#-able to hug him not being explored. but some stuff was just genuinely confusing ?? | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

dancingazaleas · 3 years

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erejean | pretty

RIVALS TO LOVERS SUPREMACY

i’m so sorry i just love erejean and i could go on about why i think they actually have a beautiful friendship in canon

edit: i wrote this while half asleep so i’m sorry

warnings/notes: cursing, college au!, eren’s personality doesn’t change too much, hopeless pining, this is short, this is messy, internalized homophobia, coming out, gay awakening

eren and jean have been rivals ever since they could remember. no one really knows how it started, but the only thing they did know it that one out of the two of them were acting a little weird.

unlike usual, he was oddly silent towards one another and often faced each other with flushing faces. he gave the other longing looks when he wasn’t looking.

eren genuinely didn’t know what was happening. for the past two to three years, jean’s always irritated the hell out of eren. eren’s even the one who came up with the ridiculous nickname of ‘horse face’.

but now, he thinks jean’s pretty... and handsome. eren doesn’t exactly know what happened, he just knows that ever since the end of senior year that his annoyance for jean has decreased almost into nothing.

okay, eren is kind of lying to himself.

eren still is annoyed by jean, but it isn’t like before. eren never used to be annoyed at how jean’s eyelashes were long and pretty. he never had been annoyed about how his hands were bigger in comparison to his own, he’d never want to hold them. he’d never been annoyed about how jean’s body wasn’t against his, encasing eren with his odd ember fire.

he hated how jean looks so pretty whenever he thinks to himself, he hates how jean looks so stupidly beautiful whenever he’s drawing. he hates how pretty jean looks whenever he laughs, and he hates that he wants that smile to stay there forever.

but what eren hates the most is that he isn’t even gay.

eren’s never really found men attractive growing up, but that didn’t exactly mean that he found girls attractive. eren had only ever dated one girl, who was now a lesbian with a girlfriend and also his close friend.

the only boy eren ever thought was cute was armin. but eren always brushed it off since the two of them were childhood friends. usually childhood friends find each other cute right? and cuddly? and... y’know what, nevermind.

eren sits in his room beside his bed, crying into the palms of his hands from confusion. he’s tried so hard to feel something for girls, any girl that would throw herself at him, but it didn’t work. eren can’t even get hard if he thinks about girls in a sexual manner, but finds himself doing so when thinking of men.

he’s so confused. he’s never been so confused in his entire life.

“eren, do you want anything from... are you okay,” eren looks up to see armin’s face bunched up with concern.

eren wipes away his tears even though it’s pointless because the tears keep flooding over. he can’t help but sob now, too embarrassed at how he’s feeling. armin’s on the floor beside eren within seconds, arms wrapping around eren’s broad shoulders and pulling him into his chest.

eren’s hands weave themselves into the loose fabric of armin’s forest green turtleneck, finally letting everything he’d been holding in out.

eren hates how he confused he is. armin’s shushing him while tracing circles into the fabric of his hoodie, and eren knows that armin is anxious. before eren can try and calm himself down, there’s a gasp from his doorway and the sound of footsteps coming closer. he assumes that mikasa is home, to which he’s correct.

“eren, what’s wrong,” she asks gently, wrapping her arms around his waist from behind.

he chokes out a sob, digging his head further into armin’s shirt.

“just wait until he’s calmed down to ask,” armin advises, continuing to trace patterns into his back.

it takes a few minutes for eren to be able to speak, and even then it’s difficult.

“eren, what’s wrong,” armin pulls his knees to his chest, ignoring the dampness on his shirt.

“i’m... i’m confused,” he sighs after a sniffle, hand wiping away a tear.

“about what,” mikasa questions with an eyebrow raised.

“fuck,” he hisses from frustration, “i don’t know what i like.”

“like? do you mean hobbies?”

“no.”

“things? stuff like books or cheese?”

“no.”

“food?”

“no!”

“people?”

eren stays silent, now pulling his own knees to his chest and wrapping his arms around them. mikasa and armin give eren a sympathetic look, they both had gone through this as well.

“you think you like men,” mikasa treads carefully, not wanting to upset eren even more than he already is.

“yea,” his voice shakes along with his hands.

“what boy?” armin tilts his head back to lean against eren’s mattress.

“jean,” eren sighs, already feeling himself start to tear back up.

mikasa hums in confirmation, “i see.”

eren’s crying again, absolutely ashamed of himself.

“he just... i hate him ‘cause he’s so pretty and caring. whenever i’m angry, he tries not to make it worse. he pays attention to the stupidest little details, like how i like the crunchier parts of the bread on chicken. he’s so warm, it’s like he’s constantly on fire and i just.. i wanna be surrounded by it. he’s actually really thoughtful whenever he’s not trying to be a douche, and i hate it,” eren cries while he puts his head on mikasa’s muscular shoulder.

“and there’s nothing wrong with being gay, i mean literally nothing. i just hate that i’m confused. what does this mean? i haven’t felt like this towards him before, so why now,” he sniffles, “fuckin’ stupid.”

“y’know... armin and i once felt like this before,” mikasa says, a small and comforting smile coming up onto her face.

“about marco and annie,” he asks, and shifts his gaze to armin.

“yes. whenever i first realized in sophomore year, i was so confused and upset. annie was so pretty, and boys weren’t. at the time, it all felt so wrong, like it wasn’t meant to be that way,” mikasa explains with hesitance, “i told armin i like girls, and he told me he liked boys and that he felt the same way during freshman year. we hated how confused we were, and we hated that we liked the same sex.”

“but all it takes is acceptance from yourself,” armin smiles, “it’s okay to be confused, eren. you’re still 19, you’ve got so much time to figure out who you even are. also, even if you say there’s nothing wrong with being gay, there’s a chance you’ll have internalized homophobia towards yourself. it’s okay to be a gay man named eren yeager. and it’s okay to be confused. you don’t need to rush it, set your own pace.”

“armin’s right. eren, we love you no matter what. you mean the world to the both of us, even if you’re confused with your identity. it’s okay to explore those feelings, and it’s okay to be wrong about them. either way, we love you so much, eren,” mikasa wipes a tear from his eye with her thumb.

eren wants to cry again just from how loving the two of his friends are.

“thanks you guys, i love you too,” he chuckles as they’re all pulled into a group hug.

————

two months later, eren’s telling all of his friends. they accept him with open arms, which isn’t too surprising, but it makes him happy nonetheless.

another month, he’s telling his superiors at his work. they’re the closest eren has to parents since his mom and dad died, and they accepted him happily. he wasn’t too surprised, but even so it made him cry. knowing that he was loved no matter what made him emotional.

another month later, he’s telling one of the most important people in his life. his brother, who raised him and mikasa since his parents died. he’s once again accepted with open arms, and is even reminded that zeke has brought home boys whenever they both were younger. he’s so lucky.

but even after all this, he’s still crushing on jean. only now, he’s more accepting of how he wants jean to kiss him.

eren also thinks jean is an idiot.

eren has made multiple moves on the muffin top, but he hasn’t even realized. eren’s linked pinkies with jean while his face reddens, he’s fed jean, he’s even resorted to telling him horrible pickup lines.

what makes it worse is that jean thinks this is a rivalry thing again, god knows how.

what’s even more annoying is the fact that jean so obviously likes eren back, but eren is also too stupid to notice. eren, somehow, doesn’t notice how his face shows up in jean’s sketchbook more than it should. he doesn’t notice the flirty innuendos that jean tells him.

and it’s so annoying.

everyone feels this is even more annoying then whenever the two were at each other’s throats 24/7.

jean yawns while he stretches his arms towards the sky, pencil falling from his fingers and onto the paper of his sketchbook. he’s been outside drawing for two hours now, practicing landscapes and drawing under a short amount of time.

eren’s sleeping beside him on the grass, head resting on jean’s book bag while his arms hold his hoodie to his chest. some of eren’s hair is falling out of the bun it’s in, swishing silently as the wind begins to blow softly against their bodies.

jean thinks eren looks so pretty. with a cautious hand, he tucks a strand behind eren’s pierced ear. eren’s skin his warm against jean’s hand, even though the wind has been blowing gently on eren’s snoozing face.

jean brushes eren’s baby hairs out of his face, softly smiling at eren’s serenity. and before he can stop himself, his cheek is in the palm of jean’s large hand.

jean’s thumb strokes his cheekbone while the rest of his fingers get tangled into eren’s hair.

“pretty,” jean mumbles while he smiles.

for some reason, jean doesn’t pull his hand away. even when eren eyes start to flutter open and look at him. even whenever eren’s cheeks darken.

“you’re pretty, y’know,” jean says, ignoring how the setting sun was starting to get in his eyes.

“you’re not too bad yourself, horsey,” eren snickers while jean rolls his eyes and scoffs.

they’re left in a comfortable silence as jean finally pulls away and turns back to the sketchbook in his lap.

it showed no progress of landscapes and random people, only a drawing of eren sleeping.

————

eren and jean find themselves looking at the stars while standing in the lake a month later. it’s hot during june, even during the late nights where the sun has been put to rest.

which is why they came up with the bright idea to go swimming in a lake at 12 in the morning. the idea wasn’t even planned, eren decided on a whim and just decided to drag jean along.

jean points up towards the stars, “the big dipper.”

eren follows his finger, a huge smile spreading across his face at jean’s correct assumption.

“there’s the constellation of gemini,” eren says while pointing.

“makes sense since it’s june.”

eren nods, looking towards jean.

he looks so pretty in the moonlight.

“hey jean.”

“yeah, what do you wan—!”

eren interrupts jean by splashing him with water, hearty laughs echoing through the terrain as goes on.

“not cool,” jean tries to say angrily, but ends up laughing.

he splashes eren back and then retreats deeper into the lake. eren follows behind, tackling jean under the water. they both laugh once they come to the surface, pointing out how the water now reached their thighs.

“that’s why we’re here, jean. to get wet,” he raises an eyebrow while putting his hands on jean’s shoulders.

“yeah, heads up!” jean shouts while he dunks eren under the water while on top of him.

they’re once again laughing when they resurface, both trying to catch the breath that had been taken out of them.

“you’re hair looks good wet,” eren says while gesturing to jean.

“i always look good,” jean jokes, eren snorting obnoxiously afterwards.

“whatever helps you sleep at night, man,” eren shrugs.

the two goof around for a few minutes longer, laughs echoing against the trees and back into their ears.

neither of them want this to end.

eren has an arm wrapped around jean as he holds himself up, laughing stupidly at god knows what. jean laughs as well, heart fluttering sweetly at the sight of eren’s pretty smile.

and jean doesn’t know how to think.

so, he pulls eren straight up, grabs ahold of his plump and warm cheeks and gives him a sweet kiss.

the sweetest kiss eren’s ever had.

eren reciprocates shyly, pushing his lips back against jean’s. he grabs at jean’s bicep, wanting to ground himself just to make sure that he isn’t dreaming.

jean pulls away whenever they need air, resting his forehead against eren’s.

“i love you,” he whispers to him breathily, moving his hands to hold onto eren’s.

“i love you too,” eren chuckles and stares into jean’s eyes, “even if you’re an idiot that looks like a horse.”

jean rolls his eyes, and instead of replying to eren, he gives eren another kiss. he’ll tell eren that he’s pretty after.

#attack on titan #shingeki no kyojin #snk #aot fanfiction #snk fanfiction #snk eren #eren aot #attack on titan eren #eren yaegar #eren x jean #erejean #jean kirstein #jean kirschstein #jean aot #snk jean #aot jean

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my-writings-and-musings · 4 years

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Hello! Thank you for answering my Ravage request, I love it so much! Also your last Rodimus prompt really helped me yesterday, thank you.

Can I request some headcanons about how would Megatron, Swerve and Rung react to love confession from their human crush? Free to ignore it if there's too many characters

(sorry if it's not okay to send more than one request in such short amount of time)

Yay I'm glad that you liked what I wrote and that some of my other stuff helped you out! Sorry for the delay in answering these, I've been quite surprised by the volume in my inbox! I have three lovely bots reacting to love here, and feel free to send in requests so long as my inbox is open!

Megatron

·The confession thankfully occurs while he's seated, as the impact force of a thirty foot mech collapsing to the floor would have been... considerable. That's not to say his physical reaction is at all subtle though. Eons of combat training and discipline dissapear in a flash and his expression shows the full extent of his shock. Was he dreaming? Or did his audials need repair? There must be some confusion, because he's fairly certain the little human on his desk just said that they loved him. No matter his own considerable feelings for them, he must be considerably mistaken, because that would simply be impossible.

·Except it isn't impossible. In fact, it's the truth, you tell him more than a few times over once he starts asking if you're confused or perhaps unwell. He wants to be elated, but a lifetime of training keeps that reaction well contained, as he knows from experience that these things simply cannot happen to bots like himself. Kneeling before the table you stand on, he tries not to sound pitiful or ungrateful as he requests clarification one final time, saying that he couldn't possibly expect love from one who had so much to hate him for.

·You're firm but as gentle as you might be with a fragile bit of glass as you make it undeniably clear; you love him. The only thing you're unsure of, and hoping to find out yourself, is whether or not he feels the same. All the expectation in your eyes compels him to act as impulsively as a sparkling, and he emphatically returns your feelings in a hushed reply, raising a tender hand to hold your little body in the rush of emotion shooting through him.

·There's a moment of icy reality to stop him in his tracks. Don't you know what he's done? What being with him could put you at risk of? That there's nothing to be gained from entangling yourself in the mess he's made of his life? Well accustomed to this behavior, you stand your ground and look him square in the optics, affirming that you're well aware of everything he's just said, but that the only thing you want from him is him, so everything you must endure in relation to him is already worth the struggle. In a rare burst of emotion he pulls your little body to his chest for the gentlest of hugs.

·He laughs for the first time in what has to be eons. There's the smallest hint of a fog in his optics as you find yourself tearing up too, overwhelmed by this hulking bot finally opening up to you completely and just being happy. For his part, he can't truly believe any of this is yet real, but he isn't going to bother with that for now. To know you love him is the greatest peace he's ever experienced, but also the most invigorating kind of euphoria. There's youthful hope in his spark again, encouraging his desire to explore and experience the wonders of life now that he has you at his side, but for this single moment he's content to just... be. One bot, one human, embracing through their laughter and tears.

Swerve

·Somehow he forgets he was polishing a glass at all in the second it takes for it to shatter upon impact with the ground. You had been talking, going round in a way that suggested you were intent on getting to a particular topic, but then...? The glass is forgotten as he gently cuts off your attempt at an apology, spark pulsing and voicebox constricting as he asks you to repeat yourself, looking like he's terrified beyond all belief as he does so. A kind of fear he hasn't felt in a long time prevents him from pretending to be okay like he's so used to doing.

·At your careful reassurance that you did indeed say you love him, and that you meant it, he speaks so softly in response you can barely hear him. The questions he whispers are slow and deliberate, and if he could see anything but you he'd be grateful no one else is present to witness him acting so... shy. He has to make sure though, because it just doesn't seem possible; you love him? Beautiful, intelligent, funny, caring you is in love with... him? But he loves you too, and that means you love each other, and how is that possible?!

·Disbelief slowly melts into a happiness he's afraid to let in only because it's so foreign to him, but bit by bit he begins to realize this is actually happening, and his lonely spark lets the feeling in. Tears start to drop from his foggy visor as a trembling smile pulls up his cheeks, compelling you to reach out from your spot on the bar and invite him into a comforting hug. While he clarifies that he's never felt better, he still happily takes the hug, pulling in your tiny body with his large servos and carefully holding you close.

·Feeling the warmth of you against him sends another wave of beautiful confirmation through him; this is real. The loneliness that always plagued his spark seems insignificant now, as if he's gained a kind of perspective just knowing someone like you could care so deeply for him. All of his friends, all of his patrons, and you at the very center of it all... Why wasn't he ever able to see just how much warmth and goodness there was before this moment?

·Tears are streaming down his face when he lets you go, and at your concern he assures you it's nothing to worry about. There are more questions, but they're happy now, and he's smiling like never before as you dutifully answer every query whilst dabbing his cheeks with a towel that's blanket sized for you. He wants to know; when did you start to have feelings? Does this mean you really don't mind his jokes? Can he tell the others? Is he handsome by human standards? There's so much for him to say but, for once, no rush to say it. Somehow he's finally realized that he doesn't need to talk to get your attention, he just needs to be himself, and the banter is simply a lovely bonus.

Rung

·Though he's certain he misheard, he removes his glasses almost on instinct, looking to the little lifeform he's grown so close to with an unguarded expression of apprehension tinged with hope, gentle but rarely seen optics looking to you with that vulnerability he keeps so well hidden from everyone else. You only remain silent because you briefly lose yourself in his gaze, which is as desperate as it is due to him wanting so badly to believe he did indeed just hear what he's uncertain is actually possible. The request for you to repeat is so soft it's barely audible. Thin digits try to polish his lenses as is his custom when concealing stress, but he fumbles so frequently he has to cease just as he begins.

·You stand near the edge of the table, speaking slowly and clearly so there can be no misunderstanding. The confession is indeed irrefutable this time around, the simple words breaking the silence with their surprising weight and drawing a tiny gasp from him in the process. His hand over his mouth prevents further exclamations, though he's certainly not capable of making any in his current state. Something in the depths of his being has always yearned for this, but he never dared to even dream it could happen, that he could love and in return be loved.

·Tears on his precious face spur you to act, if only because they're absolutely heartbreaking, but as he moves his hand from his mouth you see that despite his sobs he's absolutely beaming. You're surprised even further when he laughs through the tears, and at your prompting says that he's just overwhelmed. You, wonderful and thoughtful and brilliantly unique little you, in love with the bot no one can remember? What has he ever done to be this fortunate? Admittedly he's not fully convinced that this isn't a dream, but he has no intention of letting that stop him from basking in this wonderful feeling.

·You can't help but cry a little too, seeing him overwhelmed in a way you never could have anticipated. Tiny human hands take his offered servo and guide the tip of his digit to brush adoringly over your cheek, just as he so often does, but you notice that for the first time ever there's no hesitation to the action. There's only pure, serene affection. Looking into his optics, you see a mech almost made new, as if the validation you give him just by existing and loving him has changed his entire outlook on life. For a bot who does so much for others, you can't even begin to describe how wonderful it is to give him that peace.

·Still as bashful as they come, he blushes when you move in to embrace him from the tables edge on a whim, but the sheepish hesitation quickly gives way to a mutual hug. The hum of his spark is almost melodic in your ears as you press your head into his warm chest. Your tiny heartbeat, just perceptible to the servo he has cradling you close, is equally jubilant to his touch. The beauty of it all is almost enough to make him dizzy; for the first time in his life he feels truly seen, truly heard, truly here. Reality is still moving just as it was before, but now he genuinely feels like he is a part of it all, here with you in his loving arms. You make him certain that he's worth remembering.

#transformers #transformers headcanon #more than meets the eye #mtmte #lost light #idw #tf #maccadam #my asks #anon #requests #my writing #megatron x reader #rung x reader #swerve x reader #human reader #self insert

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because-of-a-friend · 4 years

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Dad!Seventeen

Thanks for the compliments anon! I hope this is what you wanted! I ended up just doing it in reaction style and ran with the dad/uncle idea to show how they’d interact with their kids and the other boys’ kids! Feel free to request more! (Sorry it took so long, I had a bunch of extra long shifts at work)

MASTERLIST

CHOI SEUNGCHEOL

LOVES HIS KIDS!!!!!

OMG!!!!

To Cheol, his kids are his whole world

Obsessed with just gathering them up in his arms and hugging them tight

Definitely a cool dad

His kids trust him and feel comfortable around him

He literally can’t say no to them

The other boys’ kids realize this as well

So everyone goes to Uncle Coups to ask for stuff

“Seungcheol, why would you let my kid eat three ice cream cones?”

“I don’t know, Jihoon, she just looked at me with those big eyes and I couldn’t say no”

But honestly Coups would do anything to see his kids smile and just cares about them so so much

Just the weakest sweetest dad/uncle ever

YOON JEONGHAN

Jeonghan thought he was clever and cunning

His kids are 10x more so

Like Cheol’s kids, they get whatever they want

But it’s not bc Jeonghan just lets them have it

It’s bc they’re really good at arguing or sneaking their way into getting the things they want

He adores them for it tbh

Like so proud

“Jeonghan, your son managed to sneak my kids out of our house to have a sleepover at yours”

“Wow! He really did that???”

“Jeonghan!”

“Right, right, I’ll get onto him for that”

Is really excited when his kids and everyone else’s are teens and older bc he’s really good at giving advice and enjoys having genuine conversations with them

But honestly just adores his kids and is always so proud of them and fascinated by every little thing they accomplish

JOSHUA HONG

Joshua’s kids have perfectly packed lunch boxes and cute little matching outfits and the best manners of the kids in their classes

He treats his kids with respect and teaches them patiently and his love for them is immense and obvious

The kind of dad who is always looking over at his kids during parties and get-togethers to just watch them and smile at how they’re interacting with others

He always pins all of their best grades up on the fridge and makes them feel so special anytime they accomplish anything

Really just a cookie-cutter perfect dad

The other boys are jealous lol

“Can your kids hang out with mine more? They need a better influence than Jeonghan’s son”

“Hey!”

“Hannie, please, we all know your kids get all of ours into trouble”

“...yeah”

But seriously, perfect dad with perfect family

MOON JUNHUI

More of a friend than a dad tbh lol

His kids get to do whatever they want as long as Jun gets to come along

“So you were with all of our kids when they snuck out?”

“Yeah, that’s why it’s fine, I was there”

“Jun, I think you might be missing the bigger picture”

He’s the chillest dad

His kids and all of the other boys’ kids like to hang out with him bc they know that means a day of playing video games, eating snacks, and taking naps

His kids adore him for it tho and never feel scared to tell him anything

He makes sure they solve everything together so they never feel like they have to handle anything alone

KWON SOONYOUNG

Excited to pass his talents onto his kids

Like from the moment they start to walk he tries to teach them dance moves

And his Significant Other is like “Soonyoung pls”

And he’s like “They have to learn to dance”

Devastated when one of his kids mentions they want to learn songwriting from Uncle Jihoon

“Soonyoung, you’re overreacting”

“No I’m not, if she’d rather write songs with Jihoon then she can be his daughter, she is no longer mine”

But seriously, he loves his kids

And he’s going to support them whether they want to be dancers or singers or doctors or artists or anything

And he’s gonna do whatever he can to help them get there

But he likes to get them involved in his every day life to show them how important it is to have them around and how much he enjoys including them

JEON WONWOO

Just imagining Wonwoo and all the little baby Wonwoos with their matching glasses

Also has incredibly polite kids

Like Wonwoo, some of his kids are more introverted so they’ll spend their time entertaining themselves

He does, however, get stuck with some extroverted kids

And he like...

Does not know how to handle their endless social energy

He’ll spend so much time trying to entertain them and spend time with them

But then sometimes he’ll just be like

“Ok, we’re going to take a trip to Uncle Joshua’s house so you can all play with your cousins!!!”

