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#anyway i know this is a super simple drawing but i really did put effort into it 😅
newnewyorker93 · 3 years
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Pepperony Pizza
I spent way too long on this very simple doodle of a cheesy (pun intended) joke from my fic Pizza for Valentine's Day 🍕😄
(for the June @tonystarkbingo Flash Bingo, card 003 - friends to lovers)
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imjeralee · 3 years
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i request that you drink plenty of water and take care of yourself !!! ·o·b after thats done, came i pretty please get headcanons with link, Kaeya and maybe Childe about an s/o who draws them one day as a confession and gives it to them? :) (maybe they already knew and saw them drawing them before ? who knows) thank you in advance!!
Thank you anon! *looks at cup of green tea beside laptop* yep I think i’m doing well in keeping myself hydrated recently hehe but thank you :3
Anyway please see below for the ask! (it’s pretty long)
Link
He was grooming one of the ponies when he saw you standing behind a tent peeking at him curiously and when he turned round properly, you quickly scampered away and he got worried so he followed you to the room you share to see you sitting on the bed with a wine red book propped up in your lap but upon his return, you immediately hid it behind your back, smiling widely at him
He wonders what it was but decides not to pry, but he later discovers it was actually a sketchbook when he’s packing up for tomorrow and you’re taking a bath and the sketchbook drops out of your pack and onto the floor, opening at a random page
He picks it up with the intention to return it to your bag but then he sees the various drawings of him in his Ancient Armour set, Hylian and Snowquill set. They’re fully coloured and it looks like you’ve spent hours on them. He didn’t know you were this artistic and wondered why you hid this from him
The date you wrote on the bottom of the page indicates that you drew all this in one day! He’s super impressed
Then he sees the note you wrote below: “To my Dearest Link, I hope you like my drawings of you. All I can think about is how lucky I am to be able to be by your side, you’ve changed my life for the better and-”
Obv half complete so now he knows why you didn’t want to show him and he respects your privacy, so he puts the sketchbook away 
Outside, he sees Beedle and goes over to see what’s new for sale. Beedle has some cool art stuff (well, it’s more like stuff that can be used for dye but can also be used as paint) so he buys some for you as a present which he will give to you later.
Next day, you get chased by a group of Bokogoblins and the book and all your drawing supplies drops out from your bag. 
You didn’t see it drop and returned to the stable, ransacking your bag like crazy only to find your stuff missing
When you realise everything must have dropped out when you got chased, you quickly leave the stable to go back to the area but it’s thunder and lightning so Link chases after you
“Link, what are you doing? Go back, the weather’s awful.” You tell him but he shakes his head, unable to leave you alone in the rain like this
He helps you with your search and you end up locating your book and your supplies which are lying in the mud
The book has been trampled over and some of the pages have been torn out. The remaining pages are soaked with dirt and grime. Your pencils are snapped in half and your paints have been left to bleed all over the grass. All of your drawings are ruined, too. This is your worst nightmare.
Link observes you silently as tears begins to form in your eyes and you look at him, sniffling slightly.
You’re experiencing a mixture of devastation, frustration, anger and exasperation - from your carelessness to the stupid bokogoblins - and this incident infuriates you so much you throw the book to the ground angrily
Before you can march away, Link grabs your wrist 
Turning round, your gazes meet and he looks at you softly, intently.
‘What’s wrong?’ he is saying. 
“I was going to use those to confess to you!” you end up roaring out by accident. 
Link looks at you, a little stunned
“N-Never mind! Everything’s ruined!!!!” 
You’re about to storm off again when Link suddenly pulls you into his chest and gives you a hug
“!” you’re so shocked you can’t speak
He pulls away though, and leads you to the hollow of a nearby tree trunk where he gestures for you to sit down to shelter from the rain whilst he glances around, then sprints back over to where the ruined sketchbook is
He picks it up and holds it against his chest as if it’s dear to him. That’s not all, you watch as he begins to pick up the remaining pages that were torn out and once he’s collected them all he returns to you, clutching the pages tightly
"Link...” you murmur breathlessly as he he kneels down in front of you before he fishes around in his pockets to reveal a random bunch of paint pots in his hand.
You’re a little confused, but realise he has some spares which he must have bought from a merchant
it’s not much but...
he nudges it to you for your offering
You gawp at him for a few moments before you smile and chuckle and upon seeing you back to your usual self again, Link smiles and helps you back onto your own feet to stand
You thank him as you cradle the paints to yourself. You will need to restart from scratch from somehow it feels ok and something tells you you don’t need to hide it from him anymore
And you return to the stable, sheltering from the rain by sharing a large leaf together
Kaeya
Let’s begin with the fact that alongside you, there is a maid who also likes Kaeya as much as you do and she’s a bit of a sneaky bugger and you don’t show your drawings to anyone or watermark your artwork until they’re complete. You can probably see where this is going
One day, Kaeya finds out you are drawing a picture of him when he comes to your office to inform you that there’s a group of abyss mages outside Mondstadt so you hurry off to dispatch it and leaving Kaeya in your office
He accidentally comes across your drawing when he sees his face on a piece of parchment and his interest is piqued so he heads over to check it out
It’s a really good sketch!!! the amount of detail is insane! he had no idea you possessed such skill and who knew that you could create such beautiful art like this? He also finds some rough doodles and sketches you made earlier on some scrap paper you had also written on so he knows it’s you
Anyway, he puts everything back to join you in battle, but not before passing a maid along the way who is heading to your room to clean up
She comes across your drawing and she’s always fancied Kaeya herself, so for some reason other than just thinking she might be able to get away with it if she’s sneaky enough, she takes your drawing and sets off with it
Meanwhile, you return to your room after the battle, take off your coat and sit comfortably in your chair, reaching for your quill
“Ah, time to get back to my drawing of Kaeya.” you say with a smile, looking at your desk.
Wait a minute.
Something is wrong.
Very wrong.
It’s GONE!
After checking the rest of your office (and its clearly not there), you rush outside, wondering what happened to it when you see Kaeya and a maid talking in the corridor
they didn’t see you, so you quickly hide
“Please accept this, captain Kaeya!” gushes the maid, presenting your drawing to him. “I drew this picture of you to show how much you mean to me.”
What in the Samachurl shit is this? 
You’re about to storm over when Kaeya takes the drawing with a delicate brow raised, studies it intently and goes, “Oh? But I’m not so sure about that.”
“W-what do you mean, Captain Kaeya?”
“There’s no watermark on it,” he points out, “....one could’ve taken anyone’s artwork and claim that it’s theirs.”
“T-That’s - ! Ah, Captain Kaeya, h-how could you think so lowly of me?”
“I’m only just stating some simple facts, that’s all. You won’t hold that against me, will you? And I’m certainly not accusing you of anything...unless you...?”
“Oh....uh....I...I-I’m so sorry, Captain Kaeya, you’re right! I-I....please excuse me!”
The maid’s too embarrassed to proceed any further and leaves, running away.
Indeed, what in the samachurl hell had just happened? 
It goes quiet and you wonder if he’s still there; you step out of your hiding place only to go nose-to-chest with Kaeya.
He greets you with a smirk. “if it isn’t the little kitten, what are you doing here?”
“Um...uh, I....that....that drawing - “
What he said is right, there’s no watermark. How can you prove it’s yours? Would he believe you if you told him?
“Hm? Ah, yes, this drawing. I was going to keep it for myself.”
“No, wait! I mean...er...it’s not finished yet-”
“So you drew this then?”
“Yes, I did. it was me.” Though you wonder if he would believe you after everything you had just heard.
“Why?”
You lamely tell him you really like him and wanted to use it to confess to him.
He watches you for a few seconds, then hands the drawing to you. “I’ll wait until you’ve finished then.”
“Huh?” You gasp. He gave it back to you so easily despite what he said to the maid! “You...you’re not-”
“I knew it was you who drew it. I recognised your style.”
“Then why didn’t you say so earlier?”
“If I said so earlier, how else would I get you to confess to me?”
“KAEYA!!!”
(from then on he’ll want you to draw him more often)
Childe
Saw you sitting on the grassy hill near Qingxu Pool drawing earlier and because he is good at sneaking up on people, you didn’t hear him as he casually leaned over to peek over your shoulder and said, “Hey girlie, what’re you up to?”
You’re like “UWAGH!” and quickly close your sketchbook before turning round to see Childe.
“N-nothing!” you exclaim, before you get up and run down the hill, leaving a very amused Childe on his own
Later, when you’ve finished your masterpiece, you nervously approach Childe and tell him, “Um....this is for you, let me know what you think.” before rushing off in a blushing mess and Childe will open the sketchbook to see that you’ve drawn a very nice portrait of him in a battle stance, wielding his bow, surrounded by his hydro blades
Childe stands, staring at the picture
Then he sees the words ‘do you like me?’ scribbled at the very bottom
Childe staring hard now
He’s used to giving people gifts but now that he’s received something so thoughtful, he’s a bit overwhelmed. he can tell you put so much effort and hardwork into this. Ah, what is this feeling? 
He closes the book without further ado and scrubs a hand over his face
he actually wasn’t expecting you to do this. he knew you were drawing him but the result is really....something else
You don’t hear him from Childe in a few days and you are so nervous and worried.
Is this a rejection? Maybe he didn’t like your picture after all...
You’re walking in the streets and sigh and sit on the stone steps of Liyue, staring at the sea, upset and dejected
But then you hear a whistle from behind and throw a glance over your shoulder to see Childe standing on a higher step, a hand in his pocket
“Hey girlie, heads up,” he tosses a paper plane into the air which makes this little loop before you stand to catch it
Looking up, Childe has gone
You unfold the paper plane to its proper size to reveal that Childe’s drawn a little sketch of you in return and he has written: ‘Yes I do’.
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Would you be okay with sharing your spreads? I got a bullet journal for Xmas and would really love to use it but I've tried and failed before bc of adhd and its super hard to find useful spreads! 💕
Yes, sure! So right now I’m just doing a monthly spread which is a very simple calendar with dots marking the corners of the boxes rather than drawing lines because I find that’s too much effort and I won’t do it. It looks like this:
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You can see the dots at the corners, and in the empty space I write out the month and do some tiny doodles to add some colour if I feel like it, but recently I haven’t bothered really. I write out any event that I have during the month, so usually it’s school deadlines which I highlight with a nice colour so they stand out and I remember them, and then social stuff and other events (even recurring ones so I don’t forget) I write out but don’t highlight.
As for weekly spreads, I do something called a rolling weekly which takes a bit of explaining but it’s super useful. I’ll put a pic so I can explain from that.
