayru. Was standing just outside the school when she passed overhead (I made good on my promise to help Symin out for an afternoon). One of Zelda’s students, Aster, took my hand and pointed towards the sky. ‘You see it too, don’t you Mr. Link?’ I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know anyone else could see the dragons. I just nodded and told her I was thinking of heading the same way. Lanayru is nearby, and from my map looks to be having trouble with its water. I could be there in a day.

I’ve since checked my notes and it looks like the next geoglyph (and next clue to Zelda’s whereabouts) is actually in the Gerudo Highlands. It doesn’t change my plans. I’ll get there, in time. I want to help the people of Hyrule in the here and now, rather than chase memories of the past. I know given the choice Zelda would want me to put their safety ahead of hers, as hard as that is to accept. I have to believe that doing so will lead me to her, or otherwise go mad with worry.

And if she really is different now? If her journey to the present changed her? I guess… we can try coming here. We can have dinner. Light a candle, say a prayer, share a meal. It’s where we started after all. I’d do it all again if it meant just one more day, with her, here in our home.

A photograph of the school in Hateno. The children play out the front of the modern, colourful building, while Symin supervises. He wears a large sun-hat and carries a whistle. Naydra flies high overhead, heading north, and much, much higher above is a golden dragon, heading south.

Caption: Didn’t notice the Light Dragon there too. One is an omen, two is a sign. Off to Lanayru it is.

#zelink #totk #tears of the kingdom #tloz #legend of zelda fanfiction #tears of the kingdom fanfiction #my writing #finding her #is it still domestic zelink if theres no ze and only link

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