But he seriously adores his kids

Like Jeonghan, he’s fascinated just watching them grow up and make their way through the developing phases of life

He’s just so immensely proud of them always

LEE JIHOON

Everyday Woozi is like “who tf let me have kids”

He just gets so confused by them and the things they do

“What- what even went through your mind that you thought this was a good idea?”

But at the end of the day, no matter what they do

His overall reaction is just like

“Cheers, I’ll drink to that bro”

Really just kind of goes with the flow

I can def see him going to the studio with little ones on his lap

They kind of just become little extensions of him that follow him everywhere and do whatever he does

They all wanna be just like him

And he doesn’t understand bc he’s not sure he’s even a good dad so he doesn’t get why these little beings think he’s the greatest person on earth

But he’s happy to have them around and feels so grateful for his kids

LEE SEOKMIN

Guess who is raising his kids to have the exact same cheesy sense of humor he has

It’s Seokmin!!!

As a result he thinks his kids are the funniest people on earth

They make him laugh all the time

His family are always the loudest people at any party

But it’s cause he lets his kids be kids and never gets upset at them for things kids do

Like talking really loud lol

As a result his kids feel free to explore any endeavors that they’re interested in

Seokmin’s schedule fills up pretty quickly bc of this

One kid has art class at one and another has volleyball at two and then another has science camp at three

But he just wants his kids to explore all of their interests and he’s happy to do whatever we can to help them do that

KIM MINGYU

Sweetest, cutest, most precious kids in the whole world

Just a bunch of cuddly kids that are EXACTLY like Mingyu

And Mingyu is just so excited??? To just see them???? Every single day???

Definitely the overly clingy dad that just wants to be around his kids 24/7

And the super embarrassing one too

Always peaks his head in when his kids have friends over

“You guys want any snacks?”

“Oh my god dad, get out!”

But he’s also a super fun dad and his kids are really grateful to have him

And the other boys’ kids love to come over bc he makes the best snacks

(Don’t tell Jun or DK that, they’ll get jealous)

But just such a cute sweet family

XU MINGHAO

Also more like a friend than a dad

Like seriously

Unless you explicitly knew Minghao was his kids’ dad, you’d assume he was their older brother or cousin

They just kind of always chill

Like Hoshi, there are interests of his that he is so so so excited to teach to his children

Especially art!!!

He can’t wait to see how his kids express themselves in a creative aspect

They’re all in an art class with DK’s kids

Which leads DK and Minghao to spend more time together as they wait outside the class for their kids to be done

And then give each other looks as their kids show off their art work

But Minghao is super proud of them bc he can tell that that’s all they really want: to make him proud

Sometimes he feels more like a spectator in his kids life but he doesn’t really mind

Because they’ve always been independent and he lets them decide what they want and is happy to give advice when they come to him

But really just wants them to succeed in whatever they want to succeed in and trusts them with making their own decisions

BOO SEUNGKWAN

You know he has the cutest kids in the world

Seungkwan only realizes how sassy he is when his kids take after him and make sassy remarks to him

And then he makes that offended face lol

Like Joshua, his kids have really cute matching outfits

But the cuteness factor is multiplied by like ten-thousand lol

Bc Seungkwan has a habit of singing all the time

His kids gain that habit too

And they get really into certain songs

Another dad that feels betrayed bc when his kids learn that Uncle Jihoon writes songs, all they wanna do is spend time with him

Jihoon doesn’t understand how he just has this growing posse of little children that just watch fascinated as he’s sitting in the studio working on new music

Along with, of course, Hoshi walking in to ask if anyone wants to watch him dance, and Seungkwan and Mingyu coming in to offer everyone snacks

But Seungkwan’s kids are kind of fascinated with everything and Seungkwan just has fun exploring the world with them

HANSOL VERNON CHWE

Vernon’s kids see a side to him that no one else gets to see

They unlock a really deeply emotional part of him and he adores his kids

He really really loves the quiet moments with his kids

When they’re falling asleep watching cartoons

When they’re super concentrated on drawing in a coloring book

When they’re happily stuffing their faces full of food

He just lives for the moments where he can watch them enjoying life or figuring things out for the first time or really just existing

He gets really really nervous about being a father bc he doesn’t want to mess anything up

But he knows that as long as he keeps his mind open to learning and keeps his kids’ best interests as his first priority, they should all be ok

Occasionally gets overwhelmed with how much he loves them and will just grab them and kiss all over the top of their heads

Just a cute dad who really really loves his kids

LEE CHAN

Since he’s been babied by the other boys for so long, he loves being able to baby his kids

They are SPOILED beyond belief omg

He’ll buy them anything or do anything with them or cook anything for them just to see them smile and show them the love he has for them

Convinces his kids to take little dancing lessons from Uncle Hoshi, since Hoshi is jealous that everyone’s kids want to learn about song writing from Uncle Jihoon

Aside from Coups, Dino is probably the most excited that him and all the boys are still good friends even well into their fatherhood days bc it means his kids grow up with extra Uncles and tons of cousins

It’s also a relief to know that his kids have so many other people besides him they can trust to ask for help or advice

To him it’s just like SVT kept growing bigger and bigger

They’re all one giant family and he wants to keep it that way bc he wants his kids to feel safe and supported their whole lives

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sweetestlamb · 3 years

Text

Teaser- Story Coming Soon

Summary: The heart tends to be uncontrollable.

Author's note: Dedicated to @prodmina who lives, breathes and bleeds JunJin to an admirable level, thanks for everything you do my dear! If you've been around for a while you're used to my teasers then, I'm a teacher and this week will be very crazy for me I know I won't be able to update until the weekend. But I know exactly what's going to happen in the next chapter so here's a teaser I wrote, I'm feeling very inspired today. It's been a productive day on Tumblr (don't ask me about the rest of my life) please enjoy this second cliffhanger (I'm sorry truly!!) But also know some fun stuff is coming and then it gets sad again LMAO 🎢

She stands dumbfounded in his arms, unable to process the words that have left his lips. She couldn't have heard him right, why on Earth would someone like him who had girls fighting to be his girlfriend want anything to do with her? Did he pity her that much? Was this the premise of a high school drama and he’d taken some sort of bet to befriend her? Somehow all of those options seem more feasible than him having genuine feelings for her.

But it's her first real confession, she's always seen others receive this and never experienced it herself. There had been some grandiose ones at school but she secretly tells herself she prefers this, just them two without an audience. it feels more intimate and authentic, as if he couldn’t wait another minute and his feelings for her overwhelmed him. Her heart is beating rapidly despite her deep calming breaths, he's effectively turned her world upside down with just those small three words.

I like you.

She can't control the way her heart flutters, but surely it would react that way to anyone? It wasn't connected to the confession-er, she was merely affected because someone liked her that was human nature. It didn't matter that it was Han Seojun, they were nothing to each other. Pity was surely clouding his emotions and she wanted no part in being there when he realized that and abandoned her, it was best not to get attached at all she argues with her traitorous heart.

Her phone brings her back to reality, suddenly she remembers where she's meant to be right now and her father's enraged face appears in her mind. He'd told her not to embarrass him, which meant she had to go on this date and paint on a happy face and pretend that she wasn't dying inside. All for a man who treated her no better than scum under his shoes.

Pulling out the phone, Obligation flashes on her phone screen that's all he was after all she'd already forgotten his name, it was of no importance to her. She doesn't know if she should answer, still confused about her next step and while she's ruminating a hand suddenly fills her vision and snatches the object from her hand. Twisting out of his hug she stares in shock before trying to grab the phone back, "Are you insane? Give it back!" But he steps back, putting more space between them as he holds the stolen object just out of her reach tauntingly using his looming height.

"Is this your date? Obligation." He reads the name from the phone, venom in his voice and she's taken back by his tone he's hardly ever serious or cold with her. She’s seeing many different facets to his personality today.

"Han Seojun, give it back!" She demands, stomping her feet before lunging for the item, putting a hand on his shoulder for more leverage. But she miscalculates and her face smashes into his jaw making him cry out in pain and sending her flying forward her body crashing into his painfully, he steadies her with an arm around her waist bringing her dangerously close to him. Their eyes connect as if they are magnetized, just like that day in front of her house.

"Is this your answer, princess? You sure know how to hurt a guy." She peers at him in bewilderment before searching his face, there's not even a fraction of a smile on his lip and he refuses to meet her eyes. Gazing off into the distance although he's speaking to her. He seems...hurt and he’s not doing a good job of hiding it at all, it’s written all over his face and she wonders vaguely what kind of world he must live in to be able to so freely reveal his feelings? She yearns to grab his lips and literally turn his frown upside down, smiles look much better on him.

"You mean it." She whispers in awe, the ice around her heart defrosting as his palpable pain washes over her. He'd thought she was rejecting him for her "date". He clearly wasn't a great listener, she had no feelings for that guy it was just another part of her world that she had no control over. For some reason she wants to explain that to him, make him understand that in another universe maybe things would be different, maybe she would be allowed to want and she would explore this but this isn't her reality, things are not that simple. Love isn't an option for her.

"I told you. About my world, I can't--"

"That's just an excuse. You have a choice Sujin." He states his word are cold as ice, he looks livid as he puffs out an exasperated breath of air and frantically runs his fingers through his hair.

Shoving him hard she sneers up at him before shouting in his face, "What choice do I have? I have control over nothing in my life, my first date is being stolen from me. I'll probably have to kiss him too so that will also be stolen! I can't control anything I didn't even choose this outfit. None of this is my choice." It's not his fault, and he's the one person that's been there for her and that makes her even angrier, why isn't she allowed to have this? Go on a date with a boy who might care for her, why is life cruel enough that this is being presented but she can't grab onto it with both hands?

For the first time ever, he doesn't deflate or back off like he usually does when they get to these moments, he's usually her safety pin pulling her back from the edge of detonation so she's not ready for him to scream back at her, "Then choose me! Fuck all of that, fuck your father." He lifts up her phone which has started to ring again, "Fuck this guy! Just choose me, let me be your first." They both stand still, staring at each other the jingle of her iPhone not enough to cut the thick coiling tension and then she watches in gaped surprise as he angrily slides her phone open. "Stop fucking calling, she's not coming. She's with her boyfriend." Then he slides the phone close, finally handing it back to her looking at her with those hard glistening eyes. She looks at the phone and then back at him, eyes wide as the moon.

Stupefied and flustered she stutters out, "You're n-n-ot my boyfriend. What are you doing?"

"Let me take you on a date. Pick me Sujin.”

#true beauty #true beauty kdrama #Teaser #update on the weekend possibly #send me good vibes and support #han seojun #kang sujin #the couple that should have been #junjin

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fuckinuchihas · 4 years

Text

KONOHAMARU X READER

NOT RATED (DID NOT END UP EXPLICIT)

PARTS THREE & FOUR (COMBINING WITH THE EPILOGUE HERE ON TUMBLR)

POTENTIAL TRIGGER WARNINGS: N/A (unless potential mis-characterization is one)

PART ONE

PART TWO

A rescue team finds the two of you just a couple miles outside of Konoha. Even they acknowledge how little help they turned out to be after you’d made it back all that way on your own but there is a med ninja who sees to your leg immediately and gives you some long awaited relief.

Once you’re able to start trekking back to the village properly again, Konohamaru gently tugs at your sleeve until you step back a little and make space between the two of you and the others.

Immediately you imagine him changing his mind, retracting everything he said about taking you out for a night on the town once you made it back to the village you both call home but instead he just calmly, quietly promises that any information seen or given between the two of you belonged solely to you unless expressly asked for by the Hokage himself.

It’s a reassurance, an insurance policy maybe? Something...you’re not sure but you don’t want to test it. Why would Naruto ask expressly about the sealing chains? He wouldn’t...so if Kono wasn’t going to tell him, it meant...you could stay in hiding just a little longer maybe.

It both confuses you and warms your heart at the same time.

Feeling a little bold you wind your pinky around his and squeeze gently in thanks before rushing ahead to meet up with the other nin.

You breathe in a deep sigh of satisfaction when you feel the familiarity of Konoha air in your lungs. You’d have never thought it would smell so good, but it does. It feels and smells like home, like a word you’d been promised but now you actually feel it. There’s something that lingers around you when you step inside the village, something like safety, like rest, like not having to watch your own back every single second of every single day.

“We need to give a report,” you say to Konohamaru, mostly so the other nin will nod and flash away.

“I can take care of that,” he hedges, but you shake your head.

“No, we’ll go over all the details and let the chips fall where they may,” you promise. “Unless you think there’s something I need to worry about…”

“No-nope, nothing here…”

“Alright then, let’s go talk to the Nanadaime. It’s about time I met my cousin….officially.”

Konohamaru leads the way and you follow silently behind. You try very hard not to give away your nerves but after so long of being in close quarters together, it would be impossible for him not to notice.

You both pause outside the long rounded hallway that you know leads to the Hokage’s office, Konohamaru tugging at your sleeve once again. You turn to him with a questionable look, why is he slowing down? Showing hesitation...it isn’t like him.

“What’s going on, Konohamaru? Did you not want me to come with you?” you ask, as you start to feel a little hurt, sad maybe. You’re not really sure. None of it makes sense.

There’s a high blush on his cheeks and he rubs nervously at the back of his neck.

“I just-I don’t want you to get the wrong idea,” he says, and immediately that stone heavy ball of ‘other shoe waiting to drop’ sinks into your gut with a hard slam.

“And what would the ‘wrong’ idea be exactly?” You ask, because you need to know, even if it hurts.

He says something that comes out in a blur and before you can stop yourself, your hand is reaching out to nab the scruff of his neck before you slam him back against the wall. “I don’t have time for this Kono, just say whatever it is,” You growl.

“Naruto might have set this mission up as an um...a-mattch-makking-thing-”

You blink at him.

That was not what you’d been expecting.

“You convinced the...hokage, to put you on a mission with me b-because you thought I was hot-well comfortable…” you say, remembering his preferred word.

You blink up at him.

The two of you had nearly died because he wanted some alone time with you?

He must be trying and failing to chase your mental gymnastics with the way his eyes keep pinging all over the place but in the end all you can do is laugh because breaking down in the hokage building, no matter how fitting, seems well...inappropriate.

You drag him down the hall quite successfully considering he’s grown fairly tall and you, well you stopped growing taller pretty early on but you get him outside the room where you need to be and you force him through the door with a quiet, “This isn’t over.”

“Lord Seventh, we’ve come to give report regarding the mission to chart and explore the empty space just beyond the land of fire as for possible expansion,” you say, because that’s exactly what the two of you were supposed to be doing and now, fuck...now it’s- of course you should have seen something coming. Nobody has been expanding since the war really, though you had guessed Konoha and the land of Fire would be first given how much the Allied Nations thought of Naruto.

“Oh and...should we...expand over that way?” Naruto says, with cheek that is very unbecoming of a Hokage.

Something like grit settles in your chest as you continue on, Konohamaru deathly silent as if he knows he’s going to say the wrong thing.

“Well now that the Black Beast Tsunami has been sealed away, I imagine it’s quite safe,” You say, hearing both Naruto and his advisor gasp in surprise.

“The Black Beast Tsunami? I thought he was a joke!!!” Nartuo said, eyes wide before he looked to Konohamaru as if you weren’t the one just speaking about it.

“Sealed-?”

“Yes, sealed...with my Adamantine Sealing Chains,” you say, making both men take notice of you once again.

“Hey I think that’s that’s the same thing mom used on Kuruma, right Shika?” he says, turning to his advisor.

Shikamaru Nara, the advisor to the Hokage that you’ve only heard about in passing. Rumored to be the smartest nin in Konoha, maybe all the allied nations combined. He turns to Naruto and squeezes the bridge of his nose before he says, “Yeah, something like that...I think she’s trying to tell you something, Naruto.”

You don’t get another word in edgewise before Naruto is talking to someone-something else in the room that you genuinely hope no one else can see, and then he’s embracing you in a hug.

“Uh…”

“Yeah, he has that effect on people...it’s a drag but you get used to it,” Shikamaru said, taking a long hit off a cigarette that hangs unlit from his lips.

“Family! I have family!!”

“Woah there, nobody said anything about-” You start, but Nartuo just squeezes around you further and honestly you don’t really know how to handle it so you stand there dumbly for a while longer.

“Did I tell you that you have the best taste or what, Konohamaru?! Eh? Cousin to the Hokage, to your big brother Naruto,” he says, somehow hands everywhere to hold you in place while also rubbing the top of a blushing Konohamaru’s head.

“Lord Seventh! If you would please get yourself under control!” You say, making everyone in the room stop, freeze.

When it doesn’t seem like they’re ready to speak again, you continue. “I appreciate your….readily acceptance of the truth but that doesn’t change anything. You are Hokage and I am just another citizen of the Konoha and I’d very much like to keep it that way.”

You watch Naruto sink down just a little and you lie to yourself and say it doesn’t make you feel guilty but it does. In your defense though, it’s been a long trip and you really just want to get home and think over everything that’s happened.

“Sure, sure...but all of the Konoha is my family and that isn’t going to change now.”

You nod because you don’t want to argue any further. Honestly the last scrap of fight you had left in you escaped halfway through that small little sad sigh that Naruto gave. “Then I will take my leave,” you say, bowing your final respect before slowly standing on shaky legs and moving out of the room, closing the door behind you.

You get three days, which honestly is about two and a half more than expected. Konohamaru is a bit headstrong that way. It comes to your attention that he’s been busy with a couple other things too, so that’s bought you a little reprieve to do some thinking, and healing. Mostly thinking, though. That med nin was pretty quick on the leg stuff and everything else had all but faded.

You’ve just gathered your laundry off the line outside your modest, but decent apartment when you hear the clink of a small stone on your window.

“You break it, you buy it,” you say, but he nervously chuckles and cautiously climbs up the overlapping beams to put himself down right smack dab in front of you.

“I was thinking, we’d spend some time together this evening, if you’d be up for that sort of thing…”

Bless his clueless little heart.

“Well it certainly seems a lot safer than tackling a mission that will take us a stone’s throw away from one of the most deadly assassins ever mentioned…” you snark, because you honestly can’t help yourself and it’s kinda cute to see him all flustered.

“Haha, that’s cute. No more fake missions, I swear,” he says, crossing his heart in an adorable, somewhat lame gesture only someone who was still at least a little part child could take so seriously.

“Oh, no more fake missions...then what exactly will this outing entail?” You ask, just to give him a little bit of a hard time.

“I was actually thinking of taking you on a picnic, if that would be okay. There’s a place overlooking the city and it can be kinda nice after dark,” he says.

You hmm a bit. “And I’m just supposed to agree to go out after dark with some random-

“Hey! I’m not random!”

“Random ninja because he shows up at my door looking all handsome and flustered?” Just what type of girl do you take me for, Konohamaru?”

“One who can take care of herself?” he says, only a hint of growling frustration but it’s enough to make you laugh all the same.

“Fair enough,” You say, “We’re in agreement then, If you try anything I’ll kick your ass.”

“Of course,” he says, as if you’d been the last person to think of it that way and it fills you up to know that he really does admire your strength as much as he’s said he did.

“Okay then, I’ll be ready at seven thirty sharp, and don’t forget you have to feed me. None of that salty broth either Kono, real food!” You say, making your way back inside your apartment where you shut the blinds behind you so he can’t watch the little happy dance your feet give without much advisory from your brain.

“It’s a date…” you say to yourself, and then grin wide and open where no one can see you.

Somehow you force yourself through the rest of the day. You have taken a much needed break from missions, not that there’s usually too many to go around these days anyway but now all your energy is focused on you and that’s rarely ever a good thing.

You deep clean the apartment all the while telling yourself and an imaginary Konohamaru that it doesn’t mean anything, it’s just something that’s needed done for a while and now you have the time. That’s all.

You’re grown, you are allowed to do things grown people do; even your father had come to respect that rule before he passed but still just thinking of letting out all your carnal frustrations on Konohamaru makes you wanna flee back to your cocoon of blankets on the bed and not finish getting ready.

You really don’t wanna scare him off, not that you think you could per say...oh who are you kidding, of course you could. You scare them all away… but Kono is different, he really is…

Right?

Yes, he’s different.

Still, maybe it's better to take things slow sometimes, right? Give them a taste and then have something worth waiting for too maybe?

You groan in frustration, being inside your own head about this is not helping.

Unfortunately as you’ve thought many times before, it’s not like you’ve got a whole click of Kunoichi at your beck and call to talk these things out with so you just have to make do with you.

That’s not appealing in the least.

There’s still about forty minutes til the ‘date’ is supposed to happen when your doorbell rings.

You squawk in an undignified manner as you rush to put on some sort of robe after having just stepped out of the shower.

What is with this guy, does he have some sort of sixth sense for when you’re mostly wet and naked?

When you peek outside though, your body sags in relief. It’s just a woman, a small dark haired woman with Hyuga eyes...fuck-is did Nartuo send his girlfriend over to ‘help?’

“Uh….hi?” You say, because you don’t actually know her name, or your own for a few beats there.

“Hello, sorry to um, to interrupt but I thought maybe you would like some...help?”

“You mean Naruto thought I’d like some help,” You say, skeptical that it was all her plan that the two of you ended up here.

“No, well I mean he mentioned that Konohamaru was um… he said you might like a friend and I may not be-be much but I can be a friend,” she says, and okay, that was cute.

“So because Konohamaru is a mess he was worried about me also being a mess…” You say, but you’re grinning now because Kono being all worked up about a date with you seems positive and you’re not quite as nervous somehow anymore.

“No you’re not a mess...clearly,” she says, though when her eyes look around the room you feel maybe she can see just far enough into the past to know how much of a lie she just told.

“Oh sorry, where are my manners?” You say, goofily waving off your state of dress by making somewhat of a proper introduction.

“You can call me Hinata…” she says, and you feel a vague sense of memory over the name but nothing beyond what you’ve already hammered out.

“Sorry I just...I’m not usually very good with these things, y’know...with other Kunoichi and like women in general honestly.” You say, “I’ve always been a bit more….rough and tumble I guess.”

“Oh I don’t think you’d find that would get in the way with some of our female nin but I can understand it’s a bit hard to put yourself out there,” Hinata says, somehow sweeping you into a polite sitting posture without really having done much.

“I wasn’t very good at it either, at talking to people at all really but I’ve learned a few things from my friends and I’d be more than happy to pass it on, if you’d like of course,” she says, taking a comb out of somewhere as she starts just brushing your hair with it. You glance over at her in these cute little black shorts and some kind of sweater shirt and you’re wondering where the pockets are, but you don’t ask.

“Uh sure, okay...not like I have much else to be doing right now,” You say nervously, letting her work her comb magic through your usually tangled up mess of hair.

“I haven’t known Konohamaru all that well for very long but I have watched over Naruto for more years than either of us would like to admit,” she says, chuckling a little which makes you chuckle too. “I see a lot of the same qualities in them; determination, playfulness, and of course that neverending hope.”

You nod in agreement because as much as you’d love to argue there’s not many differences when it comes to the two you’re talking about, not where it matters anyway.

“The stories they share in childhood are not kind, not on either boy. Naruto was ignored to the point of abuse and Konohamaru was pampered beyond that same point. Each found their path willingly and guided one another where they needed to go. I truly believe that with everything I have,” Hinata says, doing something that makes one side of your hair a little shorter, tucking it under something, around something? You’re not sure you just want to hear more.