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I realise the corner of the page is folded over so you can’t see part of it but I don’t want to retake the photo. Anyway, there should be an M in the top corner box which stands for Monday, and the other days of the week are written out on that top line too, and then W for weekend and NW for next week, or anything that’s due after that weekend. (The example week is slightly different but it was the clearest I could find so just pretend, lol)
Then, I write out any task I have to do under the task header that’s on the same line. So going to the bank, sorting out my school binders and reading my independent novel were all tasks I had that week as you can see. I then put an empty dashed box (you can see what that looks like beside “check library” but without the arrow, I’ll talk about that later) in line horizontally with the task underneath whatever day I must finish that task by. So, if it’s a homework assignment due on Thursday I’ll put the box under Wednesday because that’s the day I need to complete the task. I do this process for every tiny task I need to do that comes up at any point in the week so that I don’t forget any (thanks ADHD!). So if I remember on Tuesday I have to write a card for my friends birthday on Friday, I’ll write it in when I think of it because I check the journal every day and I’ll see on Thursday the box underneath in line with the birthday card task.
The way you use it is that on Monday, I will look down the Monday column for all the boxes that are under the M, and then across to all the tasks that are beside them. That way, I know everything I need to do that day easily. I then complete them according to a separate structure I can tell you about if you want, and once it’s done I’ll fill in the box with black pen. If I’m halfway done I’ll fill in half of the box. If I don’t do it on the day, I’ll put an arrow in pointing to the right because that reminds me to write it out on the next weekly page so I’ll do it then. As you can see I finished most of these tasks, but some are not done and “headphone and bike” is half done, because it has the half filled in but still an arrow in the other corner.
If I am done all the tasks for one day, I’ll start on some of the next tasks by looking at what is in the next column or that I want to do. Then, I draw the box in on the day I’m doing it, and fill it in once it’s done. Then I fill in the original box too so I don’t think I still have to do it when I get to that day. I did this with the task “books Dorian gray and secret history”, which was originally to be done on the weekend but I did it on Tuesday instead.
The last bit is on the right side of the page, where I drew our rectangles for each day of the week and wrote the letter for the day (M T W Th etc.) and the number of the day too. Then, I copied the events from the monthly spread so I can easily compare the tasks I have to do with how busy I’ll be. This helps if, say, I finish early on Tuesday but I notice I have a big project in need to finish on Wednesday but I also have a violin lesson that takes up my free time on Wednesday, so I’ll decide to finish the project on Tuesday instead. Also, I forget events less if I see them multiple times, so if I see the event every time I open my planner to the weekly page (which I check every day) then I’m less likely to forget it. And, I can look in the morning and be mentally ready for the day ahead rather than remembering halfway through that I have orchestra and not having the mental energy.
A general note: this is a hard one for ADHD but I really try to check it every day because otherwise it won’t work as well. It’s hard to start doing it but once you do it becomes something you rely on; I couldn’t survive without mine because I’d forget everything. It also helps you to remember stuff because if you’re checking it multiple times a day and using it effectively you’re more likely to have that “oh crap, I just remembered this assignment that’s due on Friday” happen while you’re able to write it down and not forget. Phone reminders are also good for the “oh crap” moments; I set them to pop up when I’m home with my journal so I can write it down. Although virtual school is good for that cause I have my journal open next to me all the time even when I’m relaxing and I’m not away from my room all day like real school. Ah, that’s another good hack, to have it open to your weekly page on your desk permanently so there’s no barrier of having to find it and open it for your ADHD to take advantage of.
Okay last last tip is really do check our Rider Carroll’s stuff because you may find his system works better for you. My technique is highly honed to high school needs but I found his is more suited to university or work so that may fit you better, or just your brain is different to mine which is totally chill! If you have any more questions please feel free to ask me. Best of luck with it, and remember to be kind to yourself about it. It doesn’t help to beat yourself up if you forget about it for a while, just try again every time because ADHD is such a hard thing to deal with! You got this :)
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amindofstone · 3 years
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Match up, No. 6
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@femalegoatthing said:
Hi, I saw you were doing matchups and I'm curious about them.Could I be matched with a male one piece character? I am a 20 yr old female, with a INFJ personality. I am 5'2", with red hair and glasses. I love to draw and paint, I am also obsessed with documentaries and murder podcasts. I am described as being rather chaotic and caring, like some strang goblin grandmother. Thank you so much for doing matchups, I wish you luck!
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Match up rules can be found HERE.
a/n: Hi! Hello! Guten Tag! Hola! Bonjour! Okay, enough. I´m glad you requested and can´t wait to see what you think of what I came up with. Like always please be honest with me and tell me if you don´t like it, if I disappointed you or if you hated it. Tell me please. Give me a feedback so I can try my best again and make sure you are happy with the outcome. It´s just that I´m really insecure of my work and never happy. Like so far I am only happy with just one work of mine. One out of all the things I did until know. Anyways please enjoy what with come next. I wish you a happy reading!
Warning(s): Maybe grammatical or spelling mistakes since English is my third language and I´m still improving in every aspect (Please have mercy on that.)
!!! Please do not steal my idea or work. Credit me if this is shared or published in any other platform or any other way. Please respect me as the writer and my work. Picture is not mine. Credits to: Please tell me ASAP if you know who the artist is so I can give credits. Thank you in advance. !!!
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· After a bit of thinking and a tiny bit of researches I decided to pair you up with Charlotte Katakuri
· Dating someone from the Charlotte family is absolutely difficult. If there is someone they like or someone else likes they have to get a permission of every family member and of course the head of the family, Charlotte Linlin
· But if a relationship is set by the emperor herself there is nothing that can be changed
· You are the daughter of a pretty feared and well-known mafia boss. You father is known for selling different kinds of weapons. You on your side had absolutely nothing to do with his work because he made sure you never get involved in his life to much. The fact that he lost your mother because of his work is enough of a burden to him so taking care of you is the least thing he could do
· After months of not seeing your father he came back home and had a nice dinner with you. You two cooked together and he for once told you something about his work that surprised you. You didn´t questioned it and just listened to him like the good obedient daughter you are. You nodded or hummed once in a while, during your preparation for dinner to make clear that you were indeed listening to his words. Once in a while you also managed to ask some vague questions about something but that was it. You didn´t wanted him to stop after all since it was the first time after a long period he spoke about his work. So it came that at dinner your father informed you about his decision to work under the name and security of the emperor Big Mom. For a second you stopped in your tracks but quickly put yourself together and nodded without giving a comment. You were surprised but even more shocked when he told you that he was doing that since more than two years now with the condition of you marring her third child and second son Katakuri.
· Time passed and the only thing you knew was the name of the man your father wants you to marry. You never complained or asked him questions about his decision because he was always right and always wanted the best for you. So you simply agreed and packed your belongings to sail to Big Moms territory to meet you in laws
· Time flew by and you were in one of the many guest rooms in the Whole Cake Chateau waiting to be called for a meal. But two days passed by now and nothing like that happened. You were stuck in your guest room alone with your father only coming to see you for breakfast. But today was different. A guard came to inform you about a dinner with Big Mom and your future husband. You nodded and saw the guard leave your room. You were nervous and didn´t know what to do but you tried your best to smile and get ready for meeting the man you were supposed to marry soon. The first impression was important after all
· You were waiting at the dining table for Big Mom with your father when suddenly a door opened. You instantly stood up and looked at the direction just to be greeted by the emperor and her son
· A (super) tall man entered the room and made your eyes widen out of shook. But that quickly turned into a small pout when you realized that you´ll look like a dwarf next to him. You all sat down and had a conversation with Big Mom and her son. More precisely your father and the emperor. You and the man who sat in front of you were only giving short agreements to questions once in awhile but other than that sat quietly.
· You were lost in your thoughts when you heard your soon to be mother in law tell you that you and her son should talk in the room next door promising that you would be alone. You nodded and sat up to follow the enormous tall man who lead you into a living room with couches, a bar, three huge windows, a chimney and some bookshelf’s. Without talking Katakuri gave you and a sign to sit down. Soon after he sat down too, right after he got you a drink and placed it in front of you. At first none of you talked but that changed after the man cleared his throat and introduced himself. It started with a simple small talk and questions about you and your origin. You knew he wanted to have an overview of what kind of person you were that he was about to marry soon. And you didn´t opposed to it and tried you best to show yourself on a good light while making sure to be honest.
· “I know that you aren´t happy about this marriage but there is nothing we can do. Let´s make the best out of it and try to get along as good as possible. I don´t expect you to spend time with me or call me your husband when it´s not necessary or even love me. The only thing I want from you is honesty and loyalty towards me and my family.”, said the man in a calm and reassuring voice. You should have been happy that he didn´t force you to anything but just honesty but you weren´t. You felt bad about him thinking you would be ashamed of calling him your husband just because it was an arranged marriage. “I promise you that I will do my best to please you and your family as good as I can. And if you thing that I hate you or the situation I am in, I can assure you that it is not like that. You seem to be a nice, well mannered man and I have absolutely no problem in being called your wife. If there is anything I can do for you never hesitate to tell me. Like you said. Let´s make the best out of it.”, you gave him a loving smile and talked a bit more while keeping a respectful distance from each other.
· Time flew by and you got married. After your marriage you got to learn your family in law better and got pretty close to a lot of them. You tried to show you from the best side although you were an introverted person. Katakuri knew this and respected you for that a lot. He really appreciated your effort in getting to know his siblings. It was really hard for you in the beginning but with time you stared to like some of them a lot and so it came that you found people to spend time with when Katakuri was taking care of his work as the minister of the flour island
· Living with Katakuri was the absolutely easiest thing of the whole marriage. You barely saw him or got time to spend with him. He never was home for any meals so it was always you or one of your siblings in law. One of them was always Brulee that took care of you and spend time with you. You didn´t mind that you couldn´t see your husband at the beginning because you both talked about this before your wedding a lot and he made sure to prepare you for a living with him. You told him that you were fine with it but slowly with weeks passing it started to bother you. Months passed and you took it personal and wondered if he avoided you on purpose or even hated you.
· It was a Friday evening. You had your dinner like any other day alone and sat down afterwards to paint a bit. You once told your husband that you liked painting and if you could turn a room in your shared house into an atelier but he didn´t mind and send you people to help you decorate the room after your likings. You were busy painting you latest work when you heard someone walking towards the room you were in. Your first thought was Brulee so you smiled and called her. “Brulee, I´m in my atelier. Come in.” You were about to turn around and look at the door when you let out a little scream. “I´m sorry. I didn´t want to scare you. Were you waiting for my sister?”, you husband spoke in his deep but calm voice. You shook your head and put you brush aside. “No you didn´t scare me. It´s just that I didn´t expect to see you home this early. Is everything alright?”. With a worried gaze you looked into the eyes of the tall man that shook his head slowly and apologized for disturbing you before he left to probably get in his room.