“Naruto gave Konohamaru someone to look up to and Konoahmaru gave Naruto someone to empower, to protect, to champion for even before all the stuff with Sasuke-there was his ‘little brother’ and I think that was just as important,” she says, pulling a mirror out of nowhere and offering it to you.

“Oh wow...that’s...that actually looks really good how did you do that?” You ask, “Is it forbidden jutsu?” I won’t tell anyone...just show me how.”

Hinata just shakes her head, giggling at you a little and promises to show you another time before she follows you into your closet like it was your choice and helps you pick out your best outfit.

“You Kunochi really are something else,” you say, but Hinata just reminds you that you’re one of them too.

“Not with this stuff though…” You say, finding it a bit hard to realize that you’ve spent almost an hour with another kunoichi and you haven’t wanted to run away. “I’m not good at this stuff.”

“It’s not a necessity for fighting usually but Ino, Sakura, they’ve taught me it can be a pretty useful skill to have in your bag. I could teach you, they would be happy to teach you some things too if you’d be interested. They are busy kunoichi of course, but they are also women and we like to get together sometimes and just talk and teach one another things,” Hinata says, and then grins wide as she edges her way to the door. “You’re always welcome to join us and not just because of who you’re dating.”

“Sure,” you find yourself agreeing, and then Hinata is gone and you glance down at your watch and shit, it’s like five minutes til time for Konohamaru to show up.

You rush to the bathroom only to find everything is as ready as it’s going to be for you to leave. Your hair is done, you’re wearing your best outfit, you actually look somewhat put together and the mess you’d made of your closet has been straightened up quite nicely.

“Black magic,” you whisper when you think of Hinata’s help but you still can’t help but smile.

It’s a really nice feeling.

*DATE EPILOGUE*

You answer the door, one arm carefully tucked behind you.

Konohamaru looks fucking adorable in a pair of chinos and some sort of half dressed up half dressed down style you weren’t really expecting.

You’re starting to think maybe you weren’t the only one who had kunoichi intrude through your afternoon.

“You look beautiful-”

“My don’t you look handsome-”

You both chuckle a bit at one another.

“Thank you,” you say, trying to keep the steady blush out of your cheeks.

“You too,” he says, artfully rearranging the picnic basket he’s holding so that the arm closest to you is free to offer.

“Just let me lock up,” you say, hiding your cheeks when you turn away to do just that.

You immediately take his arm when you turn back around, fighting off the hints of embarrassment you feel. It might not have been the best idea, the matchmaking aspects of the mission at least, but being cooped up with one another did make friendly touching come a bit easier you think.

“So what made you think of a picnic?” you ask, not wanting to lag in conversation output.

“Well I did want to try to impress you and somehow I don’t think sparring would have gone that well for me,” he answers, with a chuckle. “Not without breaking a real sweat at least.”

“Oh I don’t know, I kinda like you all sweaty and spent,” you say and then wince and laugh at how it comes out. “Sorry that was probably a little too far eh?”

“Don’t worry about those things,’ he says, waving his hand around a bit. “I’m sure you’ve noticed this about me but I’m not great at knowing the right times to say and more importantly, not say certain things. I’d rather you just be you without trying to filter everything in or out and I’ll try my best to just be me.”

“Alright then, I think I can live with that,” you say, chuckling a bit as he guides you up toward the hill that leads to the top of Hokage Mountain.

You keep up light conversation, nothing too much too heavy and you only tease him slightly about the misguided mission attempt. He takes it all in good fun as it’s intended and eventually puts a blanket down beside you before making a half-hearted attempt to ‘help’ you down.

It’s precious and adorable, and completely unnecessary but you let him anyway.

He opens the basket and your belly rumbles happily at the smell of barbeque.

“Wow, you’ve really outdone yourself,” you say, eyeing the selection of meats and veggies that you can see. He brought enough for three, maybe even four people unless one of those happen to be an Akimichi, and you can’t help but chuckle at how proud he is of himself.

“I uh, I went around asking about your favorites and this was by far your most chosen meal that you eat out in town at least,” he says, like it’s not the most adorable thing that he’s done...recon for your date.

You nod because it is your favorite in town. “I like the way they season the meat. It reminds me a bit more of food from, well Takigakure, than most places here at home.”

“I see you do that a lot, backtrack. You know, I want you to feel welcome here in Konoha but it’s okay if you feel like you have homes in other places too,” he says, and it’s so sweet and honest and such a Kono thing to say.

“I used to correct it a lot because people assumed I mean Konoha when I said home, and for the most part I didn’t in the past,” you say, chewing at your lip a little. “But this time, I-I wanted to emphasize what I actually meant when I said home, was here in the village.”

He hands you over a full box of barbeque and watches as you happily shovel some into your mouth. It’s a little embarrassing but nothing he hasn’t seen before so you try not to let it get to you.

Eventually he starts to eat too and you watch him stuff himself silly and sigh in relief of that warmth when both of your bellies are full.

“Kono...can I ask you something?” you say, rubbing your fingers through his hair a bit as he’s stretched out beside you.

“Sure, anything.”

“Why did you really want to spend time with me, I mean...sure I can see there aren’t tons of women around who look like me, if that’s your thing, which I’m still not really convinced it is…” you start, “I just I can’t imagine what gets you from...she’s kinda cute to let's spend a week off charting nature so I can get closer to her? Y’know?”

“Okay,” he says, “I can see how you might look at it that way but have you ever tried to talk to you? Cause I’m not trying to be mean here...but you’re intimidating as hell,” he says and well...that’s probably fair.

“I tried, you know, a couple different times. To say hello, ask after you, but you are a very ‘all business’ type of person until you see a reason to let someone in, or at least that’s been my experience.”

“Okay I can agree with that, I’m not very sociable….but then why the interest at all? You’re the opposite of that, everyone loves you and from what I’ve seen you make friends easily enough, so why-”

“Because you’re worth it!” he says, this time an eerie sincerity settling over his features as he continues. “Because you were worth getting to know, you were worth the barriers and the boundaries and the effort. I knew you would be, and I was right!”

That shuts you up, just a little. It shuts up that nagging in your brain asking you why this perfect little cinnamon roll has gone through so much just to get a chance to be with you. It lets you take a breath and just savor and enjoy the feeling that he thought you were worth it, still thinks that by the way, and you are helpless to just fall into him like a puppet whose strings have been cut.

He wraps his big strong arms around you and for once in your life you just let someone hold you, just let him be there and strong and dependable.

“Thank you,” you say, “for making the effort.”

“You have always been, will always be worth it…”

“Wow that’s deep,” you say, teasing while also wiping at the corner of your eye.

“Well I wasn’t sure when a good time to tell you was but, I might have fallen a little bit in love with you like a long time ago so...y’know, whenever you wanna catch up that could be nice.”

“You-you-” you sputter, how dare he catch you off guard like this, but your fumbling just makes him laugh louder and harder than before.

You ignore your embarrassment and roughly push at his shoulders until he’s forcefully down on the ground, blanket beneath him, stars shining in his eyes and that’s when it hits you that maybe you’re not so far behind after all. Your breath rushes out as you take in his smile, his brightness, and everything goes a bit sideways in a good way, in an exciting way.

“Kono-” you start, but you can’t quite finish.

“Kiss me, if you want,” he says, and suddenly you’ve never wanted anything more.

It’s a bit of a difficult angle but you manage, just a soft peck of lips at first but when you start to pull away you feel his encouraging hand on the back of your neck and you gasp a little in surprise.

You lay there for a bit longer, his arms wrapped around you, kissing you for all you’re worth until you finally pull away.

“You know, I’m not usually this easy,” you say, straightening yourself up a bit as you clear your throat.

“Maybe, but I think I’ll take that as a compliment to my expressive love confession rather than you exhibiting some sort of loose moral code suddenly,” he grins and you want to hit him in his cute smug face but you’re still ringing a bit from the kisses.

“Yeah yeah, Romeo… just keep your hands to yourself for the rest of the night,” you say, and then immediately ignore how much it bothers you now that you’ve said it.

“I will do my best,” he says earnestly but there’s a devilish look in his eye and you kinda hope it means what you think it means.

It means exactly what you think it does and he manages to get you both in a little more trouble throughout the night but it’s still quite innocent as he packs up to walk you home.

You hold hands as you stroll through the village streets and even though a few stop to speak to him, they mostly leave you in peace and it’s kind of nice, more than kind of actually, it’s really nice. It’s one of the best nights of your entire life, and you hate the idea of letting it go even for just a little while.

When you make it back to your door, you linger there. He’s not expecting an invitation in, you know this and you’re not going to give one either, but you do feel some sort of need to make sure he understands how much everything he has done for you has meant.

‘I might not be there, not quite yet…” you say, though it might be more lie than truth at this point. “But I promise, Sarutobi Konohamaru, that I will give you absolutely everything I can until I catch up, okay?”

“That’s more than enough for me,” he says, whispering your name before bringing your lips to his one last time. “I only ever needed the chance.”

“Next time we’re sparring,” you say with a wide, evil grin as you shut the door behind you. You can hear the groan outside your door but you know he’s smiling all the same.

“That’s all I need too, just the chance…”

#Konohamaru Sarutobi #konohamaru #adult konohamaru #my boy kona #naruto #boruto

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popculturebuffet · 4 years

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Ducktales Reviews!: The Split Sword of Swanstatine! or Sometimes You Just Have to Punch Your Problems Away

The race for the missing mysteries takes Scrooge, the kids and a sorta hyjacked Lena and Violet to a mystical market to hunt down the pieces of the mythical sword of the warrior king swanstanine. Naturally a split artifact leads to a vignette episode as the kids pair up to find the pieces while Scrooge and Heron face off. Dewey and Webby face blindness, Louie and Violet face Louie’s reputation as an underworld kingpin, and Huey and Lena face Huey’s Feral Side. The race is on with full recap and spoilers under the cut.

Not a lot of background here.. I was excited enough for this one as Steelbeak and Rockerduck came back, but I went from “This will be pretty good and oh look Flula Borg” to HOLY SHIT LENA AND VIOLET ARE BACK LET’S GO ALREADY. So yeah, there’s not a lot to get started here that can’t be done as we go, let’s get out there and talk about some ducktales. We open in a vast marketplace whose name i’ve already forgotten.. it’s almost 4 in the morning here and I have terrible memory with name sometimes, I make no apologizes. Naturally given the big declaration at the end of the last episode the family is on the hunt for a missing mystery.. and Dewey is on the hunt for Street Meat, though Scrooge denies him any till they get the job done... I mean they can eat and go treasure hunting. They can do two things. Let him have some lamb dammit, spiced lamb is fucking delcious you monster! Or whatever that is the point is it’s larged, well seasoned and makes me hungry! But starving his grandchildren aside, Scrooge has no doubt they can acomplish this as a family.. and then notices his future in laws are also there and his whole big speech game is thrown off by the question of why. To me it’s because we need more of them, quit old man your already 0-2 this episode, but turns out the explination is one of the funniest jokes of the season.. and this is a season that’s include “There now your susceptible to vampires”, “Yipiee Kai Yay Mr. Falcon!”, Darkwing’s Cookbook, Gene’s Soda Commerical, Gladstone having a mental breakdown over having to be a normal person, and Della trying to deflect the blame for traumatizing children. This bit is on par with that. Violet explains that Scrooge told everyone to get on the plane. I assume Donald and Della are with their signifigant others, Beakly was getting some much needed therapy and Launchpad.. was flying the plane.. and also had Drake and Gosalyn with him because he double booked and had to take them with him to assist whatever ex of his is in trouble this week. Point is that bit’s freaking hilarious and Scrooge simply asks if they enjoy history and the answers are a predictable “Not really” from Lena, which given her own personal history is vast, terrible, and traumatizing up until the last year and her adoption by two gay men, relationship with a charming young lady, and gaining a beloved nerdy sister, that tracks. Violet of courser says it’s her life. Scrooge takes it: He’s used to having half his adventuring party either not caring about culture and history, the Saberwings just keep the average up. So Webby does the natural thing and tackle hugs her girlfriend and future sister in law while Scrooge smiles because why wouldn’t you.

And I was happy about this: not just hte tackle hug, because that was precious, but Scrooge eagerly accepting them along for the ride. I was worried for half a second that as good as the gag was that’d be the episodes big underlying issue.. but nope, his confusion was more “Wait why are the extra children here”, than questions of worth and given their previous appearance had him willingly inviting them along, and Lena and Violet only opting out due to fears about her magic getting them all killed and to support her sister, it woudln’t of made any character sense for him not to, doubly so since their up against a shadowy organization of ruthless thugs. Granted Beakly likely sighed after returning from her midnight therapy and called the Saberwing parents by Ty and Indy are probably used to their daughter’s friends elderly Uncle taking them to strange places in the middle of the night by this point. I mean one of their daughters can turn bluper sayain now, the ship on normal behavior kind of sailed over a cliff a while ago.

But Scrooge soon detects what he thinks is heron but is actually a woman who justifiably punches him. Turns out Heron was actually hiding in a stall though, and brought all her friends with her.. except Blot.. and while at first I was going to make a joke I realized they probably don’t want the guy who drains the magic out of everything near a magic artifact he’d probably destroy despite the consequences. So Bradford probably just sent him to murder the lucky charms leprechaun... he DOES have a life outside of trying to Murder scrooge... he can want to murder cereal mascots too. He’s a renascence evil mastermind. A sword fight ensues, with Scrooge telling the kids to pair up and go find the pieces while he keeps Heron busy.

Cue Credits and cue the episode itself being split into three vignettes. I do love vignette episodes, episodes of half hour shows that split into 3 different stories taking place at the same time and break from the formula, with two of the best I can think of being the Avatar classic “Tales from Ba Sing Sei”, most famous for the really gutpunching bit with Iroh singing at his dead son’s grave.. jesus I teared up, not a joke or an exaggeration literally teared up, just thinking about it. On the opposite end we have the season 12 Simpson’s episode Trilogy of Error, which while during when the rot started to set in for the series is easily a classic on the sam tier as the first 10 seasons. It alfeatured an at the time young Daniel Radcliff as Lisa’s love interest, Marge getting accused of attempted murder after accidently chopping homer’s finger off, Bart and Milhouse turning informant ont he mob and the tragic life of Linguo. It’s a classic.

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But yeah three pieces, three teams of two, and three story segments. So like last week I can easily divide the stories up and unlike last week I won’t be frontloading or forgetting anything since their divided up much more evenly and are played back to back to back rather than intercutting. So with that in mind...

Dewey and Webby: The Hidden Truths of Temporary Blindness and the Albino Snakes We Mistook for Cats Along the Way

The Dynamic Duo Returns! Seriously I did the legowork, I.e. went to google and despite the two’s dynamic being a sizeable part of season 1 and a plot point at the start of season 2, which also put the final nail in my shiping them coffin as it was very clear they were basically siblings in all but blood at this point and I wisely jumped off the ship and nuked it from orbit. But outside of Webby’s subplot with Dewey and Louie in “The Town Where Everyone Was Nice!”, it just.. hasn’t come up again. They’ve just had other dynamics to explore with the show and thus the two really haven’t interacted as much for the rest of the series thus far. They still interact, it’s just not really as a major part of any episodes plot till now. So while not a pairing I was expecting it was nice to have it back. For about ten seconds. Yeah cards on the table this is the weakest of the three segements. While the other two have intresting settings, setups, and character dynamics we genuinely haven’t seen this one has.. a weird version of a dynamic we’ve seen done better, and an antagonist who feels oddly flat this go round. It’s just not THAT intresting despite some intresting moments but it’s best to just get into it to explain why.

The basic setup is Webby is hoping to use bold de-ducktion to figure things out while flying under the radar while Dewey’s solution is naturally to ask everyone they meet, and then shout at Gandra when they do find the piece. This naturally gets a flashbang thrown at them, though we do get one great bit where Gandra asses their threat levels with Webby’s being high and Dewey’s being Eh, which tracks. And the thing that stings here is.. Gandra COULD’VE been an intresting opponent for Webby. While Huey and Violet, being fellow genuises as well as Huey’s personal stake in it for her hurting Fenton last year/season would be a better match, pitting Webby against someone just as focused and thought out in fighting, but who rather than use strength uses cybernetics and various gadgets would be really intresting, especially since the other two villian matchups are equally perfect. But instead.. it just feels like Gandra could’ve been replaced with a random fowl soldier. She just uses a flash grenade and some pakour, no real unique skills of hers or insight into her character or anything remotley intresting on her first Fenton-less outing just... “eh I use tech stuff because i’m the tech girl bleh”. The show can do better, and Jameela is given nothing to work with to the point I genuinely worried she’d been replaced.. she hadn’t, but it’s NEVER a good sign when you give an actor so little to do character wise I can wonder that. Also it’s a bit of a nitpick but it genuinely bothers me that Flula Borg, John Hodgman and Jason Mantzokus all got guest star credits.. but April Winchel and Jameela Jamil got nothing. And you could say April’s a long standing voice actor and all that.. but Tress Macneile also got a guest starring credit for next week’s episode solicit, so it’s clearly not that, and just comes off unintetionally sexist and obnoxious and has bothered me since the episode summaries came out.

That out of the way the basic conflict is our heroes are flying blind, literally, with Dewey able to easily amble along, while Webby struggles as she can’t analize blind.. which comes off as bullshit to me. I HIGHLY doubt Beakly, paraoid mess she is, would not train her granddaughter to be able to fight without seeing. It’s one of the most basic training techniques in media. There’s a reason it pops up Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles a lot. To fight on instinct and with your other senses. And the instinct part is the lesson and insn’t a bad idea, it’s just the tool they use for it means they have to make Webby entirely helpless in a way that’s nonsensical to her character to make the plot work and it drags the bit down, thoguh we do get an utterly hilarious bit where Dewey mistakes a coiled white snake for a kitten. But our heroes make it through, Webby eventually saves Dewey with a leap of faith and Dewey has Webby hit a flash grenade back at Gandra which works somehow and blinds her optics despite you know.. someone who uses this kind of tech probably being smart enough to protect her own cybernetic eyes from flashbangs. But the kids have the piece.. and a snake now even if it terrifies them. I wish one of them had taken it home a snake fits either of them and Webby’s dealt with worse.. which is the whole problem with this segment. That being said getting to see Dewey pull a hank venture and turn his normal near-suicidal reckleness into a strength was great I just with it was framed in a way that wasn’t “plannig and knowing things is stupid USE IMPULSE”. Thankfully we can move on. Louie and Violet: The Silver Tongued Viper and The Violet Blade versus the Billion Dollar Man

Next up is Violet and Louie, a team up I didn’t expect at all but works well, and is a much better contrast. Webby and Dewey are similar enough, despite his rampant stupidity, that having a “one side teaches the other how to use something else and tap into their inner self”lesson didn’t work> Here it works perfectly: Someone who speaks frankly and seeks the truth through reason and research paired with someone whose greatest and most cherished talent is the ablility to lie and swindle. It’s a good contrast. Their headed for the underworld since, as I forgot to mention, each of the clues is framed as coming from the heavens (the first piece being on top of a statue), the underworld and the heart of the earth.

Violet, and understandbly given her sister is magic and the general nonsense the duck family runs into, takes the underworld part literally taking an axe and some coins to pay the ferryman with her. Louie however figures it’s usually just a flowry way of putting a con.. and while he’s wrong about mythology given the ducks have met gods and the ENTIRE next episode (which likely features selene since i’ts now established they leave out guest stars if there’s more than three apparently) is about the gods they met... his instincts are not wrong and it is nice they aren’t. Sure some myths are real but sometimes a clue isn’t literal, and it’s clever that hte underworld here is the criminal underworld.

Turns out center piece for the sword is an underground den for the criminal underworld focused around spice eating and general no goodnik shenanigans and Louie’s come prepared. In a bit of character stuff I REALLY love, Louie’s built up a rep as “The Silver Tounged Serpent”, with him bluffing that violet is his companion, having simply used a web of lies and word of mouth to build him up as the worst and most vile criminal imaginable. It’s not a bad plan and while Violet rightly points out he’ll have to live up to it eventually, and Louie naturally deflects that as “Future Louie’s” problem, not realizing in this case Future Louie is about 2 minutes from being present Louie, it’s not a bad scheme. Sure it’s risky as hell and he picked the worst place to use it.. but having an alias he can use to sneak into places like this where Scrooge would be made in an instant, and can easily come up with lies for the rest of his family minus Huey, whose useless not for being easily detectable but because he can’t lie to save his life and this very episode cements it. Most of his family is certified grade a badass, and can easily help him bluff or back up his claims or make him look like one. it’s just this time he happened to get Violet instead whose brutally honest and while badass, isn’t great at running con games nor pleased about any of this. That and Louie’s biggest weakness is forthought: While his brothers either don’t plan at all or overplan, Louie underplans: He has good ideas and good schemes and scams.. it’s just he has no real endgame for any of them and Violet sees right through that. Still meeting the Spice Baron, played by Flula Borg who I mostly know from this song he did with Ninja Sex Party, though I also forgot he was in PItch Perfect 2...

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Your welcome. But while he’d like to give our fake arch criminal his prize, someone else already offered him a literal, not figurative ton of cocaine.. I mean Gold. Got the wrong show there for a second. Unsurprisingly it’s Rockerduck whose done this and unlike the wasted opprotunity above this battle of wits is between the perfect opponents. Rockerduck is easily what Louie would become without his family: A shifty conman with a flair for lying, contacts in the criminal underworld and aversion to doing the hard work himself. He’s such a perfect opponent for Louie I don’t know why I never considered the two going head to head before, but it’s utterly fantastic. John Hodgman is also far and away the MVP of the episode guest villain wise, with some of the best lines too, my favorite being, after making a spice pun, demanding the assorted roughnecks “Laugh, LAUGH AT MY SPICE PUN”.. just the way he demands it with a mixture of karen and a whiny teenager is inspiried. But yeah, Rockerduck knowing who he’s dealing with challenges Louie to a spice duel, basically eating the hottest spices imaginable till one folds, winner takes all. Naturally Louie’s ep included being a champion at this, and naturally his first instincts are to bail and when that fails, keep lying while Violet encourages him not to. I mean he’s ignored the pink and red angels on his shoulder telling him not to do bad things, why would the new purple one be any different. But Rockerduck has the edge as his taste buds were burned off in cryo.. though in another great line he laments he can never enjoy hard boiled eggs again. Which fair enough but.. you know two geniuses.. one of them can simulate taste buds. Regardless, Louie’s in trouble and his attempt to simply cheat his way out fails and the baron dosen’t tolerate Cheaters.. or Cheetahs.. or Cheating Cheetahs as seen in a great sight gag with a cheetah which requires the Baron to clarify it’s both. Point is Louie is screwed.. but Violet then downs all three, without a bead of sweat for reasons the episode explains at the end of this segment, but works since we don’t know violet well and the mystery of how she did it is a compelling question for a second. Our heroes have won but Rockerduck plays his trump card: that they aren’t who their saying they are.. but turns out the truth is even better than the lies Louie has, as Violet quickly spins Louie’s legend with the outright acomplishments he’s had, including defeating the bombie and defeating Scrooge’s entire Rogue’s gallery with a pen stroke.. both true. And unlike the last segement this bit of true strength feels earned: Louie’s other ablility besides lying is seeing all the angles.. and thus like Violet.. he sees the truth. He can see what a person feels, know them better than they may know themselves or the lies they might tell themselves simply through a keen eye. He can pick apart a million dollar defense system simply with a few glances as seen last episode. Louie’s lies may be useful.. but his biggest strength is inddeed his ablility to see the truth. Louie backs violet up as conquerer of the shadow realm (techincally true) and scourge of magica de spell (not even remotely true as Magica has the same problem with face blindess scrooge has with Darkwing and just Darkwing but with everyone). Rockerduck tries to complain but the crowd turns on him, our heroes escape, and Louie compliments violet. As for how she did it meditation, which fits her pefectly so I easily accept it, and a spice of the month club.. which is oddly specific but eh, this bit was really fun so i’ll give it to her. Plus her usualy steely demanor means she likely has a great poker face.. as seen by the fact sh’es soon guling a nearbye trough of water and screaming. Great. As you can tell I liked this segment better, as it’s a clever duel that uses wit instead of strength ilke the others this episode, and forces Louie to find his real strength as his usual one backfires and really helps define Violet even more giving her a strong sense of truth, which fits her like a glove, and a nice dynamic with Louie. It was an odd pairing, but it worked wonders and brought the episode back to life after the last segment killed some of the momentum. And thankfully that momentum keeps rolling into the best segement:

Huey and Lena: Harnessing Your Inner Feral Goblin Child for the Greater Good

As you’d expect, our heroes are doing what they do best: Lena is trying to reign in a quirky nerd, and Huey is overthinking everything by trying to triangulate where the blade of the sword is. Naturally Lena just finds it as it’s embeeded in a compasss pattern on the earth, hence being part of the earth. Unsurprisingly Lena’s solution.. is to wack it free with a mallet... you know there’s a reson she’s one of my favorites and it’s nice to see two of my faviorites who haven’t interacted hardly at all have some time together. Naturally Huey objects to destroying the thing they came for and figures out how to remove it using the clues. Unfortunately for him, but happily for me, Steelbeak is back!

I missed this feral asshole, and Jason while not getting a ton of lines sadly, does make the best of what he has, and is used less as himself on purpose. Also while he’s still kind of a moron, as I mentioned in my Tiff of the Titans review, this version is still CLEVER. He may not be book smart, but he can think on his feet and come up with plans and here.. his plan was the best of the three we’ve seen: Just wait for the ducks to come by and solve it for him and then beat them up and take it or as he puts it “Not the first time a nerd did my homework for me. “ Dumb dosen’t always mean incompetent, and he still has his classic self’s easy sense of planning. Had Lena not been there he would’ve won his piece and been the ONLY member of his group to do so. But Lena is there and now fully trained, so she stops steelbeak by freezing time, Za Warudo! style. Though unlike DIO she can’t manipulate anything, or go get a steam roller though given her powers she can probably make something into one, so tha’ts still on the table. She instead enters someone’s mindscape and uses that to freeze time for a bit.. how .. I have no idea, but it’s an interesting concept and the white look of the void their in now is neat, with only steelbeak himself present in a black and white negative of himself. Huey takes this as time to plan indeiftely till he finds one that works, shooting down actually fighting Steelbeak as “a cowardly brute’s way out”. We then get a great montage as Huey tries everything, from reasoning, to barganing, to crying, to a TON of hilarious and obviously ineffectual disgusies, to lying.. which as you’d expect is simply holding the massive sword blade behind his back and going “what sword.” It’s a really great montage that shows off two things: Danny Pudi’s talent, and that Huey.. can’t reason or trick his way out of this. He can’t plan his way out. And that’s why Steelbeak is the perfect foe to put him up against: Unlike Webby who faced something she could understand and Louie, who simply faced his evil counterpart, Huey faces his exact oppsotie: Huey thrives on logic and as we soon learns bury’s his emotions and impulses and dosen’t fight unless he HAS TO and even then it’s usually in a group. Steelbeak.. is a dumb, impulsive, thug who thinks out his plans on the fly, if at all, laughs at logic, and thinks the best solution to everything is punch it or blow it up. He can’t be reasoned with, Huey isn’t good enough at deception to trick him, and outrunning him was the first thing Huey tried and failed miserably. Steelbeak is made of huey’s blind spot, his inablaity to act without thinking. And he can’t fight it.

While Lena’s humored him despite her annoyance with Huey’s stubborness, she finally breaks and tries to force him to admit he has to brute force his way out, with Huey refusing.. but his refusal brings out a door to “the duke of making a mess”. Naturally something this ominous and personal, and the fact they have no other options and she wants to prove a point, is catnip to Lena who lets the king out.. who turns out to be what you’d get if Bart Simpson’s evil deformed twin Hugo and the messed up Dipper Clone from Gravity Falls did a fusion dance. While also in a nice nod looking VERY similar, with his broad fangs and red eyes, to the evil version of mickey from runaway brain. It’s also somehow the SECOND TIME i’ve seen a child supress his negative emotions to the point they manifested into a person shoved deep inside our hero’s head. Lena naturally loves this feral goblin who Huey explains as all his impulses and emotoins, his spur of the moemnt ones anyway, funneled into one being so he can use logic and only logic. So basically.. Huey is bruce banner.. get.. this kid.. some therapy.

Point is Huey dosen’t want to embrace his wild side, while Lena points out he needs to, and that sh’es learned from experince being a part of ones self someone ignored entirely as Magica’s shadow he can’t just ignore this and hope it goes away. And given Bruce Banner eventually got several more split personalities which turn into hulking rage monsters, which are a sadist with a good core, a raging child and a las vega leg breaker, and that KO repressing TKO just lead to his other half killing everything he loved and only getting that snapped back thanks to god himself... yeah maybe Lena’s right. And this really brilliantly plays into Lena’s development: Her past two episodes have been entirely about her solving a problem, her nightmares and her wondering magic, that she’s been running from by facing it. She’s learned by now you can’t just ignore something and expect it to go away. Again, that’s how you get Hulks. You have to face your sometimes literal demons and yourself to get better and make things better. And now she’s learned that, it’s Huey’s turn. His entire problem has been that he functions entirely on reason and when reason can’t work, he falls apart. It’s something I honed in on last week and has come up again. The point Lena, and the episode, is making with this bit is that sometimes you just have to trust yourself and go with your gut. Huey, reluctnatly lets the duke out who goes Donald on Steelbeak... seriously while the big team shot of the cousins and triplets at the end of season 2 showed Huey as Fethry.. he’s easily the most Donald of the group. He’s considerate, romantic, seriously the date he set up for Fenton really was sweet and Violet is in for some very nice evenings.. but also stubborn, prone to mental breakdowns, badly needs therapy (which donald IS getting so there’s hope), and when angry is a demon sent straight from hell. I REALLY hope this gets pointed out at some point. However without focus the Duke is useless so Lena convinces Huey that he needs to not fight the duke as some evil demonic part of him but accept him: USE his rationality and strategy with his more violent and angry impulses. The two reunite with a hand shake, seriously i’m getting so many KO and TKO vibes this episode what the actual hell, and thei rmerged self easily beats steelbeak witha wedgie and tied shoelaces. It’s beautiful to see and Lena is brought to tears. Before we get to the finale, this was EASILY the best segment, using Lena’s character growth to faciltiate Huey’s that’s been going on all season: making him see he needs to step out of his comfort zone of logic and accept his own inner strenght, his complete self, to really function. It’s good well done stuff and the setting is really intresting. THE FINALE: You are my Inner Strength

So naturally all the parts come together as Scrooge and Heron’s fight lands near Huey and Lena with Webby, Dewey, Violet and Louie all showing up soon after. Scrooge in a really nice moment is utterly proud of the kids, having had the utmost faith in them to get the pieces, and having his faith validated. He may be a cynical, sometimes assholish, old man.. but he loves and believes in his kids and future kids in law, he trusts them more than himself and he’s come far enough to not doubt them when he needs them most. FOWL however has regrouped, and Scrooge.. just gives them the assembled sword. Unsurprisingly, if still awesomely this is a ploy: Heron tries using the sword.. but it flies out of her hand and into Scrooges. He out gambited them. Also getting JoJo’s Bizzare Adventure vibes this episode with all the planning and counter planning and I am loving it. As he explains the sword reponds to true inner strength, while heron is all surface level: All malice and schemes and nothing beneath her character, as are the others. There 3 dimensional characters.. but their all pretty open with who they are and not really open to introspection, where as our heroes are and thus grew.. and Scrooge already knows his inner strength: The kids. THey helped him become a better person, all of them except violet and she just joined the family give her time. They’ve all helped him let his walls down and let people in again after the tragedy of della destroyed him emotionally and put the walls up thick, with Lena being the one to finally get him to destroy them for good. They’ve all helped him be better and he’s helped them all be better in turn, giving them a live of adventure where there their best selves and becoming great kids who will become incredible adults. Their love for one another is what drives them. And thus activates the sword. FOWL seemingly decides to just book and our heroes have won. Scrooge rewards his kids, new additons included, with some street meat cut byt he sword, and we get nice little shots of the lessons having sunk in with Huey knawing into his like a rabid wolf and Dewey and Webby sharing theirs blindly i’ts a sweet conclusion to a fun episode. But given we’re in the thick of the story arc now, FOWL naturally didn’t just book it for no reason.. this was all a setup. Heron calls back to Bradford with a mission accomplished and a lock of scrooge’s feathers.

It’s genuinely impressive as there’s no way F.O.W.L. can loose here: They win the sword.. and they have both the feathers for whatever nightmare they have planned for the Ducks, and another Missing Mystery for their grand scheme. They loose.. and they likely already have a plan to get any mysteries the ducks gather, just like last time, and they still get what they want. Either way Scrooge and the audience are unaware of the real plan, and FOWL is still ahead.

Dew-abolical!

Final Thoughts for the Episode as a Whole:

While a bit weaker than the last two weeks, and almost entirely thanks to the first segment, this episode is still a fun ride and a great way to kick things off now the ducks and F.O.W.L. are both on the offensive. It was also a great way to bring the Saberwing Sisters back and give them some fresh dynamics outside of Webby for a change, bring back some old faviorite vilians and in general pack a fun, Barks and Rosa style adventure story into the myth arc while still dripping with the character progression and dynamics this show lives for. One dark spot aside this really is a great episode, and the other two segements are clever and fun enough to easily ignore that. This season continues to be the show at it’s absolute peak doing what it’s always done best: taking the past and making something fantastic with it. Next Week: The kids, sadly minus my girls, audition to replace Zeus! Horay! Finally Zeus got MeTooed! It took long enough.. I mean they wrote entire sonets about his sex crimes. This isn’t a Bill Cosby situation where it suprised the general public, no one liked him since greek times to begin with. Also DAISY RETURNS! Horay! And so does the incredible storkules, MASTER OF COCKBLOCKING! Also Horay! Seriously unlike the last two blocks of episodes there’s not a one i’m not excited about in the bunch. Until then you can check my blogs for more reviews, and I plan to do the first episode this month and adjust my patreon rewards accordingly. You can follow said patreon at pateron dot com/popculturebuffet, comission reviews of other ducktales or cartoon episodes for 5 dollars an episode by shooting me an ask or message on here, and get out and vote tomorrow.. that’s not related to me but given how crucial this election is. Do it get out and vote. Until we meet again it’s been a pleasure.

#ducktales #the split sword of swanstaintine #ducktales spoilers #scrooge mcduck #webby vanderquack #dewey duck #lena saberwing #violet saberwing #huey duck #louie duck #john d rockerduck #gandra dee #steelbeak #black heron #f.o.w.l.#weblena #huelet

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mrs-i-have-too-many-biases · 5 years

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Stray Kids reaction to their S/O being ashamed of their acne (scars)

Requested by jalapeño anon

Genre: Fluff

Pairing: Stray Kids x Reader

Word count: 3,8K

A/n: (Anwsers to your asks <3) Thank you for the request! And there’s no need to be shy love, I’m really not that scary. Especially if you’ll see me in real life, I’m 162 cm short. Heheheh. And when it comes to me being able to write so much: I give up on my social life so I have more time to write, lol. And I have no anons yet so you’re the first one! YEAAH!

ALSO, I’m still figuring out how asks work, this was actually my first and I noticed that I posted it without anwsering it, so I’m sorry to anonnie that I couldn’t ‘tag’ you... I hope you still like it tho <3

Chan:

Chan is known as a caring and sweet young man and when it came to his significant other, he would top that by showing you love and affection even though he is a busy man.

One day he was ready to take you out on a date, he had found time in his busy schedule and he was ready to spoil you with some good food and his company, which was everything you needed honestly. You were getting ready in your shared apartment, doing your makeup as you sat in front of your mirror. You sighed in frustration when your good foundation had run out. Lately, your acne scars had become more visible due the hot weather and they became darker. You looked at them in disgust as you frantically looked into your makeup bag for another option to hide them.

What you didn’t notice was that your boyfriend had been watching you from the doorway. He usually loved how you got ready. You would put on music and cutely and sometimes sexily dance along. He was hoping to see that today, but sadly he saw how you looked at yourself in disgust, tears on the edge of falling. He quickly made his way towards you, making you jump when you noticed his muscular figure behind you.

“Chan-“ “My love what’s wrong?” He asks worried in a sad tone. “I-“ You tried to come up with the right words, but you just couldn’t find them, leaving the room silent. “Don’t I tell you enough, how beautiful you are?” He whispered sadly. You shot up immediately, knowing he thought it was his fault that you felt like this. “N-no- I mean yes! This isn’t your fault, trust me!” You assured him as you hugged him tight. “I just, really hate my acne scars.” You admitted softly. Chan let out a sigh, pulling you even closer to him.

“Don’t be ashamed of your scars my love, they are a part of you. And it gives me another reason to love you even more. You’re my beautiful baby and I love you. Please don’t kick yourself down.” He whispered back, rubbing your back comfortingly.

“Thank you Channie, I love you too.” You kissed his lips softly as you melted in his touch.

“You’re welcome my love, now get even prettier, we have dinner reservation.” He winked before letting you go.

Woojin:

You and your boyfriend had a sleepover. Every time he would stay over, you would wait for him to fall asleep so you can put off your makeup. And in the morning, you would wake up early to put on a little makeup to cover your scars. Today was one of those mornings.

You were glad that Woojin was a little bit of a heavy sleeper and didn’t wake up when you moved his arm off your waist. You took one more look before you got out of bed. Woojin was the cutest when he was asleep. His hair was a mess and his lips were slightly parted.

Some mornings you couldn’t help but kiss his soft lips, they just looked irresistible.

You made your way to the walk-in closet where all your makeup products were, cringing when you clinked and dropped some of your stuff. Not knowing you woke up your boyfriend when you dropped everything. He had climbed quietly out of his bed to see what you were doing. “Baby, what are you doing?” Woojin asked, whilst rubbing the sleep out of his eye. You jumped at the sound of his voice.

You didn’t know what to say and just froze in your spot.

“A-are you putting on makeup?” He asked confused. When you didn’t answer he walked closer to you and kneeled down to your level when you avoided his gaze as well.

“My love, why are you putting on makeup on so early in the morning?” You still avoided his gaze, looking into your mirror. Woojin had followed your eyes and he noticed that you kept looking at your acne scars, that were now visible without the layer of makeup.

“Do you hate your scars, baby?” You only nodded, still not daring to look at him. He took your hands in his and made you look at him. He saw your eyes water and it made his heart break a little.

“I love you so much. You don’t have to hide yourself from me. I noticed you waiting for me to fall asleep, I’ve noticed how you’ve been waking up early for some reason. You’re so beautiful, you don’t have to do all of this. I love you for you.”

You couldn’t help but throw yourself into his arms, making the both fall to the ground. You two giggled as you stayed in a tight embrace, staring into each other’s eyes. “I love you.” “I love you too beautiful.”

Minho:

Minho had taken you with him overseas for their Japan concert. He had taken you to a lot of tourist spots and was having a great time since he had his significant other along with him. Sadly for the two of you, on the day you had a chance to explore the city it was raining.

Usually this wouldn’t be a problem for the two of you, you would carry around an umbrella and carry on with your date, but you didn’t expected rain today. Your umbrella was still at the hotel room and every store seemed to sold out of freaking umbrellas.

“I’m sorry baby.” Minho sighed after their search for umbrellas or something else to keep them a little dry. “I-it’s okay honey, let’s just go and get something to eat.” You stuttered, not looking at him. Next your grabbed his hand and dragged him along with you to look for a place to eat.

You really wanted to get out of the rain. It made your make up smeared and thin out your foundation. Your acne had been so bad the past few weeks and you felt like it just wouldn’t get better.

When you had finally arrived at a cute restaurant, Minho couldn’t help but notice that you weren’t looking at him, putting your hood up so he could only see your eyes.

“…baby what are you doing? How are you going to eat with your mouth covered?” He asked after a while, getting confused and a little annoyed by you. You noticed his change in mood and quickly apologised. “Baby, what’s been on your mind? You seem a little off today.” Minho asked genuinely worried that his significant other wasn’t feeling happy. “I just- my makeup had run out-“ “So? You still look great-“ “You can see my acne scars.” You whispered softly and he finally got what was wrong.

“Is that why you’ve been avoiding my gaze?” He asked a little in disbelief. “I- yes, I just really hate them. They are ugly and-“

“Don’t you dare to call yourself ugly. You’re so beautiful and I love you. Don’t be ashamed of yourself, you are who you are and I fucking love you. Now, what do you want to eat my beautiful baby, I’m paying.” He said with a cheeky wink, making you smile.

Dang it, do you love him.

Changbin:

Changbin doesn’t give a shit that you had scars. He fell in love with you by your charms and fuck, he was whipped for you. You of course knew that he loved you very much, but you just couldn’t help but feel insecure about your face by the dark spots that were stuck on your face.

Changbin was working in your shared apartment on a song. It was pretty late and he was starting to feel tired. He was saving up his stuff, before he walked into the living room where you were playing a game.

“Baby go wash up, it’s pretty late. Let’s go to bed.” Changbin whispered as he buried his face into the crook of your neck. “Did you finish your song genius?” You asked him, not taking your eyes off the screen, still playing your game. “I did, but I want to cuddle with you now.” You giggled at how cute your boyfriend was when he was sleepy. You kissed the top of his head, as you sat up straight. “Go and lay down, I’ll be right there with you.” You said before leaving to the bathroom.

You sighed to yourself as you took of your makeup. The scars were very dark and it felt like they were getting worse every time you looked at them. You applied a lot of cremes and moisturisers before thinking of an idea how you would get into bed with Changbin, without him noticing your scars.

Usually they weren’t that visible and now that it was summer the sun was up longer. This meant that the room wouldn’t be dark enough to not notice. You quickly grabbed a random teddy bear you found outside the door of the bathroom door from the pillow fight you and your boyfriend had earlier that day. You hid your face behind it and acted cutely to distract Changbin. Who only kind of squealed at your cuteness.

You jumped into bed and covered your face immediately with the sheets. Changbin wanted to cuddle closer to you, but you had your face still covered under the sheets, making a little wall in between the two of you. He whined a little, trying to break the wall down, but you wouldn’t let him. Scared of him seeing the ugly spots on your face.

“Baby, I want to cuddle with my beautiful baby.” He whined in a high-pitched voice. “But I look ugly-“ “WHAT DO YOU MEAN UGLY, MY BABY IS THE PRETTIEST BABY IN THE WORLD AND I DON’T CARE THAT YOU HAVE ACNE SCARS I LOVE THEM AND I LOVE YOU! NOW SNUGGLE WITH ME I’M DESPERATE!” Changbin’s voice made you startled, but you pulled the covers down and snuggled closer to your muscular boyfriend.

“How did you know?”

“I’ve always known my love, but I firstly didn’t know it was that big of a deal for you. If I did, I would’ve made you feel better about them sooner. Secondly, I didn’t care you had them. I love you for you. They are a part of you and they won’t make me love you any less.”

“I love you too Binnie!” You whispered cutely as you were peppered in kisses by your sweet boyfriend.

Hyunjin:

Hyunjin was known as the most handsome or prettiest member of Stray Kids and you couldn’t disagree any less. You knew that your boyfriend was the most good-looking person you knew in your life. It was a little intimidating for you at first, well it still was since you suffered from acne and Hyunjin just seemed perfect.

He had great hair, eyes, lips and skin and it made you feel a little insecure. It also made you feel a little unworthy of being his partner. His ‘fans’ also thought that and didn’t mind rubbing that into your face on social media or when you would attend a concert of your boyfriend and his members.

‘Look at her face, I don’t know why Hyunjin chose her. I mean look at me. Hyunjin and I would be so much better of a couple.’ ‘I know right, I don’t know what he sees in her ugly ass.’ ‘Look at her acne. She should just leave him and do us all a favour and make her ugly ass disappear.’

You didn’t let Hyunjin know that you cried at night because of their words. He would be laying next to you and be asleep. Lucky for you he was a very heavy sleeper, so he never had a clue. You would wake up with puffy eyes, but you could play it off by blaming sleep.

You never wanted to bother Hyunjin with your irrelevant problems and this just seemed like one of them, but to Hyunjin was every problem relevant. He knew something was going on with you as you didn’t feel as affectionate towards him. And it affected him, badly. He was a needy boy when it came to hugs and kisses

One day Hyunjin was practically begging for kisses and attention from you. He noticed how you had changed through time. You didn’t seem as jolly as you used to and it made him sad.

When you admitted that it was because of your scars and his so-called fans’ words to you, he flipped. He was angry a himself for never noticing your suffering. He pulled you into his arms and rested his head on top of yours as you hugged like that.

“I love you. You’re so beautiful. I always thought you were the prettiest little thing and I will never change that. I’m sorry I’ve found out so late, I will definitely talk to them about this, because nobody talks bad about my baby.” He said sassily, making you laugh a little.

“Thank you Hyunjin. I love you.”

“I love you too baby.”

Jisung:

Jisung was at your place after the two of you had a date. You were tired, he was tired, so you decided to hang out at your apartment and just snuggle in the living room with cheesecake flavoured ice cream.

You were removing your makeup and discussing with yourself if you should redo your makeup. Your acne scars were something that you had always been ashamed of and you never shown them to your boyfriend. What she didn’t know was that Jisung never really noticed her scars, because he didn’t see them as scars. He saw them as something that accessorised your face beautifully. The boy was just blinded with love for you. Anything you would consider a bad thing about yourself, he would just disagree immediately.

“I really hate-“ “No, I love it. I love you.” “But you don’t even know what I was going to-“ “Nope- I love you! Now shh and let me love you.” He would say before drowning you with love.

As you were removing your makeup, you heard your boyfriend run towards you, making you freeze in your spot. You were terrified of him seeing your bare face, exposing all your ‘imperfections’.

Jisung was almost skipping around as he was looking around for something comfortable to wear in your closet. He had sweaters of his laying around your place, since he knew you loved them very much.