· You were nervous and confused of his sudden appearance at home. Thousand of thoughts ran around your head and raised you nervousness. But you gave yourself a little slap on the cheek and went to prepare him a little snack. You prepared him a tray with tea and donuts and knocked on his room. For a long time there was no response so you thought he might have been asleep out of exhaustion. With a little disappointed sigh you turned to leave when you heard a soft come in. Your eyes widen and you started to shake slightly. With a racing heart you opened the door and tried to avoid any eye contact. “I got you something to eat. Do you want me to leave it for you?”
· Katakuri was surprised. Why would you get him something and care for him? He had his maids and butlers that would get him anything he wanted so why would you do that? That absolutely didn´t make sense to him. You heard him thank you before you put the tray on the coffee table and wished him a good night.
· After that night he seemed to come back home earlier more often that caused you to wonder what changed in his work. You were confused and curious but never had the courage to ask him until Brulee asked you if her stubborn brother started to come home earlier. You were surprised and stared at her for who knows how long thinking if she was looking at her through the mirrors but the woman told you that she had a serious chat with him and made him change some of his habits.
· A year passed and you and Katakuri started to talk with each other more. You learned about his likings and his disliking. He told you about his work and showed you his office. He once even took you on a walk around the town to show you one of his favorite bakeries. It took the both of you a lot of time to get used to the fact you were married but at some time it happened. You would spend evenings together talking or playing chess what always turned to be harder than it should be because of his Haki that allowed him to look in the future. He would never admit it but he really enjoyed, in fact even loved seeing you get mad over him using his Haki at you. You would always call him cheater and pout the rest of the night until he would apologize with a donut.
· You were happy that you somehow managed to turn the marriage less awkward, sad and dull but there was still something not right. You felt sad when he would leave for work and get worried when he left for missions. Whenever he would come back you would have the need to hug him and thank god that he was doing fine but you always held back. Your actions made you realize that you started to like him. Even more than just like him. Cause you fell for him. So you tried you best to get closer to him by once in a while holding his hand not knowing that it made his heart do flips. Whenever you would take his hand in yours even if it was just for a second you feared him to push you away or having to start all over again from cero in your relationship
· One day you caught a horrible cold. You had no energy to move, talk or eat. You were laying in your bed like a corpse. Brulee and Pudding took care of you the whole time and never left your side. But it was a moment that made them scream in fear. You lost you concisions and made them worry to death. Brulee out of panic jumped through your mirror to go and get her brother. Screaming his name she jumped out of a mirror in the serious looking man’s office telling him that his wife is doing horrible and lost conscious. The usually calm Katakuri jumped out of his chair in a matter of a second following his sister through the mirror to get to you. To their luck the moment they came back running into your bedroom you were awake.
· “Y/N? What happened? Pudding why didn’t you call a doctor yet? Brulee go wet the towel.”, both of his sisters were again running around the house with worry written all over their faces. But not only were the women worried, your husband himself was worry itself but he made sure to not show any trait of that. He sat down next to you on the massive bed and took your tiny hand carefully in his and drew circles on the back of it.
· “Katakuri why are you here? I am fine. There is nothing to worry. It´s late did you had lunch?”, “You´re sick. You shouldn´t worry about me now.”, you shook your head and wanted to sit up when the man next to you kept you in place. “You can take care of my meals when you´re healthy again. Until then make sure to take care of yourself.” You had no energy to fight back so you gave a slight nod and let your husband and his sisters take care of you.
· Time passed and it got dark. Brulee and Pudding said their goodbyes and made sure to explain Katakuri how to take care of you and if her state got worse to call the doctor again. When they left Katakuri was about to go up to his room when the thought of you being alone hit him. A bit unsure whether he should stay with you or not he walked back to you room and light up some candles before he took of his shoes and sat down next to you on the bed. He was nervous. His heart was racing and his mind was an absolute mess. But his face? The definition of calm. You felt his presence next to you and smiled. You thanked him and took his big hand in yours and let sleep take over you once again.”No need to thank me doll.”
· And just like that it was the first time he ever called you by something else than your name but also the first night he shared a room with you.
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iron--spider · 4 years
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I woke up at 3am yesterday to watch The Devil All the Time and I’ve been thinking about it since. I’m gonna put my thoughts and feelings and a review of sorts behind the cut, because I am gonna talk about it freely, so there will be spoilers! So don’t click if you don’t wanna see. I’ll also be discussing the content of the film and I know that might bother people, so that stuff is in here, too! And it’ll be really long because you know I can’t shut up.
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So, I loved it. I loved it loved it loved it. I read the book a long time ago when I first found out Tom was gonna be in it, and the only problem I had with the book was that the POVs would change in the middle of a paragraph lmao, but other than that I thought it was pretty perfect. I knew the movie was gonna be pretty brutal, because the book is brutal, so I was prepared.
-BUT I think the critics HIGHLY HIGHLY exaggerated how bad the content was. Like, seriously, they acted as if this was gonna be a Saw movie. I was preparing for blatant, horrific gore, but it didn’t live up to their dramatics at all. There’s blood and nasty situations, but every single episode of Game of Thrones is worse than this movie, as are most episodes of any crime drama on a paid network. I actually thought they were super, super tactful of all their horrific shit. The dog death was off screen and the shot of the body (described by the critics as literally traumatic) was so quick (enough to shut your eyes) and in the dark. I also argue that particular moment is extremely important for Arvin’s journey, because it’s the moment he truly turns on his father and turns on religion entirely, and he carries it with him his whole life (it’s what he flashes back to when he says “I know what my daddy did” because it’s the marker of all Willard’s mistakes) and it winds up being one of the last things he does before he leaves everything behind. Burying Jack’s bones. So, like, I despise dog death or any animal death in my entertainment, but it’s important here and handled well. And all the worst death scenes are either extremely fast (Helen’s and Gary Matthew’s) or shown in negative (all the photos). I think Bodecker’s headshot with Bobo is probably the worst and is also pretty quick. I don’t know if this means I’m a jaded bitch, but God the way they were all whining and crying, I thought it’d be a million times worse. It could have been, with the book’s descriptions, so it was actually pretty tame. Lenora’s death affected me the most and they cut away from that, too. I guess it’ll still bother some people, but there are many, many mainstream things that are far more violent and gory than this was.
-I thought it was a beautiful movie. I never mind films that are slightly slower but I love ones that use their time to lay things out and really show us what’s going on, build the ambiance and the relationships. I loved the narration (which I was worried about), and it really made me feel like we were visiting a moment in time that was important. Like something that was written and should be learned about. Rumors in a town you’re passing through. The ghosts of past trauma and transgressions looming over everyone that’s left.
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-I liked the changes they made with Roy and Theodore because I thought that storyline kinda meandered in the book and I’m glad that Roy was actually gone the whole time and not just neglecting to come back to Lenora.
-The only real complaints I can make, I’ll get out of the way here: I wanted a little bit more time with Carl and Sandy. Carl was really creepy, but he could have been much creepier. In the book he was the one looking at the pictures constantly, Not Sandy, and that really showed that he was the one with the sickness, the one pushing them forward and orchestrating it all. I thought they did well with showing how Sandy deteriorated in her efforts with him through the years, but I would have liked to see a bit more of their personal lives together and her fear of him and her genuine feelings about what they’re doing, because the book goes into that a lot more. I also wasn’t a fan of Lee finding the picture early and knowing some about what they were doing, because I liked how it was a surprise to him in the book and yet he still did all he could to cover it up. And lastly, in the book there’s a scene with Arvin after he kills Sandy and Carl where he’s in a motel and he takes like 18 showers because he can’t get the grime of what he’s done off of him, and he looks at the picture and has a nightmare about killing Sandy, and I really would have loved if they’d kept it in. It would have been another ‘acting’ moment for Tom, and it would have been nice for us to see his direct trauma and reaction to everything that’s piling on top of him.
-BUT that’s it. I loved pretty much every single other thing and decision that they made. The cinematography was TOP NOTCH. You could tell they filmed on 35mm film, you could see the grain, and it really, really added to it. Antonio Campos is a very skilled director and I trusted him at the helm of this story. Everything looked so authentic, all the sets and the costumes. The soundtrack and score were AMAZING and enhanced the film. Technically it was just perfect in every regard to me.
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-Acting! Acting! God this was like...a massive testament to the casting department and the talent of these people. Everyone was on their A game. Bill Skarsgård has been on my radar since Castle Rock (which I recommend to everybody, both seasons) and he was so natural and great in this role. Haley Bennet was absolutely adorable as Charlotte, I loved her cute face and her sweet relationship with little Arvin. Riley Keough was so great as Sandy with the limited amount of time she had, and Jason Clarke is one of my favorites but he was unrecognizable in this as creepy ass Carl. Harry Melling was a far cry from Dudley Dursley and he did a great job with his screen time, too. Same with Mia Wasikowska, who didn’t have much to do (same as poor Helen in the book) but she was able to garner our sympathy anyway. Seb Stan was slimy and gross but he pulled it off so well. Eliza Scanlen has been one of my favorites since Sharp Objects (another one that’s brutal as hell but I recommend it, she’s so scary) and she was so, so great here. Robert Pattinson was ALRIGHT, everybody talks him up over this but he felt a little hammy to me and a little too over the top, but there’s no denying his talent.
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-Now, the reason we’re all here. Tom. My God. As soon as it was over I just didn’t know what the hell to do, I didn’t even know how to....go on, lmfao. We all know he’s talented, that’s why we’re here, that’s why we love him, but his performance in this is just BEYOND all that. Beyond comprehension. The man is only 24 years old and he’s out here outacting people who have been in the industry for longer than he’s been alive. He is SHOCKINGLY good. I knew he’d be perfect for Arvin as soon as I read the book, but he just completely embodied this role in a way that I couldn’t have imagined. He doesn’t show up in the movie until about 45 minutes in (which doesn’t hurt it because of the strength of the leadup, Bill’s performance and the performance of little Arvin’s actor) but God, as soon as he’s there the whole thing comes to life in a way that it hadn’t before. Tom is literally just a shining light, and he draws your eye in every single scene he’s in, and when he’s not there you’re wondering when he’s gonna come back. Arvin, to me, is a very complex character—he has been inherently changed by how his father twisted religion in his childhood, how deeply he betrayed him by his behavior, but he still has a kind heart and a protective streak and the need to be strong despite the pain nearly breaking him apart from moment to moment. Tom is just outrageously good at portraying all Arvin’s little nuances, how he clenches his jaw, how his voice breaks when he’s afraid or trying to convince someone of something or get his point across, how his hands tremble after he’s done something he wishes he didn’t have to do, how his whole body wilts when he realizes he’s emulating his father. And his eyes. Tom can do so, so much with his eyes that it’s unbelievable. He tells you so much with just a simple look, a glance, a wince, a long blink. I’m not exaggerating when I say he’s just an absolute revelation in this, he cements his place in Hollywood with a firm hand and a tender look, and I will not be forgetting what he did here anytime soon. There’s a reason that everyone called him out for being so stunning in this. He is magnificent. He has a gift.