Jisung walked into the bathroom, not caring to knock first. He hugged you form behind as you looked at each other through the mirror. You were just blankly staring at him, waiting for his reaction on your scarred face.

“I had so much fun baby. Are you almost ready? I have the movie and the ice cream ready.” He said excited as he swung you from side to side. He then noticed you staring at him and he shot you a small smile as he rested his chin on your shoulder.

“I don’t know exactly what’s going on in that beautiful mind of yours, but I just want to tell you that I really love you and I’m hoping that I will spend many more years with you. You’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever met, on the inside and out and I still can’t believe that I can call you mine. I love you.” He whispered, before placing a peck on the nape of your neck. You smiled at him before turning around. You hugged him tight after you kissed his lips.

“I love you too.”

Felix:

You were chilling at home with your boyfriend on your side. He was laying on his back with his head rested on your thighs as he was playing a game on his phone, whilst you were watching a drama on TV.

You both loved days like this. You didn’t need to go on a date per se, you just needed each other’s company and the two of you would be content. Felix is a relaxed guy, even though he had those moments where he was jumping around as he was thrilled for something. Felix was also a sensitive guy, he cares a lot about your feelings and he always valued your opinions on things.

Like when it came to his style, he always came to you for advice.

You did the same to him, even when it came to your beauty products.

“Baby, look this moisturiser makes your skin glow gold-“ “Felix, do you really believe that?” “I mean the box says it-“ “It’s just advertisement babe-“ “Baby, I love you, but don’t be a hater. We’re trying this.”

Felix of course wants you to feel good about yourself, so he often reminded you of how beautiful you were to him. One day you were just really down and you felt depressed. You felt a little unwell in the tummy and your face looked a mess to you. Your scars were darker than ever and you hated all of it.

Felix had been a little clingy, but you didn’t mind. You just wanted to cuddle him quietly and just stay put. Felix looked up to you from his position and noticed how your makeup had faded a little, exposing the true lines of your face. He saw the lines of your creased and you smile line and thought they were beautiful. He saw the little dark spots on your face, but didn’t think too much of them.

You had voiced that you hated them and that saddened him.

“You called my freckles stars on my face because you thought they were beautiful. I think your scars are stars to me. They are so pretty. I love them like you love my freckles when I hated them the most. I love you so much.”

Seungmin:

Seungmin is a sweet guy. And obviously a great boyfriend. He was a little bit of a tease but you loved him for it. He often teased you for having a “bad” taste in clothing.

“You just look funny babe.” He would laugh as you walked out of your bedroom.

“What do you want me to wear then?”

“My clothes.” He would snicker cheekily.

“SEUNGMIN WHAT-?!”

One thing Seungmin would never make fun of though is your appearance, leaving your clothes choices out of this. One day the two of you were getting ready for bed and you were fooling around whilst listening to music.

Seungmin was poking your cheeks and your sides as you were trying to brush your teeth. You would whine and poke him back, receiving cute noises coming out from his mouth, making you giggle. Right after you two would perform your skin routine, one being a little longer than the other. You can guess whose was longer: the idol in the relationship.

“Seems clear, who has the best and clearest skin in this relationship.” He joked, but soon he’d realise his mistake.

You had always been insecure and ashamed of your skin. It was full with acne and scars and Seungmin knew you hated it.

When he noticed your change in mood, he’d drop literally whatever he was doing and ran to you to hug you.

“No, don’t be sad. I’m sorry. I love you! Your scars are pretty, you’re my beautiful baby and I love you and I’m so sorry. I’m such a fool. Please don’t hate me.” He begs as he kisses every inch of your face.

“I love you too Minnie.” You whispered back, obviously forgiving him, because who wouldn’t. I mean look at the cutie!

Jeongin: Jeongin is still quite young and might not have a lot of experience when it comes to romantic relationships, but he of course has friends. You were often treated like a friend, since you and Jeongin started off as best friends and became a couple through time. Jeongin never changed the way he treated you, besides adding extra cuddles and kisses.

Jeongin had always known that you were insecure about showing your bare face in public or to him at times when you felt like down or unwell. Jeongin often didn’t really know what to do when it came to your problems, but he really wanted to help. He’d do research online on the best skincare to treat your acne and your scars. He’d order them online from an international brand and give them to you as a surprise.

You would be quite emotional since he was just so sweet. He cared and thought it through and you appreciated it very much. You would thank him and kiss him sweetly.

Jeongin would also look on the internet at things that could cause acne and he would look out for you to not use or eat those things to prevent the extra outbreak. Once again you were very touched at how helpful Jeongin was and how sweet he was being.

He’s told you sweet words that you are beautiful to him and that you’re special and that he would be a mess without you, which you often respond to with ‘I know’.

“I really hope you know, I’m trying my best and that you know that I love you very much. I’m young and I’m still learning, but aren’t we both? I know I usually treat you like my best friend, but you really are my best friend and I love you.”

“Of course I know. You have been the sweetest boyfriend. You actually helped me with my acne and most of my scars are actually fading. You’re the best really. I love you.” You said softly before hugging him tightly.

It couldn’t get better than this.

Gifs aren’t mine. I hope you liked it!

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isnotys · 5 years

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Cruel Summer Pt1

Summary: After a stressful couple of months, the twins, Emma and you decide to take a well-deserved trip to a Caribbean island. However, it’s not all that peaceful because your more-than-obvious crush on Grayson is making you lose your marbles.

Warnings: none

The twins, Emma and I were all meeting up at the terminal for our Caribbean summer trip. We were all going to Puerto Rico to spend a week away from all the LA stress. As I walked in, I saw Grayson’s tall figure standing above Emma and Ethan. His already tanned skin glowing as if he had descended from Olympus. As soon as he saw me he gave me his beautiful smile and wrapped me in a tight hug. We all hadn’t seen each other for a few days because of our crazy schedules and my book beingdue a couple of days prior.

Those hazel-green eyes give me his undivided attention and I get this rush of feelings that make my cheeks red and makes me want to run away. I wish I’d know if he can tell that my heart is about to beat out of my chest and I don't even know what he’s saying anymore, I can't hear anything.

“Are you ok?” Ethan asks grinning and Grayson stops talking, looking at me with caring eyes. His lips look irresistible and his eyes try to read my face as I just admire how his muscles look like they are about to pop out of his shirt.

“I’m good, just worried about the flight.” Which is true for the record, I’ve never even left the west coast before and Puerto Rico is kind of far. As I say this, I give them a convincing smile and go to finally say hi to Emma who has been editing a video this whole time.

Grayson keeps asking me how everything has been going with the book and wants to know every detail of what I have been doing these last couple of days that we haven’t seen each other. The way his eyes crinkle when he smiles, and that dimple. His smile is his most beautiful feature. Yes, he’s built like Chris Hemsworth, but his sweet smile and childlike enthusiasm drive me crazy. This man is everything I have ever hoped for. My heart aches at the thought of ever losing him and the touch of his hand sends me into a frenzy. But we’re just friends, I am not supposed to feel this way, and I most certainly don't want to ruin what we have.

He notices I’m staring at him in a weird trance, I guess he’s not that clueless. I’m sure he’s gonna say something about it, but then he puts his arm around me and asks while pointing at the window, “Pretty nice sunset, huh?”

I simile and nod, letting myself get closer to him and he tightens his grip around me. I don’t know what cologne he wears, but he just smells manly. Good enough to make just about anyone melt.

The trip to get to the island goes by pretty fast because Grayson and I kept talking about the randomest things, with an occasional bickering with Ethan because of the differences in our opinions. Ethan and I are ridiculously similar and extremely stubborn. We get along great, but we do butt heads a lot. However, Grayson leaves me quite impressed, he’s so much smarter than he lets people know and I like that side of him a lot.

We get to the hotel almost an hour later after landing because traffic is crazy and Ethan suggests that we go to the beach right away. So we all get changed and go to the beach, the boys go surfing and Emma and I stay in the seating area on the sand.

She looks at me weird and says, “you’ve been keeping your distance lately, why?”

“You know why Ems, I can't help how I feel and I have never been known to be one to be able to conceal my feelings very well,” I say not even daring to look at her. She can read me better than anyone, she knows things before they even hit my atmosphere.

“Listen, I know you’ve gotten your heart broken by friendships in the past. However, we’re not like those people. We’re here for you, for reals and I’m so glad you did decide to come on this trip with us. I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s happy you actually showed up,” she says giving me her quirky signature smile and a wink.

My face is burning and it’s definitely not from the sun. “I’m sure he’s just glad I’m here to bring the entertainment, I’m pretty funny you know. Plus, being the third wheel is no fun.”

She glares at me, in a judgmental way, but then laughs a little.

“Y/N!!!”

That unmistakable voice. The way he says my name makes me want to just die. In the best way possible of course.

He gets closer to me and I see that his floppy hair is all wet and his clean-shaven face is all red from the sun. He’s soaked, but he’s smiling and jumping up and down.

“Look what I found, y/n! It’s a pearl! Here it is for you,”

“Oh, why thank you, Peeta,” I say giggling like a schoolgirl, I’m so embarrassing.

He stares at me in confusion, tilting his head a little, I forget he doesn’t always get my references.

“I’m sorry, I forget you don’t like books. I like it, Grayson. Thank you!” My heart is about to fall out of my mouth and I am the color of the crabs that are sitting on the rocks. Fitting, to be honest, I am a cancer after all.

“That was a movie,” Ethan says in his know-it-all voice, clearly done with all of this nonsense.

“There were three books and four movies, Ethan,” Emma corrects him while wiping the water from his face with a towel.

Grayson shrugs, kisses my cheek and says, “You’re welcome. We should all get some dinner now, I’m starving.”

I just nod my burning face away and collect all of my stuff.

At dinner, our saltwater soaked bodies are bathed by the summer island breeze. The sunset looks out of this world, the orange changes to purple, then pink. It’s the most beautiful sunset I have ever seen. It’s really nice here and I am trying to calm down and take it all in. But Grayson is the only one not wearing a shirt, keeping up with his d-bag rep. His muscles are already tan and his abs look so good you would think they’re fake.

Out of nowhere, Grayson says, “Put on your bathing suit cover.”

I stare at him as if I don't even understand the language he is currently speaking.

“The guy behind me is looking at you in the grossest way possible and I don't want to cause a scene by punching him in the face,” he says clenching his jaw. He looks angry.

I look over to the guy and he smiles at me, giving me a flirty wink. He does not look bad at all, he’s quite handsome actually. Grayson notices that I am staring at this guy for too long so he then puts his shirt on me and puts his arm around my shoulder.

His face is red with anger and I understand, he’s just being a protective friend, you never know what people’s intentions are. Especially when it comes to men. So I just sit there while Emma smiles quietly to herself and Ethan rolls his eyes so far back into his skull, they might get stuck that way.

After dinner and taking a shower, we all gather in one room. We were supposed to go out and walk around to enjoy the nightlife, but, although we are all adults, we don’t really enjoy that kind of scene.

Quite frankly, my mind is still reeling from all that has happened since we got here. So after a little while of talking to everyone, I leave to go to my room and I fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow.

When I wake up, I decide to just go walk the deserted beach by myself so I could clear my mind. It’s so early the sun it's coming out just now. As I watch the dark sky turn to a pink-orange, I can’t help but to feel blue. It’s crazy because here I am looking at the most beautiful sunrise, the kind that makes you question just about everything you have done up until this point of your life, and I should feel peaceful. Maybe that’s the problem.

Whatever doesn’t kill me makes me want him more, and because of my tumultuous past experiences with love and friendships, there is nothing else for me to expect but getting hurt and watch all of my closest relationships go up in flames.

My head is spinning and I am going down a spiral when I feel something touch my arm. I jump at the feeling of someone touching me and fall in the water. Just another prime example of how smooth I am.

“Did I do something to make you feel uncomfortable?” Grayson asks helping me up and drying me with his towel.

“No, you just scared me.”

“Yeah, that I know, but I meant before. You’ve seemed kind of off this entire trip.” He looks concerned and looks at me as if to say, you can trust me, it’ll be ok. “We are friends after all, you know? You can tell me anything,” he says in the most reassuring way possible. I want to drown in this vast ocean and never come up again.

“Oh, no,” I try to act surprised, as if nothing could ever be wrong, I’m clearly not that good at it. “I’m fine,” that’s so not true, it’s laughable really.

He doesn’t seem to believe half of my bs, but something stops him from questioning any further. I just look at him and smile, that is the one genuine thing I do in his presence. Words fail me and I am too clumsy to ever be a proper human around him, but just looking at him, his eyes, his smile, his body, all of him, makes this sunrise look like Tana Mongeau leaving day three of Coachella.

He gives me a genuine smile back and says, “Let’s disappear for the day.”

“What? Why?”

“Let’s explore the island together. Plus, it's not like Ethan and Emma won’t enjoy being alone for a day.”

I don’t even know what to think of this, I am paralyzed there as he keeps staring at me, excitedly waiting for an answer.

“Ok, let’s go, now!” I say grabbing his hand.

To be continued…

#ethan dolan #Ethan Dolan imagine #Ethma #blurb #fluff #grayson dolan #grayson x reader #Grayson Dolan imagine #the dolan twins #dolan twins

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damienthepious · 5 years

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hello it has become my solemn duty to make all of y’all ship mangelo with me. @shorter-than-her-tbr-pile & @bluerayofsunshine it’s both of your fault that I ship this and therefore this entire fic is because of y’all. thank you

Feel Some Sort Of Way

[ao3]

Fandom: The Penumbra Podcast

Relationship: Sir Angelo/Sir Marc, background Lord Arum/Sir Damien/Rilla

Characters: Sir Marc, Sir Angelo, Talfryn, Dampierre, Sir Damien, Rilla, Lord Arum, The Keep

Additional Tags: Second Citadel, Mutual Pining, (mutual dumbasses), very mild angst, Fluff, Unresolved Romantic Tension, Crushes, (they're just....... so fucking ridiculous)

Summary: Traveling with Sir Angelo proves to be very confusing, for Sir Marc.

Notes: I've been working on this goddamn fic since July. They're soft, I'm soft, you're soft too probably. Let's be soft together dangit. Title from the song UWU by Chevy.

It can’t be intentional, Marc thinks. Must be near the hundredth time he’s thought it. It can’t be intentional, or the big guy would just say something, right?

“Here, friend Marc!” Angelo swings his arms up, draping the thick, heavy material of his cloak around Marc’s shoulders. He beams as Marc furrows his brow in confusion, squawking half a protest as Angelo’s hands lift the hood to pull it over his head, shielding Marc’s face from the driving rain.

“Wh- wha- why?”

“You looked cold up upon the delightful Dampierre, friend Marc,” Angelo says, his face open and sincere. “I find myself quite warm despite the rain, and so I imagined that you might benefit more from my cloak than I myself would.”

Marc reaches a hand up to grip the clasp of the cloak, intending to pull it off, but-

It is much warmer with the heavy, sturdy cloth around his shoulders like a hug, and… the cloth, strangely, smells like baking, sugary and friendly and sweet. How-

“That’s very kind of you, Sir Angelo,” Talfryn says, in that particular tone of voice that means he’s chastising Marc for being rude. Judging by the unwavering grin on the knight’s face, though, he isn’t bothered by that rudeness, so Marc doesn’t feel too awful about it either.

“Yeah,” he says instead, his thumb still brushing over the clasp of the cloak as Dampierre whickers softly beneath him. “Uh. Thanks, Angelo.”

It’s weird, traveling with Sir Angelo. It was different when it was the two pairs of men traveling sort-of together to find Rilla. Even after the Nymphs, when they reached enough of an understanding that they weren’t at each other’s throats anymore, it still felt like two different groups of people who just happened to have the same goal, who happened to be in a position to be watching each other’s backs. They weren’t really one collective group, at least not by the time that Dampierre lost a shoe and Marc had to fall behind.

This time, there’s less pressure on the whole thing. No one in deadly peril, no dire threat looming large over the Citadel. It’s as simple as the three of them taking the scenic route (as in, not by magical portal) to visit Sir Damien and Rilla and Scales.

Actually, in technicality, Sirs Angelo and Damien are supposed to be traveling to “assess the level of danger presented by the monstrous occupation of the area known as the Swamp of Titan’s Blooms,” but obviously, that’s… not exactly a real issue, even if it would be impossible to explain that to the Queen.

Marc wasn’t there when Rilla heard the assignment her fiance and friend were saddled with, but the way he understands it she wasted no time in grinning wide, grabbing Damien by the wrist, and sing-songing something about a month’s vacation, totally justified.

Apparently, since Angelo went all puppy-eyed at the prospect of not having his joined-at-the-hip best friend for the little trek, and he’s too damn dutiful to sit on his haunches for the few weeks it should take to pretend to walk to the swamp and back, Rilla had also suggested Marc and Tal as traveling companions before she and Damien slipped into her hut and then, uh, disappeared. And, despite some initial grumbling, Marc is actually kind of excited for the opportunity to get back to that swamp and maybe get another look at Scales’ cool self-defending castle, and for Tal to have the chance to do a little more exploring in the swamp proper.

What Marc is surprised by, though, is how much odder it is to spend time with Sir Angelo without the buffer of Sir Damien. Angelo seems… genuinely delighted to get to know Marc and Tal better, he’s a courteous and generous traveling companion, and he has this habit of just- catching Marc’s gaze and smiling.

Which shouldn’t be a big deal, Marc thinks. But it’s the way he smiles that concerns Marc. It’s this wide, slow-blooming sunflower grin, like remembering that Marc exists is enough to smack the knight full of joy. Which is totally bunk, because when most people remember that Marc is there, he usually gets more of a roll-the-eyes response.

Angelo smiles at Tal, too, which is nice, but Marc… Marc has this strange feeling that it’s different from the way Angelo smiles at him.

Anyway. It’s weird, and it makes Marc feel a little like his stomach is doing cartwheels, and it’s been distracting enough that Dampierre has needed to sputter at him to keep the both of them on the path more than once already.

He should be able to stop himself from staring when Angelo smiles. So far, though, the effort has proven to be a total pain in the ass.

It can’t be intentional. The knight is just nice to everyone.

The reason he keeps giving Marc more cookies than Tal (where does he keep getting cookies from?) is because he knows that Tal has less of a sweet tooth. He just- pays attention! That’s all!

Marc takes an aggressive sort of bite from a soft, sweet piece of shortbread, and he pretends that the delighted grin that Angelo shoots his way doesn’t make his face feel hot. Because, and Marc cannot stress this enough, it doesn’t mean anything.

Angelo gently strokes Dampierre’s neck, smiling in an awestruck sort of way as the horse snorts and then nudges his nose into Angelo’s other hand, snatching up the wild berries the knight has collected along the road today.

“Such a clever beast you have, friend Marc!” Angelo says with a wide smile, eyes sparkling, and Marc feels his heart do something swooping and strange.

“Y-yeah,” Marc says, and Angelo won’t notice that Marc is staring so long as he’s preoccupied with Dampierre, right? “Best horse in the whole damn world.”

“And lucky to have such a brave and caring partner in yourself, my friend!"

Nope. Angelo swings his eyes up towards Marc, warm and fond and to hell with this, actually. Marc presses his heels into Dampierre and the horse knows to skip forward a few steps, whickering softly and startling that look off of Angelo's face enough that Marc's fists can unclench.

"Got a mind of his own sometimes, though," Marc says casually, apologetically, and when he pats Dampierre’s neck Angelo smiles again, soft and understanding.

"As a good partner should!" he says. "I've been learning much, lately, about the benefits of consulting many perspectives rather than limiting oneself to the viewpoints one is familiar with-"

Angelo continues as he keeps pace with Dampierre's slow walk, and Marc listens. He listens, and Angelo’s smile gleams as bright as his armor, and Marc feels a little bit like he could do this forever, actually.

Which is ridiculous, because Angelo is like this with everyone, right? Marc swallows uncomfortably, tearing his eyes away from the knight. Angelo is just like this with everyone. He’s just trying to do exactly what he’s talking about- getting different perspectives. It’s not about Marc at all. He tears his eyes away from the knight again. He’s not treating Marc special. Of course he isn’t.

The cooking is a nice surprise.

Normally, Marc and Tal switch off cooking meals back and forth while they’re on the road, though usually it’s Tal that has to remind them to stop regularly to actually do any cooking instead of just gnawing on hardtack and jerky as they ride. Marc tends to get distracted, tends to focus more on whatever is right in front of him until his stomach is rumbling and he finally remembers that yeah, his body needs stuff like food and probably a quick nap or whatever. Tal’s a slightly better cook, though neither of them are really good at it. Marc can skin a rabbit caught along the way, can skewer some meat to roast over the fire, and Tal can usually find some edible greenery nearby to make the food suck slightly less, but it’s never enjoyable like a good hot meal in a tavern would be.

Traveling with Angelo, though, mealtime is a different story.

The guy seems to have a weirdly endless supply of treats, little candies and baked goods that he pulls from his pack and carefully unwraps and never hesitates to share, but beyond that he never seems to treat any meal as perfunctory. He can take whatever ingredients they have in their combined packs and make something that could actually be called dinner out of it. What would have just been slightly burnt skewers of rabbit and wild carrot in Marc and Tal’s hands turns into a surprisingly flavorful stew when Angelo gets ahold of it, when he gently asks if Talfryn would be so kind as to find him a few more edible roots, mushrooms, sprigs of herbs. Angelo carries little jars of seasoning blends in his pack with him, too, that he inevitably smiles when he opens. He has a habit of sniffing the top of the jar and then sneezing aside, because of the spice, obviously, but he always just grins wider as he adds a few pinches to the pot, filling the air around their campfire with a different sort of warmth than just woodsmoke.

He makes it feel- homey, honestly. Comfortable. Marc doesn’t know what to do with that feeling, but he’ll enjoy it while it lasts, at least.

Maybe when they’re done with this little trip, he’ll get up the nerve to ask the big guy if he can borrow one of those jars of spices. He can’t cook like Angelo can, obviously, but- it’d be a little something, anyway. To keep, when Angelo is gone again.

Briefly, madly, Marc thinks that maybe Angelo is more aware than he lets on. He thinks that maybe, maybe, Angelo is doing this on purpose. Being so nice and friendly and- all touchy-feely or whatever. To mess with him. To make Marc feel guilty about the way the four of them butted heads at first, or something.

But when Angelo offers to clean up after dinner (again) and Marc reacts with suspicion, Angelo seems so genuinely confused that Marc knows he isn't faking it. Angelo is… he's just that nice. Marc feels guilty enough about confusing the knight that he winds up doing half the cleanup with him anyway, resolutely ignoring every time their shoulders bump together.

Marc wakes when he feels hands upon him, but the touch is so gentle that the waking is too. He knows it isn’t Talfryn, because when Talfryn moves him to bed from whatever random spot he drops in, his brother always whines at him the whole time, and he does more pushing and shoving than this soft sort of…

It’s Angelo, obviously. It’s not like a monster would have crept into camp just to make sure Marc didn’t get a crick in his neck falling asleep somewhere stupid, and Marc has been hit by enough monsters to know that they usually don’t have big, strong, sword-calloused hands. And there’s no reason to make the big guy feel awkward about it, Marc reasons, so he keep his eyes closed and tries not to change his breathing as Angelo slowly shifts him to horizontal, and there’s a pillow waiting beneath his head before it hits the dirt, which is nice.

Angelo drapes blanket around his shoulders, and Marc usually thinks of the guy as clumsy but there’s nothing clumsy about the careful, gentle attention of his hands tucking the cloth around his shoulders.

Then, he feels those fingers feather-light on his face, brushing the hair that must’ve come loose from the tie at the back of his head away from his forehead, and-

There’s a strange sort of moment then. Angelo’s hand lingers, or Marc imagines that it does, and he feels something like a static charge, like anticipation.

But the moment breaks, and Angelo moves away. Marc is alone, then, still not warm enough beside the fire as he curls the blanket closer and tighter around his shoulders, and he tries to bury all the stupid wildfire confusion that burns through his idiot body whenever Angelo actually touches him. He tries to bury all of it, because Saints know that’s the only way he’s ever going to get back to sleep with the tingling echo of Angelo’s hand still lingering on his brow.

They rescue a young woman separated from her caravan of traders, lost in the jungle. They find her stuck in a monster-made snare that looks years old, half rotted through but still just solid enough to keep a hold on the lady. She’s grateful for the help, and even more grateful when Angelo lifts her up onto his own horse when they realize that the snare cut her ankle. Talfryn wraps the injury, but none of the three of them are physicians, exactly, and it’s probably better for her to be off of her feet until they find her companions again.

Sir Angelo is absurdly chivalrous throughout the whole thing. He leads the horse at an easy pace, asking the gal questions about her friends and attending to the answers with quiet attention, his expression diligent and serious, like a schoolboy trying to impress. All in all he acts a perfect knight and a perfect gentleman about it, while Marc and Tal follow behind until Marc kicks Dampierre forward enough to walk side-by-side with Angelo’s horse.

And yeah, Marc flirts a bit.

With the lady. Obviously.

Part of it is just habit. She’s pretty enough, with amber skin and soft grey eyes, but Marc doesn’t actually expect anything. He’s not even really trying, and when she scowls at him all he feels is a twinge of relief, because her irritation with him seems to be distracting her from how upset she was before, at least. Distracting her from the pain in her leg, too. He may not be a knight, yet, but he can still be at least a little bit useful, even if it’s only as a convenient annoyance. He says as much, and that finally startles a laugh out of her, and she rolls her eyes but she’s still smiling, which Marc counts as a win.

Angelo frowns, then, just slightly, and Marc’s hands tighten on his reigns though his own smirk doesn’t budge. Talfryn, behind them, frowns as well, but Marc pretends not to notice.

They have her safely back with her group in less than an hour, and Marc clenches his jaw far too hard when Sir Angelo oh-so-gently lowers the woman back down from the horse, the very goddamn picture of gallantry. Tal hisses at him, asks him what’s wrong with him, and Marc has to look aside, muttering something vague about Angelo glory-stealing the rescue. Which is stupid on multiple levels, but Marc doesn’t need to defend his position because the whole caravan of traders pull all three of them to join their group for the evening as thanks, offering dinner and the safety of other eyes and booze, and even music to entertain while they all sit together.

It’s comfortable, and warm, and a hell of a relief. And Marc barely enjoys a second of it, because he can’t stop the way his eyes keep drifting towards Angelo in the firelight. The woman they rescued sits beside the knight all evening, laughing and leaning too close, and Angelo smiles so damned kindly that it makes Marc want to just-

Nothing. It makes him want to nothing. Marc scowls at the fire and ignores Tal’s questioning look. Angelo is probably the nicest person that Marc has ever met. He deserves- he deserves for someone to laugh and lean too close around some safe and happy fire, while a pot of fragrant stew bubbles up towards done. Angelo deserves that, and he deserves to smile that kindly at someone smiling back.

And despite his reputation, Marc isn’t actually stupid enough to hope that he could be that someone.

Angelo likes to sing to himself as they ride.

His voice is a little scratchy, frequently off-key, often dips into the territory of too loud, and he has a habit of forgetting words and just sticking nonsense syllables or switching phrases around mid-line.

Marc can’t for the life of him understand why he finds it so comforting.

Angelo slices the wriggling, screeching vine monster in half with a clean, skillful slash, but the vines twine back together almost the same moment that his blade passes all the way through.

“Blast,” Angelo cries as the creature writhes around his blade, and dammit dammit dammit the thing is climbing up the hilt towards Angelo’s arm entirely too quickly, and Talfryn could maybe get the thing with his spear but chances are it would just reform again and they’d be risking stabbing Angelo’s arm at that point too-

“Throw the sword!” Marc shouts, and without a second of hesitation Angelo does, flicking his wrist and sending the blade in a spinning arc with the creature squealing along for the ride. Marc launches his newest modified net-bomb (now including a literal bomb) in the same direction, and the mass of the monster tangles wildly with the ropes of the net for only a half a second in midair before the entire mess ignites in a blaze of blue and white.

By the time the sword hits the ground, the monster and the net are both nothing but ash, dirtying the steel.

“We did it!” Talfryn cries.

“Of course we-”

Marc is interrupted as Angelo wraps his arms around him and lifts him into the air, beaming bright.

“A spectacular maneuver, friend Marc! Such quick thinking and strategy!”

Angelo squeezes him in a tight hug and Marc’s heart squeezes too, his body entirely too warm.

“Ah,” Marc manages in a strangled sort of voice, and Angelo doesn’t seem even remotely burdened by Marc’s weight.

“And such a skillful deployment of your invention, as well!” Angelo booms, and his beaming face is almost too close to focus on, and he still smells like cookies somehow, and either Marc is going completely insane or Angelo’s cheeks are flushed. Which is- almost certainly just from the strain of the fight, right?

Marc-

Marc panics.

“Put- hey! Put me down, will you?” he says, squirming against Angelo’s sturdy and gentle grip. “I didn’t say you could grab me up like a- like some sack of fruit or something, did I?”

Angelo’s grin disappears, and he blinks in confusion for a moment before he lowers Marc back to the ground, ducking his head.

“I… I apologize, friend Marc,” he says, chagrined. “I simply wanted to ho-” he pauses, purses his lips for a moment, and then continues, “I was caught up in the moment, I’m afraid. I did not mean to overstep.”

“Just-” Marc notices Talfryn shoot both of them a funny look as he retrieves Angelo’s sword from the dirt, carefully wrapping the hot metal in a cloth before he grabs the hilt. Marc looks away from his brother, and he keeps his gaze away from Angelo, too. “Just- don’t pick me up unless I ask you to, alright?”

“Of course,” Angelo says, his tone completely and totally abashed. “I am terribly sorry.”

“Stop-” Marc winces, then motions for Dampierre to come close enough that he can pull himself up into the saddle. “Stop apologizing already. It’s not- it’s not a big thing or anything, just-” he scrambles for words, pretending to readjust the straps of Dampierre’s saddle around his legs for longer than he really needs to. “Just don’t do it again unless I ask.”

Angelo purses his lips, probably to keep from apologizing again, and nods before he turns to Talfryn to take back his blade.

As soon as no one is looking at Marc again he sags in the saddle, biting his lip and feeling like the biggest idiot in the damn world.

Stupid battle high. Stupid touchy-feely knight. Stupid blinding smile.

Stupid beating heart, pounding hard against his stupid ribs as his stupid brain tries to puzzle out why those stupid strong arms aren’t still wrapped around him, warm and safe.

Angelo laughs at all of Marc’s more straightforward jokes. If they’re too complicated or layered the knight might get lost on the way to the punchline, but on the whole he actually seems to think that Marc is funny. And- every time he can make Angelo laugh, every time he can get him to give that big, energetic guffaw, it makes Marc’s stupid heart skip and thump like a rabbit in a trap.

He’s been telling a lot more jokes, lately. It makes Tal give him a look somewhere along the path from confused to frustrated almost every time, but it’s worth it.

At least he knows that Angelo doesn’t laugh like that for everyone.

Sir Angelo is asleep first tonight. The farther they get from the Citadel, the more dangerous the jungle is going to get, and since Angelo is gonna be taking second watch, he’s getting in his sleep early. So, it’s just Marc and Tal left sitting by the fire as the stars brighten one by one, and there isn’t anything besides Marc’s own self-control to keep him from saying something stupid.

So.

“Hey Tal,” Marc says, and he tries very hard to sound casual as he fiddles with the trigger on one of his net-bombs. “Do you think- do you think the big guy-” he bites his lip, tries a different question instead. “What d’you think of the big guy?”

“Sir Angelo?” Talfryn asks, and Marc nods. “I mean, he’s been okay to travel with, I guess. I think he’s been trying really hard, y’know? To be more considerate, to listen better and all that. And I think he appreciates that you’ve been acting nicer to him too.”

Marc flinches, dropping the mechanism in his hand. “Wh-what?”

Tal blinks. “You’ve been trying to be nicer to him, too, right?”

“Uh.” Marc flushes dark as his fingers scramble through the leafy jungle floor, trying to scrape up his device. Tal noticed? He’s been noticeably nicer to the knight? That’s- that doesn’t seem- “Ah, I guess so,” he stammers. “I mean, it’s not like I’ve been- have I been? I don’t think I’ve been acting weird.”

“I didn’t… I didn’t say that you’ve been acting weird, Marc,” Tal says, his brow furrowing in confusion. “I said you’ve been acting nice.”

“Nice.” His fingers finally brush across metal, and he snatches the mechanism back up. “To Angelo?”

“Who else?” Tal says, and then he laughs. “Seriously, Marc, I know we got off on a weird sort of foot and all, but I’m glad we’re at least getting along with him. This would’ve been a pretty rotten journey if you two were fighting the whole way.”

“Yeah,” Marc says. “Uh, yeah.” He jams the net bomb back into the bag with the rest of them.

“Marc…”

Marc perks up to hide the way he wants to flinch at the worried sort of tone in Tal’s voice. “Yeah Tal?”

“Is something… is something wrong?”

“Why would anything be wrong?”

“Because,” Tal says, in a mostly-patient voice, “you are acting weird, now.”

“What? No I’m not-”

“Marc,” Tal half-whines, and Marc winces more visibly.

“It’s nothing, Tal,” Marc insists. “I just- I mean- he’s- I wasn’t expecting him to be so nice to m- to us, like this, y’know? It’s not like the knights have ever been… I figured this whole thing would just be us tolerating each other until we met up with Rilla and Scales and Damien, y’know?”

“So you’re acting weird… because Sir Angelo is being too nice?”

“Not- no,” Marc shakes his head. “Is it- is he just being nice? Or does he actually…”

“Does he actually what?”

“Like.” Marc’s words falter. “Does he actually like me? I mean-” he shakes his head quickly. “Does he actually like us, I mean.”

Talfryn frowns, tilting his head slightly in confusion. “It… it is Sir Angelo, Marc. Do you think he would fake something like that?”

“No.” Marc shakes his head, rubs the back of his neck. “Nah, it’s not that, he’s- he’s sincere and all, it’s just-”

“It’s just what?”

“I mean, he’s nice to everybody, Tal, he’s just- he’s just nice. And if he’s so enthusiastic about everything, how am I supposed to tell how he actually feels about me? How am I supposed to tell if this is just his normal nice or if- uh-”

Tal’s eyebrows are climbing towards his hair, his expression slipping towards incredulous.

“You…” Tal narrows his eyes. “You really care what he thinks about you, don’t you?”

“Wh- no I don’t.” Marc laughs, but it sounds strained even to his own ears. “That’s ridiculous. You’re being ridiculous. Don’t- don’t be ridiculous, Tal. I just- like to know where I stand with people.”

“Marc-”

“Usually I don’t have to dig too hard, y’know? If folks don’t like me I tend to get the picture pretty quick, even if I pretend not to. I just- wanna know what he’s thinking. That’s all.”

“Well…” Tal says, and he sounds nearly patient, “I think you just answered your own question, then.”

Marc blinks. “Come again?”

“You just said that you think he’s sincere, and Sir Angelo has been going out of his way to make sure that we’re comfortable with him, so don’t you think you should just, I dunno, try to take him at face value? He likes you enough to be nice to you. I think that’s enough, don’t you?”

It’s a decent point. Marc’s stomach still feels a bit like a butter churn in the hands of an enthusiastic kid, though.

“Yeah,” he says, looking at the fire instead of at his brother. The earnest concern on his face is just- a bit much to try to deal with. “Yeah. Thanks, Tal. You’re probably right.”

Dampierre keeps walking too close to Angelo’s horse, no matter how many times Marc scowls at him and tries to urge him forward or back or at least another foot to the side. The horse just flicks an ear, sputtering lightly and smugly sticking his nose in the air as Marc is left helplessly close to the knight, who only ever grins and either doesn’t notice the closeness, doesn’t care, or is just too damn polite to comment.

Makes it easier for Angelo to hand him his share of Angelo’s apparently endless supply of sweets as they ride, at least. Marc certainly isn’t complaining about that.

Once they actually cross the border into Arum’s territory, the swamp itself is surprisingly easy going. Marc suspects that it’s pulling punches these days, at least when it comes to humans who might be friends of the lizard lord’s paramours. It’s nice in that it means they get to relax a little bit more, but less-than-nice in that relaxing gives Marc way too much time to think. Thankfully, that doesn’t last too long. Apparently, this big swamp thing and slash or the bug-lizard’s big castle was keeping an eye out for them, because they’ve only been traipsing through the muddy mottled green for a few easy hours before there’s that wild song again, and a literal magic portal pulls itself out of the mud.

Rilla’s got her arms around Tal’s shoulders in a laughing hug before Marc even realizes that she’s bolted through, and Angelo is laughing too, a booming, ridiculous sort of guffaw as he and Sir Damien clasp hands for only a moment before Angelo decides that just isn’t good enough and he’s lifting Damien fully into the air, making him squawk and kick his legs and laugh as well, and Marc’s cheeks hurt from grinning already before Rilla is patting Dampierre’s nose and gripping his wrist and smirking up at him.

“You boys have a good trip?”

Marc shrugs, feigning good old fashioned nonchalance as he watches Angelo smile like the sun at his best rival. “Yeah,” he says. “Yeah, I guess it was alright.”

Tal loves the Keep, once he gets past the initial anxiety about hanging around inside something sentient. Marc really thinks he should have predicted that, actually. It’s a big weird plant. Tal loves big weird plants. He can’t seem to stop talking about how cool it is, and Scales doesn’t seem to know what to do with that exactly, and he settles somewhere between obviously pleased and puffed up indignation, but even Marc can see that the lizard is… mellower, now. He still snarls and rolls his eyes and complains kind of nonstop, but with Rilla and Damien around, he just seems… happier?

Or, y’know, maybe that’s just in contrast, considering Marc really only hung out with the big lizard before when his house was getting marched on by a bunch of weird animals, so what the heck does he know?

Angelo seems delighted by the structure too, and Marc gets a little ego boost when the Keep greets him personally with a strange little vine-hug, apparently remembering him from his little siege sleepover with Scales, and Angelo blinks at him in surprise at their familiarity.

“What?” Marc says with a feckless sort of smile, patting one of the vines with a hand. “Big cool castle and I go way back.”

Marc can’t figure out if it’s difficult to sleep in the Keep because it’s the Keep (like, he’s literally sleeping inside of a giant plant monster, seriously), or if it’s just because he’s gotten too used to Angelo’s snoring.

Either way, Marc thinks as he rolls over for just about the hundredth time tonight, it’s too damn quiet and he can’t say he likes it.

He can’t sleep. He’s making himself miserable, and for what? For some big ridiculous grinning-

For some knight, he’s wallowing in insomnia. It’s completely stupid, and completely untenable. He can’t- Marc can’t-

The trip is over, he thinks suddenly. This little experimental excursion is over and done, right? There’s no reason to stick around anymore, is there? Ta da, the knights on their quest to lie to the queen are reunited, and Marc and Tal are free again to go do… whatever. Whatever they want, wherever they want, with no random tag-along knights making Marc’s stomach do hourly backflips with his stupid smile.

Marc rolls over again, stomach feeling sour.

In the morning he’ll talk to Tal, and then they’ll both say their goodbyes to Rilla, and then they’ll get the hell out of here.

No point in hanging around where he’s not needed, anyway.

“And then, brave friend Marc called out for me to throw the sword, and when I did as he advised, he most skillfully intercepted my blade with one of his clever net traps, and the beast and sword were both consumed by the most brilliant flame - friend Marc is forever improving his tools and traps, you see, he often works upon them as we ride, or while we sit around the fire before the day’s meal is ready - oh, and of course the creature was utterly destroyed, leaving the blade quite easily reclaimed, with not a one of us so much as suffering a scrape. It truly was an incredible fight, my friend, I wish you had been there to see-”

“I feel you have described the skirmish quite adeptly, Sir Angelo,” Damien says with a warm smile. “I feel as if I were there to see it, as I can picture it that well.”

“Oh.” Angelo gives a pleased little grin. “I appreciate the kind words, Sir Damien, though I know my storytelling is not nearly as deft or skillfully dramatic as yours.”

“The true heart of a story, my friend, lies in the enthusiasm of whomever tells it, regardless of the verbal decoration.” Damien lilts, and Angelo is pleased, so pleased and proud of how happy and how settled his best rival looks. “I can tell how thoroughly you have enjoyed your journey with the brothers, and I am delighted that you were not unhappy in my absence.”

“I had no reason to be unhappy!” Angelo cries. “I missed you, of course, my friend, but I did not feel lonely for a moment on the road. Friend Talfryn is a clever and kind man to travel with, and friend Marc-”

Angelo pauses.

Damien raises an eyebrow. “Did he give you some trouble, Sir Angelo?”

“Oh, Saints above, no! Of course not! Quite the opposite, in fact, he was- that is- the journey was quite enjoyable by his side. He- well, I cannot say that I have ever laughed quite so much upon a journey as when he and I rode beside each other.”

Damien looks at Angelo, his brow furrowing just slightly. “Is that so?”

“Quite!” Angelo says with a soft sort of smile. “And he is rather knowledgeable about a great many subjects! And he has a sense of justice befitting the greatest of knights! And his skill with the blade has improved even further since our first encounter of single combat, when already he was a skilled opponent, and he is brave and clever and he always smiles so grandly and- oh, well, I suppose that I have set to rambling again, haven’t I?”

Damien stares at his rival, as Angelo laughs at himself and shakes his head, his cheeks distinctly pink.

“Sir… Sir Angelo…”

Angelo blinks, resettling his attention on his comrade. “Yes, of course! I apologize, my mind was elsewhere for a moment, my friend.”

“It is… quite alright.” He pauses, and then turns more fully to face the other knight. “Now… Sir Angelo, you do know that I support you in all things, yes?” Damien starts.

Angelo grins, wide and boisterous, and slaps a hand on Damien’s shoulder. “Of course I do, my friend, and I support you in all things as well! I would not be your best rival if I did not, now, would I?”

“Er- right. Yes.” Damien winces, just a little, and reaches up to rub at his shoulder where Angelo slapped it. “Well. What I mean to say is-” he pauses, and takes a deep, steadying sort of breath. “You know that I am not particularly… fond of… Marc-”

“You aren’t? Why ever not, Sir Damien? He is not anything like we were told-”

“I know,” Damien says with a grimace. “I know, Sir Angelo, and I am still- adjusting to that knowledge. But- what I am trying to say is… whatever my feelings are, towards Marc, I want you to know that you…” he pauses to sigh, then places his hand on Angelo’s shoulder gently, giving his friend a small smile. “I want you to know that you have my full support and loyalty in whatever direction you happen to aim your romantic endeavors.”

“Romantic… endeavors?” Angelo furrows his brow, blinking curiously for a moment. “Sir Damien, I am not sure what you mean. What could my growing friendship with Marc have to do with the idea of ro- oh.” Angelo’s entire expression flickers out, like a candle beside a door that opened too fast. Then, dawning in his expression is obvious shock. “Oh. Oh! Oh my Saints, Sir Damien- oh goodness, but I think I may have developed romantic feelings for friend Marc!”

Damien blanches, his expression falling open in dismay. “Y- you mean to say that you didn’t- you didn’t- realize? You didn’t know?”

Angelo doesn’t seem to hear him.

“Oh, Saints, oh mercy, this- I will- I must-” he pauses. “What… Sir Damien, what- what do I do?”

“Wh-what do you mean, Sir Angelo?”

“I have never- that is to say- I do not believe I have ever felt-”

Angelo pauses again, fidgeting in place, and his expression is something close to a grimace, his eyes gone wide.

“Sir Angelo-”

“Is that what this feeling is, Sir Damien? This- this strange warmth, his smile, the way I- I wish to h-hold him.” Angelo squeezes his own arms around his chest, tense and uncertain. “What- Sir Damien, what is one supposed to do, when one feels this way?”

Damien stares at his rival for a long moment, mouth agape. “Sir Angelo, have you never… no, no, certainly you must have, we... I am certain that we have discussed romantic intent in the past. There have been fair maidens of which you have spoken quite fondly-”

“Of course,” Angelo says, but his eyes are still shocked and he shakes his head. “But- but that was merely- that is how knights speak, is it not? I was simply-”

“Oh,” Damien says, his heart pulling. “Oh, Angelo…”

“Sir Damien, you know everything there is to know about following one’s heart,” Angelo says, seizing Damien’s hand. “Upon this subject, certainly you are the expert to whom I may turn. What- what do I do?”

“Er-” Damien goes wide-eyed himself, then. “Well, er, does he- do you think that he feels-” Damien stops short as Angelo flinches. “Right,” he says. “Right, you are unsure. And- and the idea of simply asking- of course it is a frightening prospect. I understand that, of course, Angelo.” Damien ducks his head, thinking hard. “What- Angelo, what do you want to do? Do you wish to… to court him?” he asks uncertainly.

“I… Sir Damien, I don’t know. I don’t know what is- what is supposed to happen next. If he does not feel as I do- I am very fond of h-his company, I would not wish to- to cause him to dislike my presence if these feelings are unwelcome. And certainly- friend Marc is deft with words, and quite outspoken. If he had any such affection for me in return- surely he would have spoken so, would he not?”

Damien opens his mouth, then closes it again for a moment before he sighs deeply. “Marc is… I very much doubt that Marc would… treat you in a judging way for your feelings, even if he does not feel romantically towards you in kind. That is… that is not the way that he is.”

Angelo’s shoulders sag. “You are… probably correct, Sir Damien,” Angelo says. “But somehow that does not make me feel any more sure, or any less afraid.”

“Sir Angelo…” Damien’s expression flickers, his concern clear and open on his face. He steps closer, flinging his arms around Angelo’s shoulders in a fierce hug. “I meant what I said. You have my support, in whatever way you need it. And…” he pauses, pulling back and giving a wry sort of look. “I know you as I know myself, and I know you well enough to say that you are not the sort of man to shy away from a difficult situation. You are brave, Sir Angelo, and bright, and undeniable as the dawn. I know that you will face this, and whether or not Marc is smart enough to see how brightly you glow- I know that your light will not be doused, not by this, and not by anything.”