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-I wanna say, in particular, how much I love Arvin’s relationship with Lenora. Their lives were both marked by such tragedy and pain and Arvin just took up the torch of protecting her from the moment he said hello as a child. He wants so badly to be tough, and he IS, but there’s just miles and miles of love in this boy’s heart, and it manifests itself for his family—for his uncle, for his grandma, but for Lenora in particular. I loved how he just showed up when she was being harassed and just ran in there without thinking, and it’s purely devastating that he was out taking care of her bullies while a worse predator was cornering her. The scene where she was sick wasn’t in the book but it was a beautiful addition. Tom sometimes wears this very open, unguarded, honest expression, and this is the only scene in which he shows it, and it really expresses the love between them and how much she means to him. Arvin didn’t find Lenora’s body in the book, but it was the right change for them to make. Tom was devastating here, and that pain and that moment truly fuel every second of his journey through the rest of the film. “My Lenora”. The saddest siblings. Both Eliza and Tom did so beautifully with this relationship and I hope they work together again.
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-Favorite acting moments for Tom: when he’s in the car in the rain after beating up the bullies, when he’s in the church crowd and realizes Preston is insulting his Grandma (the way his face changes oh my GOD), when he finds Lenora, when the cop comes to tell him Lenora was pregnant (this is just....so damn good), when he was telling his uncle to look after his Grandma, THE ENTIRE CHURCH CONFRONTATION (the way he trembles when he’s trying to get his attention, how he speaks the whole time, how he slowly gathers his strength), when he thinks Sandy has shot him, the moment where he’s over Lee’s body and just....pleading with his eyes for him to listen and realize what he’s done. And the last scene, in the car, all the emphasis on his face....once again, he can do so, so much with a look, with his eyes. Someone called out the beautiful last shot in the film, and of course, it’s Arvin’s sleeping face. And it was so beautiful (and devastating, to think of him enlisting. Tom draws so much sympathy that you just want Arvin to have a normal life so badly. He deserves it, he does, but will he get it?)
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-Last thing I’ll say, I really loved how, despite turning his back on religion, that God seems to be protecting Arvin the whole time. He’s terribly afraid confronting the preacher and that could have easily gone badly, especially when he tosses the book, but Arvin was somehow able to get a shot off and get the upper hand. And with Carl and Sandy, he senses something is off immediately once they pull off the road, and he would have absolutely been killed had Carl not switched out Sandy’s bullets for blanks. And in the confrontation with Lee, he once again shoots at the same time as him, shoots without looking, and manages to come out unscathed and on top. A few spoiler reviews pointed out that the last person that picks Arvin up is supposed to be a Jesus-like figure, almost like he’s finally been saved. It hurts that everyone around him that he loved is almost forsaken by God, but he himself is protected. It’s such a complicated commentary on religion throughout the entire piece, but it’s so interesting and engrossing.
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So I’d recommend this movie to anyone that loves movies, loves Tom, can deal with a gritty story that takes its time laying out all the chess pieces. It is definitely heavy subject matter but it doesn’t go overboard with the horror as it easily could have. Yes, there are triggers to look for, but the critics hugely over exaggerated how awful it was. I can probably go get time stamps for certain things if people wanna ask me after reading this, but if you can get through a Tarantino film or any HBO drama, you can do this. And Tom’s performance is one for the ages and not one that deserves to be passed over or downplayed. It is beautiful and heart-wrenching—a magnificent turn that displays his monumental ability to reach out and guide you into any world he decides to make his own.
I loved The Devil All the Time.
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pastelsandpining · 3 years
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All I Want for Christmas (Yearning)
The third prompt in 12 Days of Christmas by @zelink-prompts​
Prompt List
**Note: For the stories actually involving Christmas, I and a few other authors changed the holiday to Hylia’s Day (credit to @fatefulfaerie​ for this) so that it’s more relevant to Hyrule
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Cover Art: @neezlebums​ be sure to show some love to the original here! I cannot stress this enough guys, PLEASE go like and reblog his work. He spends hours upon hours on every single cover drawing and it’s super disheartening that he’s getting 8 notes max on things he’s working really hard on. So please give his post as much love as you give mine! 
Words: 1956
Summary: Link takes Zelda out to the Festival of Hylia in the hopes that she can enjoy it as a normal kid, and they share a moment during the fireworks show.
BotW pre-calamity (not HWAOC related)
**If I don’t have explicit warnings, read with caution. It simply means there’s nothing I could think of that could be potentially triggering, but I could’ve just missed something. In that case, please let me know and I’ll be more than happy to put a warning!**
Zelink-mas 2020  l  Masterlist
The concept of soulmates is rather simple for something so deep. Whether it be one soul torn into two, or a red string of fate, or two souls that found comfort in one another, the premise was the same. Lifetime after lifetime, for the eternity that was to come and go, two hearts cried out for one another. They searched high and low, across continents and oceans, across timelines and ages, yearning for their partner—their lost piece.
Yet fate could be a cruel player in the game of existence. It could drive a stake in between a set of mates, or prevent their meeting entirely. It could taunt them with the prospect of forever, and take it away at twice the speed. 
It could take those souls and resurrect them only in times of destruction and decimation. 
How much could a soul handle? How much could it stretch and bend before it shattered? Was it still marked by trauma all those years later, when it was finally placed into a vessel and sent back into the world?
The soul of a hero, for instance, would be battered and bruised until fate decided there was no use for it. 
And until that decision was made, the hero’s soul would stay by the goddess’s side, even thousands upon thousands of years later. 
An impending war, what they referred to as a Calamity, was nothing new to the old souls. Yet they were filled with optimism, a sort of youthful comfort that wrapped like a blanket, and old souls did not entirely push away childish ideas and schemes.
Said hero was scampering through the streets, hand in hand with the young goddess, both tucked under cloaks that fared as a decent disguise given most participants were too drunk to think otherwise at this point in the night. 
“You cheated,” Zelda accused through a fit of giggles, but she made no move to drop the stuffed sand seal.
“I did not,” Link defended with a borderline emergent smile as he stole a glance towards the booth they’d run from. “I was just… a little better than their usual customers.”
“Yes, because their regular customers consist of skilled soldiers of Hyrule.”
“You don’t know that.”
Zelda pressed a hand over her mouth and laughed again. It got harder to suppress his smile. Something about the freedom that came with sneaking out, on top of the thrill of being where they weren’t supposed to be, left him feeling giddy and mischievous. It’d taken a while to convince Zelda to come with him, but attending the Festival of Hylia to only bestow a blessing over the kingdom wasn’t fair. They’d attended earlier in the day, with the princess wearing a grand, white dress to make her look like the goddess, and all he wanted to do was give her a chance to experience the festival as a normal kid. It was the least she deserved, after spending all of her time and effort focused on the Calamity. Of course, the only way they could actually get out was in a disguise, but Link trusted the cloaks would do their jobs so long as the late night attendees were drinking properly.
“You’re positive we won’t get caught?” she asked, for what had to be the hundredth time since they’d left the castle.
“Do you trust me?” he asked in response, fixing his eyes on hers. They were twinkling even in the darkness, and he could see the Castle Town lights reflected in her irises. When he looked at her like this, when there was no one watching them with attentive eyes, he found it hard to believe she was only Hylian. She radiated a light they couldn’t see, but he knew it was there because she was always so warm. Her eyes were always so bright.
“Yes,” she answered with a nod. Once again, Link almost smiled. But instead, he pulled her by the hand over to another booth. The worker looked too tired to care, so he didn’t have to take much caution in sliding over the rupees and asking for a soft pretzel, a caramel apple that had caught Zelda’s eye, and a set of drinks. It was just a shame they had to release hands to hold it all. 
“We used to come to the festivals all the time,” Zelda said after a few bites, letting her shoulder brush against his. “My mother would play the goddess and do the blessings, but after that, father would take me around to the different games and let me play. I was never any good at it, but they gave me prizes anyway. Mother was brilliant, though. She knew just how to get past the games’ rigging.  After her death, father didn’t let me stay out as long. Once I was twelve, my only purpose at the festival was to give the blessings. Did your family always come?”
“Almost every year. My father always took us the first night,” Link spoke with a nod. “Because he was on duty the other two. He tried getting my sister and I to play the games, but I was only interested in the food.”
Another giggle passed the princess’s lips. 
“It sounds like you haven’t changed at all,” she replied, nudging him again. 
“Except now I know how to win,” he said and gestured to the stuffed sand seal.
“I still think you cheated.”
“They cheated us first.”
Zelda had no argument to that one. Link tossed the paper from his pretzel into the trash, then adjusted the fasten on his cloak.
“Do you think we’ll be able to see the fireworks?” she asked. “I used to watch them from my window all the time.”
“I don’t know if it’s better than the view from your window, but I know a place,” he replied. Zelda slipped an arm around his, like she’d done it a thousand times before, and he ducked his head to hide his face from the overhanging light.
“I’ll have to see it in order to judge,” she said simply. He fought back a smile and pulled her through the streets of Castle Town once more, until they’d reached the outskirts. 
Link jumped up to grab the tree branch above them, then turned and held his hands out to her. Apparently his intentions were clear because even in the darkness, he could see that Zelda was appalled.
“We can’t climb on a random person’s house! Link! Get down!” she yelled in a whisper, but he just let the grin cover his face.
“It’s empty. For sale, I think,” he replied with a shrug. She looked around, as if she wanted to make sure they were really alone, before taking his hands. He pulled her into the tree effortlessly, then boosted her up onto the roof of a Castle Town house. “It’s no castle view, but you won’t be eye-level with the fireworks.”
“You can see the entire festival from here,” she spoke when he joined her at the top. “It’s not just lights. You can see everything. How did you..?”
“There was one year when my father had to attend all three nights, so it was just my sister and I. We ran out of rupees trying one of the games, and she was really upset, so I just.. snatched a prize and ran. We climbed onto a roof and stayed there for the rest of the festival, until I was sure he hadn’t sent any soldiers after us. It gave us a pretty good view.”
“You thief!” Zelda accused, giving him a shove. Link bit back a laugh.
“You’re the only person I’ve ever told. So now you’re the holder of some pretty powerful information.”
She hummed in thought and leaned her head against the plushie.
“I could do so much with this. I could tell everyone and finally have my freedom from you.”
“I don’t know if stealing a plushie from a festival booth ten years ago is enough to get me demoted.”
“It’s a serious crime,” but he could hear the laughter in Zelda’s voice. He turned to face her just as the first of the fireworks went off, drowning her in a soft yellow light. Even if he wanted to watch the fireworks, he couldn’t tear his eyes away from her. She was in a category all of her own, and the word beautiful couldn’t describe her in her entirety. 
He could call her hair golden, but it still didn’t capture her richness. He could compare her eyes to emeralds, and it still wouldn’t tell how precious they were. He could say her voice was a melody, and it still couldn’t describe how much he loved the song she sang each time she spoke. With every passing day, she grew more and more into the goddess whose blood she carried in her veins. She radiated a power and displayed a wisdom he’d never seen before, yet it felt so familiar to him that it never surprised him. He could watch her for hours, whether she was studying the Sheikah technology or praying at the foot of a goddess statue (not that he did, obviously, because that was sacred and private). It didn’t feel like a job--it never had. He’d give his life for her over and over again, like it was written into his blood and soul. Like he’d done it before. 
With how far they’d come, Link wondered just how much could one feel for a single person. If he could shield her from the world, he would. But she didn’t need that. Zelda was strong and independent, but what he wouldn’t give to remain by her side for as long as he could.
She took his arm again and rested her head against his shoulder. Her hold was as gentle as she. Her fingers intertwined with his and he gave her hand a small squeeze.
“Link?” 
He hummed to let her know he was listening and ready to answer any question she wanted to ask. 
“What do you want for Hylia’s Day?”
The gift giving tradition held true even to this year, but Link didn’t quite know how to answer her. What he really wanted was her. He wanted her to be happy and safe and secure. He wanted the goddess to respond, and for her powers to awaken so she could just enjoy whatever time they had left. 
Was there a stronger word that fit this feeling than yearning? Yearning for Zelda and her life and her future. 
He bit his cheek in thought, because none of that could be said aloud.
“I want a promise,” he replied at last. “that once this is all over, you’ll keep researching. And that maybe I can stay your knight attendant for as long as you can tolerate me.”
She almost laughed.
“Link.. I can’t promise anything. If I can’t awaken this power, then-“
“You will,” he said, holding her hand tighter. “I believe in you.”
Zelda smiled at him—weak and small, but it still filled him with a warmth that made him feel all the more confident.
“I want a day off to just relax with our friends,” she stated, returning her head to his shoulder.
“All of our friends?”
“Yes, even Revali.”
Link chuckled and shook his head, watching the last of the fireworks pop. He’d never felt more relaxed than he did then. It was like they belonged there. Something about her was so calming that he didn’t want to go back to the castle just yet. 
“Thank you,” she spoke softly into the quieting night. “For tonight.”
He wished he could kiss her.
Instead, he gave her hand a squeeze and said, “Anything you want, Princess. Just say the word.”
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jvstbeau · 3 years
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INTRODUCING.
          (  michael evans behling ,  cis man  ,  he / him  ,  24  ,  n / a  )  it's  the  resident  enigma  of  the  a  -  listers  ,  beau  falcon  !  it  makes  sense  why  all  the  tabloids  call  them  that  —  apparently  ,  they're  super  reserved  and  stubborn  .  stan  twitter  never  shuts  up  about  how  they're  laidback  and  hardworking  too  ,  though  ,  so  i  guess  we'll  never  really  know  .  i'm  not  a  huge  fan  of  the  rangers defenseman & anonymous dj  ,  but  i  remember  seeing  something  online  about  them  this  morning  …  yea  ,  here  it  is  .  it  says  ‘  identity of mysterious dj phenom NIGHTHAVVK exposed ??  ’  .  do  you  think  that's  true  ,  or  did  tmz  get  it  twisted  again  ?  (  ollie  ,  est  ,  23  ,  they / them  ,  n / a  )
HIGHLIGHTS.
          a TWENTY-FOUR year old rising star defenseman on the new york rangers, carving his own way and his own name into the ice — but hockey is a small sport, the least popular of the major four, and often players fall by the wayside save for a precious few : beau is not one of those precious few. but a different version of his name has been on the rise : NIGHTHAVVK, a dj and music producer who no one knows the identity of, just that they released an absolute summer banger with an already well-established artist that spent weeks at the top of the charts. beau has always been able to keep these two worlds separate, but perhaps inevitably, they are going to collide. at heart, he’s just a minnesota boy who grew up loving hockey and music, who chose the sport over the art. he’s laidback, adaptable, not quick to anger — he takes the world one day at a time, and so this he will as well.
THE STORY.
— the happy accident that marked a milestone in the great romance between a swedish architect starting his own firm in the united states and the fierce landscape designer who partnered with him on one of his first projects. beau entered the world smiling and rarely stopped ever since, born and raised in st. paul, minnesota with a childhood that was filled with plenty of love, a good household, and of course, plenty of sports — expect nothing less from the great state of hockey. at his father’s insistence, he also picked up piano at a young age since studies had shown learned a musical instrument to be beneficial to young children’s brain development.
— and so like this the years passed. the change of the seasons dictated more by what sports season it was : soccer, hockey, lacrosse. beau was full of energy and talent ; that much was obvious. by the time high school hit, he made the choice to drop soccer in order to focus more on hockey, something it was obvious he was growing in leaps and bounds in. his sophomore year of high school ( 2012-13 ), he was switched from center to defense, a sign of the times and where the game was going. his musical talent continued to grow as well, though slower, clarinet, guitar, and saxophone added to piano as beau seemed to pick up instruments with the same ease he could skate end to end.
— it was his hockey talent that was noticed and he was scouted to the us national development team program at sixteen ( 2013-14 ). in his second and final year ( 2014-15 ) with them he set records for the most assists in a season and the most assists in a usntdp career. it was during his time with his billet family in plymouth, michigan that beau began to dabble more in music production and digital music, helped along by his billet sister maddie who was the same age as him and her older brother was a graduate of the national team development program. she was a big reason he ended up apply to university of michigan for sound engineering and music production — as well as committing to play for their excellent hockey team.
— that april, he played for the us team at the u18 world championships. he was a huge factor in helping the us team to gold and was named the best defenseman of the tournament. he was then drafted 62nd overall to the rangers that following june in the 2015 nhl draft. beau played out his entire college career with university of michigan, intent of finishing his degree despite the allure of the nhl as the rangers wanted him to leave one year early to play for them. in that time he was a hobey baker finalist twice, and umich made the frozen four once his junior year where they lost in semifinals ( in his hometown of st. paul ).
— he made his nhl debut with the rangers on october 03, 2019. he concluded the season quietly but solidly, putting him in a good position for his sophomore year. he wasn’t a calder finalist, but he placed fifth in the voting. the nhl, despite all the stress and the heavy game and practice schedule, also afforded him a surprisingly amount of free time, in which he continued to produce music. he released two songs during the season and a third the following summer under the name NIGHTHAVVK that placed on the top 100, though not exceedingly highly — it began to amass him a modest following. music remained just a hobby for him, however : after all he had hockey to focus on primarily. music just happened to fill in the gaps. he was careful to keep his two worlds separate, a scant few knowing the whole picture, and wearing a mask at the few places he played at in the off-season.
— it was the 2020-21 season that he truly blossomed in hockey-wise, building on the strong foundation from his first year. his strong worth ethic and talent on the ice was reward at the conclusion of the season when he won the norris trophy at only 23, given to the best defenseman in the league. he was also contacted in january by a well-known artist ( wc maybe?? ) who wanted to collab, an opportunity he wasn’t sure what to do with, but he ultimately decided to meet with them in secret since they were also based in nyc. in june 2021, their collabed song was released and rocketed into the top 5 until it clawed its way to stay there. the seeming overnight fame, shocked beau, and he still hasn’t fully grasped the concept.
— it’d never been that difficult for beau to keep his two interests separate before, but now there’s more people than ever trying to ferret out his true identity : after all, the public loves a good mystery but only so they can solve it, and there are other musicians who want to collab. but the hockey season is coming up soon and that always has and will come first for beau. he wants to shut out all the noise ; who knows. maybe he’ll be successful
MISC.
— it’s not questions of identity that beau finds confusing ; he knows who he is, or at least he thinks that he does. but questions of belonging... those do prose a whole other can of worms. more often than not, beau has found himself caught between two different worlds : biracial, often caught between one or the other ; bisexual, thought not overtly public knowledge ; and now hockey vs music — different paths to fame, though one undoubtedly shines brighter than the other ( and not necessarily in a way that’s more alluring ). all beau has ever wanted to do was to do what he loved — but things are rarely as simple as that in the world.
— the musical instruments he’s proficient in are piano, guitar, clarinet, and sax. obviously he can read music and he has an incredibly good ear for what “sounds good,” has near perfect pitch, and often has new innovative ideas for beats and melodies. what he cannot do is.... actually sing. he likes to at times ( in the car, in the shower ), but he’s certainly no singer and has no desire to be one — his musical prowess remains behind the scenes. he pulls inspiration from swedish house music he heard while growing up, as well as edm and electric dance music.
— HOCKEY : he is a RHD and wears #79. he’s considered a very gifted offensive defenseman, much of his time as a center helping to translate to being a more effective defenseman. a superb skater and very much a playmaker, driving offense from the blueline and often breaking up opposing team’s offense before they enter the zone. he’s aggressive on pucks at the boards, not afraid to use his size when he has to, though he wouldn’t be considered a purely physical dman. he also quarterbacks the first powerplay unit. considered one of the blueprints for the future of the game as it get faster and relies on offensive dmen.
— he didn’t grow up bilingual, but in high school he started to make more of an effort to try to learn swedish. it came easier to him, thanks to his existing prowess in music, and thanks to his father who could help him practice ( and then later on, teammates at umich and on the rangers ). he still isn’t fluent by any means ( he struggles with reading and writing especially ), but he can hold a verbal conversation fairly well. and curse, of course.
— a mediocre cook really. capable of following a recipe but finds little joy in it. he used up all his creativity on music.
— he lives in an apartment building two blocks from msg, and spent the past off-season in new york, only returning back to st paul for a couple weeks. his trainer lives in new york, and though he’s still trying to figure out what to do with his quickly growing music career, it seemed the best advice and opportunities would come if he remained in new york. besides, he’d be paying for it still anyway.