Angelo’s arms tighten around Damien in return, squeezing until Damien’s breathless laugh cuts off in a squeak. When he sets the other knight back on his feet, Damien gives him an earnest sort of smile, gripping his arms.

“I think you know what you must do now, my friend.”

Angelo pauses. “… Continue to act as a stalwart friend, but now with the knowledge of my own feelings more clear within me?” he suggests, and it is only partially a joke.

“Speak your heart, Sir Angelo,” Damien says gently. “If you speak your heart, you may learn what lies in his own, and then take whatever step is next with that knowledge. And I will be here for you, and I will dearly love you, regardless of that outcome.” Damien’s smile goes a little tearful, then, the force of his emotion overtaking him for a moment. “I wish you only happiness. If there is any possibility that Marc can make you happier- Sir Angelo, you must attempt to find out. It is worth some risk, is it not?”

Despite his fears, despite his confusion, Sir Angelo finds that he agrees.

It takes a bit of time to find him, but eventually Angelo catches Marc outside the Keep’s walls, waiting by the treeline with Dampierre’s saddlebags packed and full. Angelo’s heart flips, then, and sinks, and his stomach wraps in anxious knots, but still he steps towards the other man. Still, he moves forward.

“Friend Marc!”

Marc’s shoulders go stiff, and he turns slightly in the saddle to glance back towards Angelo.

“Heh… hey, big guy,” he says, and then he turns towards the swamp again, his hands fiddling with the straps around his legs. “Just barely caught me. Tal’s just grabbin’ a little more from inside, and then we’ll be off.”

“You are- leaving so soon, friend Marc?” Angelo’s heart flops over in his chest again, nerves and disappointment crashing together. “I thought that perhaps… rather, I was hoping we would all spend some time together, at least a meal eaten side by side before…”

“Nah, sorry, big guy. We’re just gonna skip to the part where we get out of your hair,” Marc says, his smile tight and flat. “Tal wants to get a better look at the swamp since we kind of skipped most of it with that portal, and it’s not like Scales wants us hanging around his castle any longer than we need to, anyway.”

“But you were simply going to- leave? Without a proper farewell?”

“Figured that we’d be seeing you again soon anyway, Angie.” Marc is decidedly not looking at Angelo, now. And his hands are fidgeting on Dampierre’s saddle, not doing anything but simply pressing awkwardly and picking at the seams in the leather. “And goodbyes are always too damn sappy for me.”

Angelo does not know what to say. If Marc wishes to leave- of course he should not stop him. Perhaps their time traveling together has worn on the other man, perhaps he has grown tired of Angelo’s presence. Angelo has been told, before, that he can be wearisome. Too loud, and possessed of too much intensity, and too clumsy in body and mind and word. Angelo looks up, and Marc is still looking away.

… but Sir Damien is right, and even if Marc is determined to take his leave… Sir Angelo still must say what he has come to say.

“Before you- before you leave, Marc.”

Marc tenses, oddly, when Angelo says his name, but he finally looks at him after that, his smirk firmly set and his eyes- careful. “Yeah, sure, what’s up?”

“I- I- Marc, I… I quite like you,” Angelo blurts, and his cheeks feel hot as embers.

Marc laughs, then, and the embers all go out. Angelo feels like he has been dipped in ice, now.

“Yeah, Angie, I know,” Marc says, his tone high and tight between chuckles. “We’re friends, big guy, you don’t have to point it out or anything.”

“No, no that isn’t-” Angelo stops, feeling too large, feeling utterly foolish. “R-right. Yes. Of course. My apologies, I am- I know that I can be-”

“You don’t have to-” Marc’s smirk cracks for a second, goes strange like a grimace, but he waves his hand in between them and it flickers back. “Don’t apologize, Angelo, I know you’re just- being nice. Being you.”

“Er- y-yes.” Angelo pauses. “No,” he corrects, wringing his hands awkwardly in front of himself. “To be perfectly honest, no. I am not simply being nice, friend Marc. I- I do not know how to…” he trails off, brow furrowing in deep concentration, and Marc looks distinctly nervous as Angelo comes closer, and Angelo automatically pats Dampierre’s nose, though he keeps his eyes set on Marc.

“Angie-”

“I am not the most… skillful, friend Marc, when it comes to expressing my thoughts and feelings clearly. Or- or even in properly understanding them, at times. And I am- I am well aware that the feelings I have only very recently recognized may not be- returned, but I feel that it would be both cowardly and dishonest if I did not at least attempt to explain myself to you before you- before you leave.”

“Angelo, bud, you’re not getting all serious on me, are you?” Marc says lightly, but there is clear panic in his eyes.

“I intend to be precisely as serious as the situation and my feelings dictate. I apologize, also, if that is uncomfortable for you, friend Marc, but I am determined to say what I must.”

Marc fidgets in the saddle, his shoulders tense and his lips curved into a shape that isn’t really a smirk and isn’t really a frown either, and Angelo is a little bit overwhelmed by the understanding he feels. At last, he recognizes how very often his mind is preoccupied with the lines of Marc’s face, with the very casual sort of beauty that hangs upon him. How had he not noticed?

“Ah…,” Marc says, “I mean- if you’ve gotta get something off your chest I’m not gonna stop ya, Angelo.”

“Thank you,” Angelo says, and then he realizes that he is going to have to continue speaking, now that he has convinced Marc to hear him out. And- he had been laboring under the impression that I quite like you was going to be sufficient to reveal his feelings, so he had not planned well beyond that. His words are- he is not skillful in expressing himself, not compared to someone as poetic as his best rival or someone as quick and clever as Marc, so how can he show how he feels?

Angelo summons up from his reserve of courage and reaches out, and Marc’s eyes go wide when he settles his palm over Marc’s wrist, his thumb brushing against the skin there. “I think, perhaps, that you misunderstood the nature of my- my words. When I say, Marc, that I- that I like you, what I mean is- well-”

He hazards a glance upward, and Marc is staring at him, eyes still wide and cheeks flushing dark and something like-

Something like hope in his expression. Hope looks like a flare of sparks, on Sir Marc.

Angelo very gently shifts his grip, watching Marc watch him as he takes the other man’s hand. Marc’s fingers flex, his breath escaping in a very small ha, and then Angelo lifts his hand, calloused and scattered with scars and exactly as lovely as Angelo imagined. He lifts Marc’s hand, and brushes his lips over Marc’s knuckles in a kiss.

Angelo’s cheeks are hot, and his heart is warm, and when he raises his eyes again Marc is still staring down at him, and all he looks is stunned.

“A-Angelo,” he says, but he does not say anything more past that, and Sir Angelo is afraid, yes, of being mocked, of losing the camaraderie that he and Marc have eased into together- but his fear is not useful. Even if the worst potential outcome is realized, honesty is more befitting of a knight by far, and more befitting of Angelo himself, as well.

“I understand, of course, if you seek my company in the bonds of friendship and nothing else,” Angelo says, “I expect nothing from you. I only wish to be honest.”

And now that he has been honest, he knows he should not linger. If nothing else, Marc clearly requires time to- to overcome his surprise. He releases his grip on Marc’s fingers-

Marc, however, does not release his grip on Angelo’s.

“You-” Marc pauses, his throat working as he swallows. “Hang on. Angelo. You- like me? Like- kissing, like? Like you want to- to- with me?”

The idea of actually kissing Marc seems- distant, like a fable. A fable that makes his cheeks heat again instantly.

“Y-yes, yes indeed.” Angelo swallows roughly, dropping his eyes. “I apologize if- if this shall be a source of discomfort, between us. I value your friendship quite highly, Marc, and I do not wish to-”

Marc pulls on Angelo’s hand, and Angelo is surprised enough that he stumbles a step closer to Dampierre, blinking up at the strange new determination in Marc’s expression.

“Hey, catch me?” Marc asks, squeezing his fingers as his free hand quickly undoes the straps around his legs.

“Um. Yes?” Angelo nods, though he is quite confused by the suddenness of this turn. “Of course. If that is what you would like-” he lifts his arms, and then Marc is swinging himself out of the saddle, landing sideways in Angelo’s grasp with one of his arms slung around Angelo’s shoulder, and Marc’s face is very close, then. Very close, and his cheeks seem darker than usual beneath the scattering of his freckles.

“Angelo,” Marc says, breathless, and Angelo realizes that he quite likes the way that his own name sounds, in Marc’s voice. He quite likes Marc’s weight in his arms, as well.

“Marc,” he says in response, because he is still not sure what Marc intends, exactly, and he finds it is often most helpful to take his cues from those around him.

Marc’s hand is on Angelo’s cheek, then, his rough fingers only gentle, now, and that is already so very stunning that it takes Angelo a stuttered heartbeat to realize that Marc is leaning closer, leaning up, the hand on his cheek carefully angling his face towards Marc.

And then Marc is kissing him.

Kissing him.

His hand slips from Angelo’s cheek to his hair, tangling there and pulling him just a little bit closer, and the press of Marc’s lips is warm and tingling and wonderful and Angelo was right, before. Kissing Marc is like a fable. Like something out of a soft, safe dream.

Marc pulls back, eventually, and Angelo blinks his eyes back open, though he does not remember closing them.

“I, uh,” Marc pauses to clear his throat, and his crooked smile looks shy, of all things. “I like you too, Angelo.”

“Oh,” Angelo says, stunned past other words for a long moment. “Oh. Truly? You- truly you do?”

Marc laughs then, knocking their foreheads together. “Saints, Angelo, yeah! Obviously! The kiss wasn’t enough of a clue for ya?”

Angelo feels his cheeks heat. “I- I don’t- I’m sorry, friend Marc, I am very- unpracticed in-”

“Hey.” Marc leans up again, pressing their lips together quick and soft. “Relax, Angie, you’re fine, we’re fine. I don’t- I just can’t believe you actually- I can’t believe you like me too.”

“I,” Angelo pauses to laugh as well, something warm and bright bubbling up in his chest. “Yes. I feel precisely the same.”

Marc grins, squeezing the arm still wrapped around Angelo’s shoulder, and as Marc is leaning forward for another kiss, they both hear footsteps.

“Marc, I couldn’t find your bedroll. Are you sure you didn’t already... pack… it?”

Angelo glances to the side, where Talfryn is standing and staring, his pack slung around his shoulder and his horse following behind him.

“Suh, uh, yeah, sorry Tal,” Marc says. His voice is bright and flustered, but he makes no move to remove himself from Angelo’s steady grasp as they turn to address his brother. “I think we’re actually gonna- maybe stick around another night or so before we- y’know.”

“O-oh?” Tal says, his eyes flicking back and forth between the pair of them, dawning with slow realization. “Uh. Is that so?”

“Yeah,” Marc says. “I think- I think me and the big guy here have some stuff we gotta talk through together before we go running off again.” Marc looks up into Angelo’s eyes, smiling a lopsided, eager smile, and Angelo feels like he could sing. “Does that sound good, Angelo?”

“Yes,” Angelo says, holding Marc close and warm in his arms, and he feels just brave enough to press a kiss to Marc’s freckled cheek, smiling automatically when that causes Marc to stutter out a laugh. “In fact, I think that sounds absolutely perfect.”

#elle's fanfic #the penumbra podcast #second citadel #mangelo #sir marc #sir angelo #LETS! GO!#i already have my lkt fic squared away too nano is GREAT i am LIVING

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wordsablaze · 5 years

Text

7~ Isolation

Magic and Misery Merlin might use magic to help Arthur but he rarely uses it to help himself, which leads to an awful lot of misery… written for whumptober, enjoy!

A/N: sorry if this reads strangely, i’ve failed to avoid the cold season so i’m generally a bit hazy, you know?

Arthur was not known to be unjust.

Most people that knew him could comfortably say he played fairly and was never unnecessarily harsh.

Even Merlin, who complained daily to any Knights willing to lend an ear, would never go as far as calling Arthur unjust. It just wouldn’t be right.

But unfortunately, Arthur was an apple that had, with a little help, rolled very far away from the tree.

So when a guard finally catches Merlin sneaking around the vaults at night with next to no explanation and brings him to the king as dawn breaks, Uther doesn't hesitate to punish him.

By throwing him in the dungeons.

Merlin doesn’t even try to explain himself, knowing that, without revealing his magic, he’d only be able to make the situation worse for himself. He glances over to Arthur as the guard behind him drags him to his feet and flinches at the disappointment he sees.

Of course Arthur would be disappointed in him, he’d only gone and ruined the trust between them and possibly doomed all of Camelot, not to mention Albion.

So Merlin keeps his head lowered as he’s lead to the dungeons, a route that’s become alarmingly familiar to him over time. He only looks up when his familiar route turns into a new path that he doesn’t recognise.

“Wait, where are we going?” he asks.

“Shut up. The King has decided he doesn’t want you taking up space in the regular dungeons,” one of the two guards answers, pushing him along when he pauses to think on that.

“But-”

“No talking,” the other guard interjects, leading him through corridors he hasn’t yet explored until they get to a row of small cells, cells even smaller than his chambers.

“Wait, I-”

The guards only glare at him, one of them pushing him roughly into the cell so he goes sprawling, landing awkwardly on his wrists.

“We’ll see you when the king deems fit. Try not to die.”

Merlin scrambles to his feet as they start to leave. “Wait!”

They don’t.

Their footsteps echo for far too long before some kind of gate is closed and silence surrounds Merlin like some sort of malicious hug.

He takes a few minutes to look around but the cell seems perfectly ordinary, with stone walls and bars at the front. There’s no sort of bed though, so Merlin will have to settle with the cold floor, although that’s not incredibly difficult.

The only that really stands out is the distinct lack of light. There are no windows, the corridor seems to go on forever, and there seems to only be a few fixed fires along this mysterious passage, none of which are outside his cell. It seems that darkness is part of his punishment.

Merlin sighs and slumps to the floor, wondering if Arthur or the other Knights will be able to come and visit him like they usually do. It doesn’t seem likely.

There’s no light so he has no concept of time, at least not after he dozes off the first time because that means he loses count of the minutes and has to give up on keeping track. He tries pacing but it just tires him out and they don’t seem to be bothered about food so he discards that idea immediately.

He ends up falling asleep without meaning to, unaware that Arthur is furiously talking with his knights above him to try and figure out where Merlin is being kept.

Merlin stirs as metal hits metal.

By the time his eyes have opened, there’s a plate of food - quite a lot of food that’s probably meant to last the whole day - at the entrance of his cell and the sound of receding footsteps in the air.

“Wait, hang on!” Merlin jumps to his feet but he can’t see anyone, which implies that they’d been told to avoid talking to him.

He just sights and mentally calculates how much he needs to ration throughout the day - not that he has any way of working out what time of day it is - before taking a bread roll and slowly eating it, making sure to savour every bite.

It’s dull.

Not the bread, the bread is lovely. Slightly stale but soft and enough to satiate his hunger. No, the bread isn’t dull.

The cell is dull.

Merlin groans for what must be the hundredth time as he heard someone’s footsteps again, only to realise nobody is coming towards him. He’s done so plenty of times already and should probably know better than to still hope, but he can’t help it.

He assumes it’s the fourth day - because he’s been given three plates of food, plus the first day where he got none - when something finally happens.

He must have dozed off because he’s awoken by something being thrown at him.

“Ow!” Merlin winces at the sound of his own voice; it sounds obnoxiously loud in the silence and he’d taken to staying so quiet that even his own footsteps made him jump at this point.

And it’s not even that it had hurt, it’d just been a blanket.

There’s a guard staring at him in confusion but, when he catches Merlin’s eye, he straightens and clears his throat. “It’s going to be a cold night,” he warns, nodding his head to the blanket.

“Uh, thanks?” Merlin replies, pulling the blanket towards himself.

“Yeah,” the guard agrees, clearly not knowing what he’s doing, and briskly turns to leave before Merlin can ask anything else.

Sighing, Merlin just slumps back down the wall and wraps the blanket around him, grabbing another piece to bread to nibble on.

By the time his eyes are dropping again, he’s counted every crack in the bricks, twice over. There’s far too many for the walls to be structurally stable, and yet here he is, confined to the company of a blanket.

His head hits the floor with a dull thud and he groans, sleep vanishing from his mind as pain fills his thoughts. Cursing at himself for not preventing such a thing, Merlin just rolls his shoulders back and yawns.

“Another great probably-morning to me,” he mumbles, shivering.

The guard was right: It had been a cold night. And his blanket hadn’t helped in the slightest. The little Gaius in his head tells him that the minimal food and lack of hydration haven’t helped either, but he ignores that thought because there’s nothing he can do about it.

He decides to just keep his eyes shut.

There’s a slight risk of going insane if he keeps them open so he doesn’t. He just lets himself stay propped up by the corner, waiting.

Waiting.

Waiting for what?

Anything.

It’s definitely one of the worst punishments he’s been given, Merlin decides.

He can’t wait for something to happen. He’d even take someone trying to kill him. Or someone trying to use him to kill Arthur. Or someone using Arthur to kill him, at least that’d be more entertaining.

So he keeps waiting, desperately waiting.

And, finally, his wait is over.

“Merlin, you idiot, why’d you have to go and get yourself thrown into dungeons I didn’t even know existed?” An exasperated voice inquires.

An exasperated but beautiful, mercifully loud, voice.

“Arthur?”

“I didn’t know you could see with your eyes closed.”

Merlin’s eyes fly open so fast, it takes him a moment to blink the bright daze away from them. And then he smiles, brightly, genuinely.

“Arthur!”

He’s up on his feet in an instant, but then he stops, remembering the disappointment he’d seen in Arthur’s eyes. “I’m sorry,” he whispers.

Arthur just scoffs. “I’m sure you are, Merlin. But you’ll be sorrier when you see the state of my chambers!”

Merlin frowns, finally looking at Arthur, relishing in the ability to see another human being, a sign that he’s not going mad.

“You’re not… mad?” he asks tentatively, wanting to test the waters he’d so dearly missed before diving back in.

Arthur raises an eyebrow. “I’m not mad you were sneaking around, Merlin, I know that’s part of your so-called charm. But I am mad that you got caught. I mean, surely you’ve learned something by now?”

Merlin opens his mouth to reply but nothing comes out. He’d expected a lot of things and had been given plenty of time to imagine all sorts of outcomes, but this was something he couldn’t have predicted in a thousand years.

“Thank you,” Merlin manages to say, beaming once more.

“I’m sorry,” Arthur replies sincerely, surprising Merlin even more. “I’d forgotten such isolation was even an option and… and I promise, I won’t let you be punished like this again.”

For a second, silence fills the room again.

Then Arthur clears his throat awkwardly. “I mean, surely my father knows it’s ridiculous to expect me to go a week without my manservant. It’s barbaric and none of the other servants know how to tidy my things away properly...”

Merlin smiles.

After a pause, Arthur smiles back.

And somehow, Merlin thinks, it’s worth the wait.

Again, sorry for mistakes and stuff... not that people really read my stuff on tumblr anyway...

like/reblog but please don’t repost, thanks! masterlist

#whumptober2019 #no.7 #isolation #merthur #bbc merlin #merlin emrys #arthur pendragon #merlin whump #protective arthur #merlin x arthur #whumptober #fanfiction #merlin fanfic #fanfic #hurt comfort #idiots in love #my writing #mam #whump

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thoughtfulpaperback · 5 years

Text

SPOILERS!!!

Charmed 02x02 Review

Y'all part of me just can't. Like the excitement and energy over this last episode is too much to keep inside. I am super ready to burst and super excited for episode 3. But I am just gonna say that overall I thought this episode was superb 8/10 only because I am saving my 9 and 10. But if I could I'd give it a 9 out of ten. There was only like a couple things I was nitpicky about and it's pretty standard tv logic stuff that most people overlook so dont come at me for it. So I am just gonna start like I always do except I cant just pick 3 likes and dislikes so I am just gonna list my likes some of the nitpicks and then some episode highlights.

SPOILERS AHEAD

Things I liked:

1. Hacy development

So no secret I am a hacy fan and I pretty much love any hacy content the show will give us but I really thought the show did so well this episode.

Originally, I thought the show was going to explore Macy's feelings through Dark!Harry, and in a way they have revealed them using Dark!Harry (Season 1 ended with us not sure if Macy felt anything for Harry, but knowing he had some feelings for her). I was worried there may be less hacy moments because they would keep most of the interaction between Dark!Harry and Macy. Even had me scared that Macy may be falling for Dark!Harry and not Harry proper. But no, they gave us Genuine Hacy.

The awkwardness of the interactions after the dream. That car ride was hilarious with the map and the radio (harry is still super at comedic relief in club and in car)

Harry's concern over having done something wrong

The looks when checking each other out.

Making each other laugh and encouraging each other.

Harry trying to save that witch and Macy being concerned by what it would

"I know Harry"

I mean it wasn't just tension. There was some fluff thrown in. Harry telling her to celebrate the victories and looking at her proudly. Which brings me to item 2.

2) I love what rupert does with his eyes between the two Harrys. Real harry (as macy put it) is so harmless looking. Those puppy eyes are adorable and rupert makes sure to have then turned up all the way when being real harry.

The only time Dark!harry makes soft eyes (well sort of) is the first time we see him with Macy, the initial moment in episode 1, and then when Maggie goes for a hug in this episode. He is just so taken off guard by the affection that his pretending-to-be-Harry-face slips and his eyes kind of go wide and they arent so narrowed and focused. Which makes me think he has not been hugged often or at all . . . That's sad. Then the switch when Maggie backs away. The eyes narrow again and he gets all mean. Just love that rupert can do things like that to give both characters distinctive enough feels that you can tell that dark!harry is acting.

3) Mel and Maggie bonding

So I really do hope that we get some Macy and Mel bonding, but I am happy anytime the show can deepen the bonds between the sisters. Maggie and Mel have a bit of a complicated relationship even though they grew up together. I mean especially from this episode we see and remember that Mel was the big sister for most of her life. She protected Maggie and seems to have acted like a second parent. It is sad that there dad really just turned out to be a bad dad. No reason behind it no, issues with Marisol other than apparently the ones he created on his own (which I will get into on my nitpicks). The fact this was just a loss for Maggie, and not just a loss as in she was the only one to feel something when Ray died but a loss of memories she thought she had and an idea of who her dad (a piece of her past), was sad but it actually gave us further insight into mel and Maggie's dynamics. First season we knew the rift between mel and Maggie was over Mel's obsession with and Mel's expectations of how Maggie should have acted and behaved. I think a lot of us chalked it up to Mel being controlling and having the oldest child attitude, but I think now we see there is more there. Mel seems to have spent a lot of time protecting Maggie and biting her tongue about certain aspects of thier lives and in a sense making sacrifices for her. So it makes sense she would expect the same from Maggie, but at the same time Maggie didnt know, and even if she did thise were Mel's choices and Maggie doesnt owe her anything for them.

Knowing that we can see how it is so easy for riffs to form between them which make the start of this season make more sense to me. Because Maggie wants to live her life and is a trusting and positive person. Mel expects a certain level of loyalty and commitment and has a different idea of what that looks like compared to Maggie. On top of there general personality differences it makes sense they all that would culminate into a rocky relationship prone to communication difficulties and tifs. But I love that they are starting to acknowledge those things and rebuild. Last season it was them just getting over feeling abandoned by each other after the death of Marisol. This exposed deeper roots of the initial rift. I liked that.