— the headline in his app isn’t true btw lol. they didn’t get it right and so far, no one has come all that close. he isn’t about to be lulled into a sense of security about it though.
— as far as his fame goes... it’s an odd one. he only gets recognized on the street by hockey fans, of course, and though that’s often, it’s hardly out of control and he general public doesn’t find him interesting enough. his social media presence is a little dull, what can he say. in contrast, his NIGHTHAVVK accounts are growing rapidly. he likes it that way but... who knows.
— he has his mom’s last name. he learned early on that falcon-gudmundsson wasn’t going to fit on the back of a jersey.
— inspirations :       beau draws from a patchwork consisting of mi.ka ziban.ejad my beloved ( for the dj nhler inspo ), k’andre mi.ller ( general && used in graphics ), and adam f.ox ( successes and styles of play ). yes they’re all current rangers ; needless to say, in this verse no version of TDA exists and the rangers are the better organization.
PERSONALITY.
— beau learned early on that friendliness and a smile can get you pretty far in life : all without revealing too much that’s close to your chest. it worked when he was ten and it still works now at twenty-four. he’s a quieter sole, preferring to do his own thing and the things he loves rather than seeking out the spotlight. sometimes the spotlight comes along with the things he loves, and well, beau doesn’t care for it, but he accepts that burden with as much grace as he can. and with a well-practiced smile.
— he’s considered an enigma in both of his differing careers, ironically. most obviously in his dj-ing and music production, because he keeps his identity there kept under tight wraps — something that’s proven only more difficult with his rising, unexpected popularity. but there are plenty who know him as beau that would still consider him just as mysterious and hidden behind some pretty colored curtains. make no mistake, beau isn’t disingenuous, nor is his kindness, but it takes a lot and a certain kind of person for him to divulge many of his secrets.
— interviews don’t phase him, and reporters often have neutral feelings on him in that regard. he’ll never give that story spinning golden quote, and he’s quick to relay on hockey interview stock phrases when his mind goes blank. the national team taught him well. he’s not quite a robot, injecting enough of his personality to be slightly interesting, but it’s obvious to some that he sees talking to media as a necessary part of the job.
— behind the scenes, beau isn’t quick to anger. he lets plenty rush past him, though that hasn’t always come easily. that ability to remain calm under pressure has served him well on and off the ice, and he knows the difference between not rising to bait and allowing yourself to be walked over. he doesn’t have a life plan, often preferring to take things as they come. if he’s learned anything lately, it’s that he can’t predict much of anything.
— beau is a hard worker, and his stubbornness often comes into play here too. when he does want something, he’ll work hard to achieve it : hockey is a good example of that. even with all the doubts that surround him, the culture that it tends to have, all these things suggesting no, he forged ahead anyway. he’s not one for speeches, but perhaps someday he could be. the downsides to this are he sometimes doesn’t know when to stop and when he’s been overextended, and it’s often someone else —a trusted friend or mentor—  who has to remind him when to pull back.
— not unlike a cat at times : beautiful, regal, and capable of being delightfully stupid at times. when he chooses his people he will be tactile with them, always open to hugs and physical reassurance. but when he needs alone time ; he needs alone time.
APPEARANCE.
— 6′2″ ( 197 lbs ) ; a strong build
— STYLE : casual, relaxed but fashionable clothing when it’s day-to-day. the clean and simple european style of his teammates has rubbed off on him : slim fit pants, neutral colors, nice jackets. still loves his sweatshirts but isn’t one go to out in a sweatpants / sweatshirt pairing. it’s not really due to any public perception since he has very little as beau falcon, but he feels better when he’s better dressed. isn’t afraid to experiment when it comes to his suits and patterns. unofficially on the nhl’s best dressed list for his pre-game drips.
— TATTOOS: none
— SCARS : outer left elbow ( slightly lighter than the rest of his skin a couple inches long ; souvenir from a hockey accident )
— PINTEREST: tba...
OOC.
          wassup fam. i’m ollie ( 23, they / them, est ). my connections ( wanted and taken ) are over here so feel free to peruse that too !!
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whump-town · 4 years
Text
Too Close
I’m ending my super shitty day on a positive note: Hotchniss
Retirement was supposed to mean that the danger is gone.
“This is SSA Emily Prentiss.” She’s trying to wrap up her paperwork for the afternoon. Not that anything thus far is going according to plan. She’s about thirty minutes from just texting her husband and telling him that there’s no way she’s making it home in time for hot passionate sex and Jurassic Park when she gets a call. It’s to her office phone so she’s assuming it’s not Aaron calling to whine that she hasn’t left yet.
The voice on the other line is unfamiliar. “Hi, ma’am,” the voice greets. “I’m calling in regards to your husband, Aaron Hotchner.” That immediately strikes Emily as strange. Hotch hasn’t worked for the better part of the last year. Calls have pretty much stopped coming for him and even the ones that do don’t connect her to him in regards to their marriage. 
“Your husband suffered a cardiac arrest this afternoon--”
Shock factor aside, she doesn’t drop the phone. She’s gotten all kinds of awful news over the phone. Stories about babies being mutilated and killed. Women being raped and tortured. This is… They can’t be compared. They’re not at all the same. Hearing those awful harrowing things does nothing to dull the way her throat gets tight. 
The voice drones on and Emily’s barely, if at all, able to keep herself together.
“Saint Sebastian,” she repeats back to the woman on the other end. The same hospital Foyet left him at. 
The other woman on the line hums an affirmation. She keeps talking. Something about the ICU and visiting hours but Emily already knows she’s going into that hospital, guns blazing with her badge for everyone to see. Aaron was FBI and all it takes is one phone call to the right people and she can get anything she wants.
And right now all she wants is her husband.
“Bella--” she looks up, blinking away tears she hadn’t realized were falling. Dave is standing in her doorway, pulling his hands out of his pockets as he gets a full view of her shaking body. “Emily, what’s wrong?” Whatever it is that he’d wanted it thrown out the door as he moves to her side.
She stares down at the phone in her hands. 
Retirement was supposed to mean he’s safe.
“Aaron had a heart attack.”
Matt and Luke only know Aaron from brief interactions. 
Given that the couple has lunch together frequently, an easy way to make up the time they’ve spent apart and a good excuse for Hotch to get out of the house, the team sees a lot of him. He rarely speaks once he hits the doors, offering friendly nods to Tara, Reid, JJ, Garcia, or Dave. Matt had only just found himself on the receiving end of one of those nods. After the two men spent an afternoon at Dave’s bonding over chaotic sons. 
Luke just gets a flat look. It brings Garcia deep joy that Luke is willing to do just about anything to get a nod from Hotch and her old boss won’t give him the time of day. 
They don’t really know Hotch but they understand how important he is to the others.
It takes Emily a moment to find the nerve to speak the words. To tell the other’s what has happened. Her hands are trembling at her sides and tears are threatening to fall. She won’t let them, not yet. It’s no surprise that the other’s don’t hold back. 
They don’t really know Hotch but they know how important he is to Emily. They’ve all heard his voice on the other end of a line, comforting Emily as she sits as far as she can from the others on the jet. They’ve come home to find him standing in the bullpen, standing silent and still for as long as Emily wants in a bearhug. 
Matt is the first person to make a noise other than stifling sobs or muffled gasps. He offers her a small, comfortable smile, “I can drive you.” 
Emily nods and forces herself to swallow against the panic bubbling up her chest. “Uhm okay,” she can work with that. “Pen?” Garcia looks up. “I need you and Luke to go to my house and get Jack and a bag for Aaron.” Emily spaces for a moment… What else do they need? How long will he even be in the hospital? She doesn’t even know how bad he is--
“Hotch still keeps a go-bag,” Dave continues. “It’ll be right by the door.” He waits for the nods that mean they understand. “Good,” he surmises. “Reid, JJ, Tara-- stay here. Hold the fort down.” He takes Emily around the shoulders, guiding her to the elevator. He can feel her tension, can see her fear. 
He can’t find it within himself to put aside his own fear to comfort her.
That’s his kid. 
These are his kids.
The pair are stopped before they get too far in the cardiac ward.
Matt’s waiting in the parking lot, waiting for a text from Dave.
They only allow her back. His condition is critical and it’s borne out of the admission that his cardiac output is worrisome. It’s not severe but it needs to be steadily monitored for the next day, maybe longer. For now, they don’t even want Emily back there but badges and the tears streaming down her face buy her one ticket back.
He’s sleeping. 
Out of habit, she draws the blankets around his waist to his chin. He gets cold when he’s sleeping. His body heats everything around him like a furnace but he likes the feeling of the weight of the blanket across his chest. Without it, he shivers. She can’t be certain if he’s actually cold but what she does know is that he won’t rest well if he’s not able to wrap his lean body around her own like a cat. 
Docile. 
He sleeps for hours and she does her best to distract herself as best as she can. It works, more or less.
“I was wondering when you’d get here.”
She looks up from her book to find him staring back at her. She moves closer to him, book forgotten. It’s fine, she wasn’t really reading it anyway. She could get as far as a paragraph before she became distracted by nearly anything in the room. Her thoughts just kept drifting back to him. To what it would mean to lose him. 
And she nearly did. 
For a moment she’s struck as to which personality she’s to show. The doting wife who warned him? She did. Over and over, more a mantra than a proper warning, but every day they had this conversation. Not so much coffee. Go to be bed earlier. Stop worrying over small things. 
The partner? They haven’t been to that level in some time. It’s a shield they’d worn during Foyet and Doyle. Partners. Much more of a, “I told you” than a proper “I almost lost you”. It allowed them the proximity they craved from one another while keeping up a friendly rouse for the others. Besides the notion that neither were prepared to admit their feelings.
Or can she just be scared?
A terrified wife. Not a unit chief. Not the work equivalent of a best friend. Just a wife.
“Em,” his hand trembles on the bed where he lays it. Palm up and waiting for her to take it. She does. Her own hand much softer than his and for a moment, she just sits and rubs her hand against his. Thinking about what it would mean to slowly forget the way it feels to hold his hand. 
She collects herself slowly. Just having him close is doing the job pretty well. She has to stand up to reach him but she presses her hips against the guardrail and leans down, cupping his cheek in her hand as she kisses him. Despite her best efforts, she starts to cry. 
Their lips are still pressed together when the first tear falls, Hotch feels it hit his face. “Em,” it’s all he can do remain where he is. The pain he feels in his chest the moment he lifts his shoulders is overwhelming. A strangled sound leaves his mouth, his body tensing. It’s overwhelming for a moment too long and as the black clouds in his vision fade away he realizes he’s simply made it worse.
The feeling of her cold hand in his.. nearly lost forever.
“You have to take it easy,” she admonishes gently. She simply doesn’t have the heart or the energy to fuss with him right now. Not when all she wants is to hold him in her arms. And how long will she have to wait for that? Before he can lay on his stomach and rest across her chest. To be held and loved within her arms. 
The bags under his eyes are worse than they ever were when he was an agent but the smile on his face comes easily. They can deny and fight it all they want but retirement has been kind to him. It’s made him happier. “Emily,” he whispers her name the same way he always has. His chest caving in like he’s in shock that a name like hers can be spoken by a man like him. “Can’t a husband fake a cardiac arrest so that his gorgeous wife can come to rescue him? Huh?”
She tuts, shaking her head and looking away from him. She hates his stupid humor and more than that she hates that he’s joking. That he’s trying to cheer her up.
“You haven’t been paying me any attention,” he pouts and she’s amazed to find that’s where Jack gets it from. “What was I to do, my love?”
My love. 
That bastard.
She leans back against the guard rail, the metal digging into her hips painfully. “Well,” she returns, “how about you try asking your gorgeous wife to lunch, hmm?” She strokes back a strand of his peppered hair. He’s going to make a very good silver fox. “Or,” she adds, “you can take me to dinner. No more cardiac arrests, though, okay? Dramatic flares have never really been my thing.”
He reaches between them and rests a trembling palm against her cheek, his eyes darting between hers. “Promise,” he whispers and they both know that it’s not that simple but it’s a start.
“Do you,” she leans down and kisses him, pulling back so that their lips still brush as she speaks. “Do you, also, promise to behave for the physical therapist, nutritionist, and cardiologist?”
He groans.
“Aaron,” she warns.
He grumbles, rolls his eyes, but nods. “I’ll behave.”
She kisses him, “good.” She runs a finger over his cheekbone, “I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
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turtle-paced · 3 years
Text
A:tLA Re-Watch: Fine-Toothed Comb Edition
Another long recap. Seriously, I doubt they’ll all be this long, especially when we hit some of the season one standalone episodes.
Book 1, Chapter 2 - The Avatar Returns
(0:33) Picking up with the new material in the intro to every episode in the series from this point forward. Aang’s status as the Avatar was shown to the viewer, but not internally revealed (to anyone but Zuko). Now the intro’s just going “yeah Aang’s the Avatar.”
(0:43) Again we’ve got that super-efficient outline of the series’ premise. Fire Nation attacking, Avatar needed, Aang not yet up to the job.
(0:46) But where the first episode panned over that empty spire while Katara said she had hope that the Avatar would return, now we pan up over Aang on top of that spire whille Katara says that she believes in Aang.
(2:34) Aang and Katara return under the still-visible signal flare to a decidedly mixed reaction from the village. While the kids are thrilled Aang’s back, the adults are much less keen.
(3:02) The discussion about intentional signalling of the Fire Navy vs. unintentional signalling of the Fire Navy boils down to the cold hard fact that Aang and Katara did something risky, and now the whole village is in danger.
(3:06) Aang, sweetheart that he is, steps in to deflect blame from Katara.
(3:20) The conflict between Katara and Sokka from the first episode reappears, since they never actually resolved it. Sokka thinks that Aang’s deliberately drawing the Fire Nation to them, and that the village is better off if Aang leaves. Katara thinks that Aang is not a spy, and objects to the hostility shown to a stranger. And neither of them are still wholly right or wholly wrong.
More broadly speaking, however, we’ve got two major protagonists in a serious conflict. Avatar lets its major characters disagree and argue according to their priorities. Here, doing right by others is a priority for Katara in a way it isn’t for Sokka. Likewise, her desire to find a waterbending teacher is completely alien to her brother. Sokka’s priority is Katara, and his words show how he’s gone about living up to the duty placed on him by their father.
Speaking of, that’s a heavy thing to lay on a kid. Sokka had to pick up adult duties too. Sokka himself might not see it at this point, but this is one of the most serious ways the Water Tribe patriarchy’s screwed him. Rather than the adult women taking charge and letting Sokka learn and grow, it became Sokka’s responsibility to do the man stuff. (Worth mentioning that the problems with the gendered division of labour hit Katara even earlier, but that’s a discussion for season three. It’s messed up whichever way you slice it.)
(3:29) Katara’s arguments (that Aang has brought fun to the South Pole) build naturally on the events of the previous episode, because we’ve seen Aang interacting with the kids in the village and making everyone smile.
(3:47) Gran-Gran, who despite the patriarchy is still clearly an authority figure, does not side with Katara. Thus far, the show’s done a lot from Katara’s PoV. Her PoV is the central PoV to this point, giving us the background, following the disruption to her routine with her brother as she brings her guest to the village. But being passionate and sympathetic doesn’t automatically get people with their own interests to change their minds. And though we’re being put in Katara’s shoes, to sympathise with her over Sokka right now, it’s real hard to totally condemn Sokka and Gran-Gran for wanting the village and Katara herself to stay as safe as possible. At the very least, they’re not arbitrarily throwing Aang out into what they know to be a hostile environment. They’ve got established reasons.
(3:52) Learning to waterbend matters so much to Katara that she’s willing to drop everything and leave home on a sour note and in a moment of temper. It’s worth noting here that she’s the one driving this, literally leading Aang over to Appa.
(4:10) Sokka asks if Katara would really choose Aang over her own tribe and family, and Katara stops, conflicted. One of the sweetest things over the course of season one (and something I’ll discuss more next episode) is how this ceases to be a conflict.
(4:14) And Aang, who is such a sweetheart, doesn’t want to force Katara to make this sort of choice. This is the starting point: no matter how immediate their connection, a friendship of a few days is not worth cutting off family and community for, not in Aang’s mind.
(4:30) “Guess I’ll go back home and look for the airbenders.” Try not to think of the hypothetical where Aang was alone when he arrived at the Southern Air Temple.
(4:45) Appa continues to refuse to fly, and continues to build up to the punchline.
(5:21) Katara’s angry rejection of her grandmother’s attempts to comfort her show in miniature something that’s very important for the storytelling in this series: emotional inertia and continuity. The action of this scene resolved with Aang’s departure, but Katara’s own feelings about what this represented for her desire to learn did not. They carry over to her interactions with other characters and inform her actions until she finally gets the resolution she was after (at the end of the season).
The writers account for their characters’ experiences and longstanding motivations. These things might take a backseat to whatever’s immediately demanding their attention, but it’s there, and it influences how they act and react from scene to scene. This is harder than it sounds with the episodic structure and multiple writers. The writing in this series was a team effort.
(5:50) Aang and Appa take a break in a random ice formation. “Yeah, I liked her too,” says Aang. Sad on first watch, but in context of ‘The Storm’ and indeed the series finale, Aang was feeling alienated from his peers since the reveal he’s the Avatar, and he still walked away from that sort of peer relationship and a high chance of wacky adventures. Because he knew that the course of action Katara was proposing would hurt her.
When Yangchen tells Aang that selfless duty calls for him to sacrifice his own spiritual needs, we know he’s capable of doing so, because right from the start we’ve seen him sacrifice his needs for others. (Though I’ll save discussion of what sacrificing his own spiritual needs actually means for much, much later.)
(6:00) The action in these episodes leading up to this conflict is so simple, but it’s the result of such nice, neat plotting, all informed by what these characters want and what these characters know. To recap:
Zuko was looking for the Avatar. The beam of light from the iceberg caught his attention, but he didn’t have an exact location, so he started looking around more carefully, a thing that takes time. In that time, Aang (who was avoiding information about the war) and Katara (who’s nowhere near as paranoid about Fire Nation attacks as her brother) did something important to them - had fun. In the process they took an inadvisable risk and attracted attention. This gave Zuko the information he needed and resulted in him heading towards the village. Meanwhile, the characters who are more worried about Fire Nation attacks took an action that made sense for them in asking Aang to leave. But since that happened out of Zuko’s sight, he doesn’t know that, and keeps heading for the village.
Not hideously complicated. But everyone’s actions make sense from their own perspective.
Also, shout out to Aang here, who just learned the Fire Nation are the aggressors in a hundred-year war, who just got kicked out of the village, and who, upon seeing the Fire Nation advancing on the village, goes right back to help without a second thought.
(6:07) Brief montage of Sokka and Zuko each preparing for a fight. Aside from the fact that it’s pretty grotesque for these teenage boys to be gearing up for war, the contrast between Zuko receiving assistance in putting on armour and Sokka kneeling alone in a tiny tent to prepare himself is striking. One of these parties has more resources than the other.
(6:44) Sokka stands alone on the wall of the village. Thus far he’s been suspicious and sexist, and arguably takes himself and his duties too seriously, but at crunch time he gives his duties the appropriate weight.
(7:20) Zuko’s ship emerges from the mist, towering over Sokka. The shot and his repeated “Oh, man,” does quite a bit to convey just how futile fighting back is here.
(7:39) She might not be fighting, but Katara’s not sitting around doing nothing. Aside from rescuing this kid from a tumble into breaking ice, she’s also been trying to get the elders in the village out of the way.
(8:29) Zuko and henchmen appear at the top of the gangplank, fully armoured. Very pointy. Most of Zuko’s soldiers throughout this scene have their faceplates down. From the Water Tribe’s perspective, these people are terrifying and mostly faceless.
(8:42) Having faced down a ship a hell of a lot bigger than he is, knowing that this is probably going to be useless, Sokka tries to physically defend his village anyway. He’s quickly and rather comically kicked away into a snowbank.
(8:59) And after that scary introduction, crashing into the village, neatly dispatching Sokka, we get, “Where are you hiding him?”
It’s easily missable, precisely because Zuko’s crashed into the village and is legitimately, intentionally terrifying our protagonists, but. Think about how Azula would have opened her speech here. Zuko’s a scary antagonist here, but he’s still socially awkward, forgetting to mention who he’s looking for, or why, or even who he himself is. He’s gone straight to the point. Social niceties? Never heard of ‘em! (Pro tip: ‘breaking the ice’ is supposed to be a metaphor.) Sometimes Zuko communicates beautifully. Other times…
(9:08) Zuko roughly grabs Gran-Gran and reveals one of his mistaken assumptions. He’s looking for an old Avatar. Not that he’s outright said ‘I am looking for the Avatar.’ 
(9:24) Sokka makes another attempt at defending his village from the guy who’s crashed into it, assaulted Sokka’s grandmother, and brandished fire in their general direction. Once again Zuko deals with him easily enough, but -
(9:31) As Sokka rolls to his feet and throws his boomerang, it stops being quite so comical. The viewers know what a boomerang does. So does Sokka, we can see that from his expression. Zuko, however, dismisses it.