4) I love that the Maggie and Mel still have Magic and even though though the active powers are gone they arent defenseless. They just need to be resourceful. I actually like this a lot and I feel gives the writers a lot of room to play with creative ways for the ladies to save other witches.

5) demon lore!!!! Okay so while season 1 seems mostly thrown out the lore actually explains season 1 demons better.

One of the issues I had was that there did not seem to be a synchronized front with the demons and they never explained why even though Alistair claimed to be a hotshot the only people he had working for him was his family.

In the OG in first season before lore got expanded) demons and witches werent organized. Demons sort of acted on thier own for thier own purposes and witches seem mostly solitary except for occasional get togethers on important events. Later on in the series demons got an organization system (triad) then later one ruler (the source of all evil). Witches seem mostly solitary except for now the elders who assigned white lighters watched over them and placed rules on magic. I dont think people really remember the drastic shift in lore and the plot holes OG had because we generally liked the places it was going. So I am kinda on that page fro the reboot.

It flipped the script. Witches are or were the organized bunch both self ruling and ruling over the magical community. Demons were at war with each other and all had different agendas so makes sense that the Caines were mostly on thier own.

I like this idea of there being different general types of demons and a hierarchy. I do wonder if that will limit then in the long run, but assuming they can be creative with the categories they have defined I am not too worried. I am excited to get more info on demons now.

6) the new love interests. I love Mel's new love interest. So different from Mel and her previous love interests. I reserve judgment until we get more interaction but I am liking her so far. Jordan is interesting I am actually liking the build up of thier relationship and will be nice to see maggie start off slow and make friends with him first. I wasnt a huge parkerita fan but I did not dislike the ship. But one of my general blehs is love at first site between teens. The way parker and Maggie began was just off putting to me but they were nice together when they were together honestly. This will be a good venture into perhaps an adult relationship or at least on that doesnt begin with as much drama. That said she is dead and will have to hide her identity from him soo....

Now on to the nitpicks:

1) Ray's characterization.

Okay so I dont mind that Ray turned out to be just a crap dad. It happens. But there are things we know that Ray probably didnt that makes us wonder why marisol even got with him and married him.

A) we know Marisol continued an affair throughout her marriage to Ray. Even assuming Ray was just a crap husband and father, why did marisol get with him and marry him if he was so good at alienating everyone he met. I wouldnt think he was just a one night stand that Marisol decided she would have to marry after getting pregnant. I would think she would be above that.

B) did he even know about magic. Was his whole relationship and life with Marisol and the girls just based on secrets, ignorance, and not being around?

I mean for B it is fine if it was I just would like to know for sure what it was versus just guessing. But I assume like Maggie I am just gonna have to move on from this

2) the house lights and the job application.

Okay how does the house have power and and water without the city noticing? How can maggie apply for a job with no social security number? I mean I assume because she is dead she cant use her real info. Or she could but wouldnt that make it easy for demons who may think to infiltrate government records to find them? I mean this is a nitpick and can be explained away by Magic, but still it was on my mind.

3) the mysterious figure at the end. Okay y'all, I assume it is Dark!Harry. But the more I thought about it, the more I got angry that they didnt show his face. Basically, that is leaving room that it could be someone else like one of the other new love interests or someone we havent met yet. I dont like that. If it is Dark!Harry we've already met him and know he is after the girls so most likely would be working with the demons. So showing him wouldnt be a big deal. But keeping the figure hidden means leaving that door of possibilites open. This has me paranoid now. Again nitpick. I'll get over it. Some people might like that.

Episode Highlights:

Comic relief Harry. Getting knocked down when orbing into the club and not being able to hold a map.

"I'll put a hex on you."

"I'm formidable!" You tell him!

Harry's wonky orbing in general. so confused so turned about.

Maggie being able to tell that Dark!Harry was not Harry. "Those are Harry's charges and family you cant fool them ya creep!!!"

Invisible mel putting a shovel to the side of Dark!Harry's face. "Yess!!!!"

Harry's puppy dog eyes when Macy says all she needs is a look to know who the real Harry is

#cw charmed #charmed remake #charmed reboot #charmed cw #charmed 2018 #charmed spoilers #charmed 2018 spoilers #hacy #mel vera #maggie vera #macy x harry #harry x macy #harry greenwood #macy vaughn

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paperclipninja · 5 years

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Younger post-ep ramble 6x12

So we've reached the end of yet another season of Younger and it seems like it only started 5 mins ago but also the premiere ep feels like 5 months ago and I'm sitting somewhere between denial and not coping because WHAT WAS THAT ENDING??? How are you all holding up? Holy shamole, the season 6 finale, 'Forever' (named because that's how long it's going to feel between this ep and the season 7 premiere), gave us a lot to process.

Picking up the day after the last episode, this week opens with Kelsey letting Liza know that it's her last day at Millennial, which triggers one of my fave scenes of the season as Liza dashes up to Charles' office to intercept Kelsey's 'Dear John' resignation letter before he sees it. One thing I have always loved about Liza is that despite the entire premise of the show up until this season being Liza's lie, she is so awful at actually lying, which is fab for us because Sutton Foster's comedic genius that comes out of her awkward over-explaining is golden. Charles knows she's lying, Liza knows he knows she's lying, the way Charles says 'I won't report you to HR' after Liza says she's taking the letter back because it's inappropriate almost calls for a fire blanket *fans self*, the entire exchange is SO good and somehow continues to get better when Liza decides to tell Charles that the 'really sexy stuff' is actually in the form of a limerick (I also love that he knows it's not her handwriting, I don't know why, I am simple folk and might be imagining that they leave little notes around for each other...). I want to read that limerick.

Kelsey finally catches up and props to her for even being able to walk let alone run in that amazing pink leather skirt, and she saves Liza from herself by informing Charles that she is in fact resigning and hands over her letter (which I also want to read btw). The delightful dynamic that's been developing between Kelsey and Charles these past few episodes continues as Charles implores her to take a leave, that she's too important and when Kelsey goes to shake his hand, which then turns into a hug and it's sweet and lovely, the way she leans on his arm is so daughterly and emphasises the 'family' theme of the season and seriously, I just wanted to see more of these two working together then this happened and all I was thinking at this point was, why aren't we allowed nice things?

Oh but we are, as I was quickly reminded by Diana Trout in the most incredible purple suit and turquoise accessories combo. Everything about her and this outfit belongs on an aspirational poster. We discover that Liza has deputized Lauren for some maid of honour duties and that about a week has passed since Kelsey left. Diana's strained, 'WE'RE HAPPY' is deceived by her shouting (as well as Lauren pointing out that both Diana and Liza's offices are out of Kleenex, ya know, because of crying and whatnot and p.s. I'm not ok at the thought of Queen Trout office crying), but the expression that flashes across her face oh so briefly when Liza says Kelsey's coming to the wedding is real happiness and relief (have I mentioned this week how amazing Miriam Shor is with her ability to say so much with just a look?).

I have absolutely adored seeing the relationship between Diana, Liza and Kelsey develop and grow this season, and Diana's reactions to her being able to attend the wedding but not the spa day speaks volumes to the genuine love and friendship they share. 'How can you be so bad at this maid of honour stuff? You're a thousand years old, this can't be your first rodeo'- I'm not even saying anything about that line, I just wanted to put it in my ramble somehow because it is so stellar it needs to be here because Diana giving Liza a hard time about her age now is everything and then some.

While Liza and Diana are heading to the Uncle Joe meeting, Kelsey and Zane are having a meeting of their own in the park. Kelsey reveals that she's branching out on her own and wants to give him her pitch for feedback. Zane offers her some advice, 'don't do it' and also suggests Kelsey check her ego, which in every other season and even the first part of this one I would've been saying 'YESSS, boom!' but now, not so much. But also a little bit. I am still quite confused about this whole dynamic and don't know if I like it or if I care. I liked Kelsey's response, 'with respect, my resume looks different to yours', she seemed very level headed, though it became evident fairly quickly that this conversation was less about work and more about their relationship for Zane. Zane saying she thought stepping down as publisher was her worst moment, he thought she was awesome, he wanted to be there for her was lovely and supportive and the confusion remains, Zane was being sweet but also maybe not? I'm not sure. There is definitely some truth in the fact that Kelsey does tend to play the victim (or has in the past at least). Regardless, Kelsey's expression as she was there on her own on the bench after Zane walked off oozed sadness, someone give that woman a hug.

Meanwhile at Uncle Joe's, aka Enzo's 'small g' godfather (I love the running gag of Enzo reassuring Diana he's not connected to the mafia), Diana, Enzo and Liza are in for a treat as the ice sculpture is revealed (LOL at Liza asking if it's the heart piece and complimenting it only to be told, 'no that's for a dog funeral'). A trout coming out of a toilet is honestly the greatest thing I could never have imagined, it is so literal and enormous and I love that someone actually had to make it and I think we were all Liza as she stated, 'I under-prepared'. Liza has her maid of honour duties cut out for her, but deploys two people who will definitely ensure the Trout/toilet masterpiece will never see the light of day. Maggie buttering up Joe to distract him is way too easy and then Lauren...what are you doing? You don't need to take your underwear off mate, take the pic with the safety of knicker fabric. I legit crossed my legs as the whole thing unfolded. I've gotta hand it to Uncle Joe for so calmly accompanying Lauren to the office to get the first aid kit despite his masterpiece being destroyed.

Before Maggie tackles the ice sculpture we see her once again being the oracle of the show when Kelsey rocks up at the loft looking for Liza (who Maggie says is in Queens and 'said something about Ice Capades, which is so Liza' - of course Liza would love theatrical figure skating). Can we just take a minute to appreciate how goddamn amazing Maggie looks in this episode? Her dress/headband combo in the scene with Kelsey is divine and I am in complete admiration of anyone who sits around at home dressed like that, fully made up and accessorised. If anyone turns up to my place unexpectedly I spend a good couple of minutes shouting 'just a minute' while I run around frantically trying to swap out pyjama pants with, well, not pyjama pants. Actual goddess. Kelsey being humble after a whole lot of tough pitches, 'maybe Zane was right, I let my ego get in the way', really shows the growth this character has had this season, and Maggie peps her with, 'do you still believe in yourself?' before suggesting that, 'sometimes you have to get into bed with the devil'. Turns out there's some kind of excellent story attached to how Maggie got her loft and I do love a tease, would love to see the follow up down the track (WHO did she get into bed with is all I wanna know).

Even though it's fairly obvious who Kelsey is going to get cosy with to try and secure some cashola, as she finishes her pitch (which is pretty darn amazing lbh), the reveal of Quinn at the end of the table is so damn fabulous. KLP Print is definitely up there with the worst names (seems it's true Younger style to intro terrible publishing house names in finales, shoutout to last year's Chick(y) and Kelsey using her initials as the title is so basic when she never is that it's really funny). My love of Quinn is no secret and I have to say, I would have LOVED to see an exploration of those two working together again properly. Fortunately we get more Quinn when she interrupts Liza and Charles at lunch. Liza is talking about how much pressure she's feeling and I know it's not the most interesting conversation but it's real stuff that people in real relationships talk about and I get that it's not everyone's cup of tea, but I just adore seeing Liza being so open with Charles about how she's feeling and Charles always listening with understanding and in this case, suggesting a vacation.

Liza seems quite caught off guard by the proposition of a merging-of-the-families trip to Scotland, though her smile when Charles says, 'I thought it was time we all get to know each other a little better', indicates she is up for it (once she checks with Caitlin, which we can take as confirmation she is in fact alive, she has been located and she is ok. No word yet on Beth). Also, my sappy little heart when Liza says, 'if WE leave the girls with Caitlin’, Liza defaulting to her and Charles and the girls as a little unit, not to mention that she's thinking that this trip will involve her and Charles getting some time alone together *le sigh*. But back to Quinn, I am here for icy Liza and Charles and Laura Benanti's ability to convey such a sense of not caring at all about what people think is incredible. As Quinn teases that she's teaming up with someone 'who used to work for you or with you or beside you, it's always so confusing over there' (these lines and delivery I swear) the actual award goes to her exiting line, 'my biggest donor is over there. Watching him eat is the hardest thing I do'. Actual laughing out loud. And yes Charles and Liza, it can be Kelsey (and spoiler alert: it is).

Now part of the reason Liza was late to her maid of honour duties earlier in the ep is because she discovered that a book pitch meeting has been booked for the day before the big wedding. I hate this author so much. He is the actual worst of any author I can remember pitching on this show, I just wanted him to go away the moment he started talking (he reminds me a bit of the boss from The IT Crowd for anyone playing at home who knows that show). The only purpose he served IMO was to get Redmond on our screen, which was totally worth it if only to hear him try to have a dig at Diana but only able to come up with, 'you,...you are ageless'. The other highlight of the scene is Diana's retort to Redmond having yet another swipe at her and Liza being there sans Kesley and that is Diana's 'you know what they say? IHL...it's her loss. They don't say that, do they?' to which Liza responds, ' I don't...I'm not sure'. I am outright obsessed with Diana and Liza and need them in every possible scenario please and thank you.

Don't get me wrong, Michael Urie delivers every zinger like noone else, but this whole scene in the context of the episode felt like a hark back to the OTT ageist jokes of season 1 and it all felt like it was for the sake of it tbh (though ‘elderly dithering’ still makes me chuckle) I get it, JOMO, giving up the imaginary, alternate life to be in the real one, very much building on the set up of Liza leaving behind her 26 year old life, but this was 2 mins and 41 seconds that could have been wedding time. I would've honestly watched a whole ep of Diana getting ready and the wedding very happily, but I appreciate that there was a lot that needed to be addressed, so even a couple more mins would've been wonderful and could've served this episode more than that insufferable author and pretty pointless pitch (plus Redmond was invited to the wedding so we could've had Redmond and bonus wedding time so win win! Next time...).

It was nice to see Kelsey and Liza out having a drink and catching up. Liza once again assures Kelsey that she supports her in whatever she does but makes it quite clear that she thinks going into business with Quinn is a terrible idea. Kelsey then fills Liza in on what Josh is up to, Liza fills Kelsey in on their convo from the week before that did not go down so well and Kelsey isn't surprised because apparently Liza is 'kind of the most important woman in his life who isn't teething'. You know what? That actually made me really sad. I mean, Josh and Liza have not been in a romantic relationship for what, 18 months or two years? He lives with Kelsey and Lauren, has a great relationship with Maggie, (I'm not dense btw, I understand why this line is there), but Josh not having any other women who he would consider important in his life despite all these amazing female friends?

One thing I was enjoying about Josh this season was his moving forward and having a purpose. After last season's terrible stagnation for his character, seeing him reestablish a relationship with Claire, have a baby, his friendship with Lauren continuing to evolve, it was all looking so on track. Then these past couple of episodes, I feel like he's had a massive regression again and I just feel bad for the character and think that surely he can serve a purpose beyond pining for Liza because he did that already for the whole of season 5. I do like that Liza is sticking with her mantra of making choices in life, of refocusing on other things, on new horizons and I do believe she's really trying, but her fickleness is certainly a constant struggle for her throughout the whole series. More and more, especially since the lie came out, I'm seeing Liza's longing for or looking back more at the life of a 26 year old and it'll be interesting to see if it's Josh she's actually feeling she's missing out on or the life he represented (and which there's no reason she can't live aspects of now). Liza's forlorn expression when Kelsey toasts to 'no looking back' has also been making quite a few appearances these past few eps.

Aside from my fave terrible person Quinn, my other favourite recurring guest this season has been Infinitely 21's Shelly. As she and Josh are finalising the Inkburg Midtown details, her unquenchable thirst once again becomes apparent as she tells him, 'we all want a piece of you..I keep saying piece, I don't even know why' (I love Josh's, 'it happens', I mean how do you even respond to someone like Shelly?) As Shelly and Josh go through his look book to find some pieces appropriate for a 'tat and scat', Shelly of course sees the hourglass and loves it but Josh, dude, why is it in the look book if it was a one off? C'mon. Again, I get it for the story and Shelly is on it, 'please don't say you forgot who she is'. Oh sweet, innocent Shelly, if only you knew.

Ok, now the reason we're all here, THE event of the year and that of course is the Royal Wedding. Everyone looks amazing (Maggie = wowsers!) and I have made no secret of my excitement at seeing the whole Younger fam glammed up at an event together. It's really happening!!! Liza has finally figured out her maid of honour gig as she welcomes guests, including Enzo's mother who proclaims she saw a crow flying upside down on the way to the church, 'it's a bad omen', to which Liza accurately and hilariously replies, 'especially for the crow'.

Upon hearing from Liza that Kelsey wants something that she owns, Charles finds himself a seat next to Kelsey in the church and oh my heart. I honestly never anticipated that I would be gushing about the relationship between these two characters, despite the fact I had it as a wish for season 6, it has exceeded my expectations. Charles' sincerity in offering Kelsey a stake in the company, asserting that she is family, 'I knew that the day you sacrificed everything you wanted to save us', ok it was me who took all the Kleenex from Diana and Liza's offices because EMOTIONS. His gratitude is genuine and deep, I mean never mind that it was her drunken error that caused the issue, Charles' whole refocus on the importance of the people around him this season really lead to this wonderful moment and he leaves the ball in her court knowing he has done all he can to show Kelsey that she really is valued.

Liza helping Diana from the car, OH. EM. GEE I am in love. Diana and Liza's friendship is my highlight of this entire season and this exchange did not disappoint. Diana looks so amazing. Her necklace that Liza helped Enzo pick out has it's own moons probably and Diana telling Liza that 'as a maid of honour you're slow burn but in the end you're white hot' was almost too much but also exactly the right amount. Fun fact: When you look up the meaning of magnificent in the dictionary you get this gif of the doors opening on Diana as she waits to enter the church. She is composed and beautiful and as she walks towards the beaming Enzo, Kesley and Zane are rekindling, which is sweet but again, who knows for how long? There's just so much happiness and love in the air! It is everything I ever hoped for and more. I do wish we'd heard the vows and/or seen the 'I now pronounce you husband and wife' though, I am legit sad that we didn't see at least a little bit of the ceremony.

We also have Josh turning up as the plus one, ok yes, it makes sense Lauren would invite him but also, have some self respect man. On the one hand I get it, when you are so infatuated with someone you will do anything to see them, but Liza specifically asked for some space so I am struggling to understand why he would accept the invite or at least not text Liza and give her a heads up or ask if she minds or something you know? Again, I know it's TV and there needs to be the DRAH-MAH etc. In saying that, the tattoo conversation I actually thought was lovely.

Prior to that though, my dream of seeing everyone at the event together is realised, we see Maggie's ice sculpture and the hint at a Maggie and Lauren rekindling (also, Liza going over to Charles in the background and cosying up to him, I see you). We do catch the end of Diana and Enzo's first dance and hear Diana referred to as Mrs. DeLuca. Enzo giving her a hard time about her eye twitch every time she is called that is so freaking adorable and Diana and Enzo together are adorable IT'S JUST ALL ADORABLE and seeing Diana so relaxed and happy is honestly everything and yes, I'M GUSHING. Again.

I do like that Josh calls himself out, that it is super weird seeing him at the wedding. Because it really is. Josh looked devastated at Liza's initial response to the tattoo question and to me, it’s because her saying he can use it is like she's so willing to let go of him that she doesn't even want to preserve anything from the time they were together. I think that for Josh, her answer was indicative of whether she was really closing him out of her life for good. I'm finding the use of flashbacks (last week in the montage this week with the tattoo) interesting in these Josh/Liza interactions, it's not something the show has ever really done before and while last week's certainly felt like a poignant reflection, I can't help but wonder if it's also serving the purpose of reminding the audience of the relationship that once was in an effort to get viewers on side with it again (obviously many viewers never stopped wanting them together).

But I do completely understand Liza's decision not to want anyone else to have the tattoo. It is theirs, it signifies an important part of her life and their relationship and this scene did what Younger does so infuriatingly well. Last year it was the cacao dream and this year it is this scene, there is enough ambiguity to interpret this scene as either closure and a transition of Josh and Liza's relationship away from anything romantic or for those fans of the Josh and Liza romance, it allows for hope that it may reignite one day. It was left open and closed enough to go either way.

The moment I heard 'Take my breath away' playing, I swear, I could not BELIEVE my ears. I never thought this show would do something so cliche yet here we are and I loved every second of it. Liza calling it 'our song', asking Charles if he asked them to play it and the way he answered I AM DYING (note to self - any episode that plays this Berlin hit will involve a proposal). Seeing Liza and Charles slow dancing on that dance floor was everything, I am such a sucker for a couple dancing like this and it was perfect, I may be melting into a puddle of goo just thinking about the way he holds her hand so close to his heart (though Liza's apprehensive look about the Scotland trip wasn't a fave, she seemed pretty relieved to be able to get out of that one). There I was watching, my simple mind and face grinning at the dancing when suddenly I hear the word honeymoon. I'm sorry, WHAT?! Ok, so I, along with many others I'm sure, had an inkling there might be a proposal. I have to say that in my mind Charles Brooks would never propose at someone else’s wedding, HOWEVER he himself has admitted to being impulsive when it comes to matters of the heart and the moving in conversation from episode 8 was when my cogs began to turn and wonder if we mightn't see something like this play out.

I LOVE how he's just speaking softly into her ear, it's so damn intimate and as Charles begins his beautiful speech there's a smile that flashes across Liza's face as she computes what's happening, because she's a human person who has the most romantic monologue ever being delivered to her. His pause as he says 'with...everything about you' ugh, his love for her is palpable in that moment, I seriously need a lie down just from writing about it. Kelsey barging in with 'I do, I DO, I've been trying to think of a reason not to say yes but there isn't one' (listen to your friend Liza, she is wise) is so perfect, it's SO Younger, her answer being the answer Liza should've been giving (and the fact she didn’t setting up the cliffhanger rather nicely). Meanwhile, Liza is trying not to have a panic attack as all the fab women band together to ‘We are family’, but as she gets caught in the middle of the conga line, Charles expectant and hopeful and her smiling, they share that moment between the two of them despite the chaos around them, as their eyes remain locked across the room.

The beauty of television is that you get on for the ride and you never know where you might end up. At the start of the season I certainly wouldn't have thought waiting to hear Liza's response to Charles proposing would be the finale cliffhanger and I'm not sure how I feel about it to be honest, but you know what the only good thing about a 9 month hiatus between seasons is? We get 9 months to speculate and theorise and re-watch the whole series a normal number of times *cough* and digest it all.

And that, folks, is another season of our fave show done. I do plan to do a season review at some point, but I just want to thank all of you who indulge me by reading the excessive number of words I plonk on a page week after week, the interactions and feedback are wonderful and I really appreciate it all.

I guess it’s time to get back to those real life responsibilities I’ve been ignoring the past 3 months (though JOMO, amirite?).

#youngertv #younger tv #ramble #6x12 #younger season 6 #liza miller #charles brooks #kelsey peters #diana trout #enzo deluca #maggie amato #lauren heller #zane anders #liza x chalres #diana x enzo #denzo #team charles

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