(9:55) Then, even after Sokka’s been knocked over for the third time in two minutes, the boomerang comes back and clocks Zuko in the back of the head. Giving Sokka a boomerang as his weapon of choice was a great idea. An unconventional weapon for an unconventional thinker.
(10:06) The undignified boomerang thing is followed up by Aang’s dynamic entrance on a penguin, bowling Zuko right off his feet with his helmet flying into the air and landing comically on his butt. 
When we get other villains, we’ll see how unusual this treatment is. Avatar has plenty of humour in it, but the threat that its villains pose is a serious matter. The show certainly doesn’t pretend that Zuko did nothing wrong - explicitly points out that he did plenty wrong, multiple times, in fact - but it does use humour to distinguish several of Zuko’s villainous efforts from those typical of other longstanding antagonists.
(10:28) Sokka’s utterly deadpan “Hi, Aang. Thanks for coming” is just delightful to me.
(10:44) Aang makes a show of airbending snow onto the soldiers and asks, “Looking for me?” This is either a remarkably insightful guess from Aang or another minor inconsistency. How does Aang know who or what Zuko is looking for? Has he been in earshot since the nine-minute mark? If so, what’s he been doing? Looking for a penguin?
I tend to run on the ‘remarkably insightful guess’ assumption, which reconciles the potential inconsistency. Aang knows he’s the Avatar, after all. Yet again I’m going to reference what he knows from ‘The Storm’, where he absolutely knew that the monks were getting worried about a war.
(10:49) Zuko finally says the word “Avatar” and connects the two parts of the series’ title for us. The Avatar is the last airbender. And vice versa. It is, however, a reveal to Katara and Sokka. Cut to commercial break.
(10:57) Aang and Zuko start circling each other, Zuko helpfully informing the viewers that he’s been on the Avatar hunt for literal years.
(11:04) When Zuko calls Aang a child, Aang does not take offence. (Like I said last episode, Aang knows he’s a kid.) He does, however, point out that Zuko’s a teenager. So. By this point, the viewer knows that Zuko has been looking for the Avatar for years. The viewer knows how long the Avatar’s been missing. The viewer knows that Zuko expected the Avatar to be an extremely powerful master of all elements. The viewer knows that Zuko needs to capture the Avatar, that his honour depends on it.
Halfway through episode two, the viewer’s got the bare bones of what they need to start asking some pointed questions about Zuko’s backstory.
(11:13) At this point of the show, Aang is clearly uncomfortable fighting in earnest. He doesn’t strike back and simply defends.
(11:17) The potential of fire to hurt people nearby through accidents is clear as Aang hears the villagers behind him scream at his deflection. So Aang finishes dissipating the fireball and then offers to go with Zuko, on condition that Zuko leaves the village alone.
(11:28) Zuko nods. He stops attacking and leaves without another word to the villagers or another threatening gesture, Aang in custody. This is very initial setup for Zuko’s eventual heel face turn. He’s scary and destructive, his goals are not friendly to the people trying to fight invaders in their homeland, and he doesn’t seem to see the issue with roughing people up a bit and breaking their stuff in pursuit of his goals, but he is, at least, true to his word. He isn’t actively malicious.
The setup’s also more for the viewer than for Aang, Katara, and Sokka right now. Together with the PoV of Zuko that we’ve already had, we’re starting to get the picture of an awkward, angry, teenager crashing into things both literally and metaphorically, hurting others and himself, in the unhealthy pursuit of something that may or may not be just the Avatar. 
(11:45) I love that Aang asks Katara to look after Appa for him. He thinks of Appa’s wellbeing and trusts Katara with it.
(11:48) Zuko’s order to set a course to the Fire Nation, with the accompanying line “I’m going home,” is yet another thing that hurts more on the rewatch.
(11:58) Aang’s brave face visibly fails as the gangway draws back up after him. Commercial break #2!
(12:10) Establishing shot of the damage done to the Water Tribe village. There’s the hole in the ice shelf. Hole in their one actual building. Knocked-over tents. We cut to the villagers doing a bit of manual labour to get their homes and structures back in working order.
(12:31) Katara looks out to sea and says that they have to go after the ship and free Aang. The ship that just crashed into their village. To fight the guy who just kicked Sokka’s ass. Because it’s the right thing to do.
Meanwhile, in the background, Sokka’s walking back and forth with stuff in his arms.
(12:45) Katara continues to argue that they owe Aang for his help, and that she and Sokka should both go. Which is when the punchline kicks in - Sokka’s been loading a canoe so they could. While he and Katara are on the same page as far as saving Aang goes, this is probably the first instance of Sokka’s developing “plan guy” tendencies. Practical stuff.
(12:53) Episode two and already there are “he is not my boyfriend!” jokes. It’s also something that makes Katara and Sokka’s relationship feel like an actual sibling relationship, with the genuine and open affection transitioning into giving each other a hard time in seconds.
(12:59) Gran-Gran comes up behind Katara and Sokka and pulls exactly the same joke as Sokka did seconds ago. Surprise, she doesn’t disapprove! She wants to help her grandchildren rescue Aang! Looks like everyone was convinced that Aang wasn’t a spy, and that everyone broadly accepts Katara’s argument that the tribe owes Aang.
(13:26) Then there’s the whole Avatar thing. As Gran-Gran says, the Avatar is the world’s only chance. This is now an issue bigger than their village. “You both found him for a reason. Now your destinies are intertwined with his,” she says.
Narratively, the same principle applies to Zuko as well. He could have been sailing anywhere, but he’s right there in the South Pole, looking in the right direction at the right time.
(13:37) Katara points out that there’s no way they’re going to catch a warship with a canoe. For the vast majority of the series, transport is a consistent concern as the characters travel from place to place. The advantages and disadvantages of flying show up. The difficult of walking places shows up. Right here we start with the fact that the canoe’s just not going to cut it. Which is when Appa shows up from after his nap.
(13:53) “This staff will make an excellent gift for my father,” Zuko says. Which is our first indirect reference to Ozai. It also shows that Zuko is thinking of pleasing his father.
Note also that Zuko calls it a staff and Aang does not correct him.
(14:07) Zuko rather rudely shoves Aang’s glider at Iroh with a brusque order to take it to his quarters; Iroh rather more politely asks the nearest soldier to do it instead. Again, Iroh doesn’t go along with Zuko’s poor treatment of him - Iroh’s not there to fetch and carry for Zuko.
(14:25) “I guess you’ve never fought an airbender before.” Aang can get his head around the fact that there aren’t many airbenders around any more. He was planning to go look for more airbenders earlier. He used his airbending to prove his identity to Zuko. But what he hasn’t grasped just yet is why there are no airbenders left.
(14:31) Aang bets he could take both Fire Nation guards out with both hands tied behind his back. He can! But what we see in the next minute or so is Aang’s real forte - evasion. He knocks both guards over with an airbending-charged sneeze and runs for it.
(14:53) As we see, the guard Aang knocks over is back on his feet in seconds, none the worse for wear. This is a kids’ show, you can’t be having the protagonists killing people right and left, but this is integrated into Aang’s fighting style and character to the benefit of the story as a whole. Right now it’s making for a tense fight scene, one Aang versus a shipful of Fire Nation soldiers.
(15:09) Katara is very much the positive reinforcement sort of person. Rather than Sokka’s cynicism, she tries to encourage Appa into flying, both because Aang needs them and because she believes in Appa.
(15:29) Meanwhile, Sokka recalls the one prompt Aang gave Appa to fly, more than a day ago. Good listening, Sokka.
(15:38) Appa flies!
(15:42) And cynical Sokka shouts with excitement. Sokka does have that sense of wonder Katara does, but a bit more deeply buried.
(15:46) Katara gives him an excellent told-you-so look (siblings!). Even though Sokka tries to play it cool for her after his loss of composure, he still gives another little smile and eager look down for the viewer afterwards. Commercial break!
(16:08) Aang’s response to armed men facing him down with swords in a narrow corridor is to ask them if they’ve seen his staff (he’s still calling it a staff, no hinting at the glider function), and then to avoid fighting them even as he pursues his objective. Ditto the firebender who tries to blast him. The most Aang does is knock people over.
(16:34) Aang bursts in on Iroh’s quarters, where Iroh is asleep. Sure is convenient that the best fighter on the ship by a large margin is taking a nap right through this alarm and all this shouting in echoey metal corridors, isn’t it.
I mean, I don’t know that Iroh is faking. It’s just awfully coincidental, that’s all.
(16:39) Check the angle on the door here. Look at how little space there is behind it.
(16:47) It turns out that Zuko was in that tiny, tiny space the viewer couldn’t see. He also shuts the door to limit Aang’s ability to evade.
(16:58) We get a decent shot of Zuko’s quarters here. He has a nice table for meditation. He’s got some hangings, a reed mat on the floor, and some hangings. And right on the edge of the shot, he’s got a pair of swords.
(17:09) Aang still hasn’t thrown a punch or made any sort of attempt to strike back. Again, he knocked over those first two guards with a sneeze, not an actual blow.
(17:33) Ah, the counteroffensive from Aang. Wrapping an opponent in a wall hanging. Zuko burns through it - the first thing in his room that he’s actually set on fire, by the way, despite throwing a lot of fireballs around over wall hangings and flammable floor coverings.
(17:41) Aang finally actually counterattacks, launching a mattress at Zuko to knock him into a wall. Twice. And then he runs again while Zuko’s stunned and prone. It looks to me like Aang is not at all comfortable with hitting people directly.
(18:03) Hope spot as Aang launches his glider to escape.
(18:05) Literally brought down by Zuko leaping out into the air, well above the metal deck of his ship. If Zuko hadn’t caught Aang, he was going splat. Complete disregard for his own safety. And somehow not the most ridiculously unsafe thing he does in the process of chasing Aang this season. 
It’s one thing to tell us that Zuko’s been hunting the Avatar for years. It’s another to show us Zuko jumping out of what, the third storey? in order to get a single hand on Aang’s heel as he flies away.
(18:26) Socially awkward Zuko rears his head again as he actually gets distracted for a second by Appa’s appearance.
(18:49) Repeated fireballs from Zuko succeed in knocking Aang into polar waters.
(19:00) Mysterious glowing kicks in, as well as the theme music, and Aang comes to the surface waterbending.
(19:20) And in the Avatar state, Aang simply knocks all the soldiers off the deck. Doesn’t look like the kid whose most aggressive moves in the past three minutes were sneezing and throwing a mattress, does it?
(19:45) The mysterious glowing taps Aang right out of energy, leaving Katara, Sokka and Appa to finish the rescue here.
(19:58) Sokka goes to pick up Aang’s staff and runs into Zuko, who wasted no time getting out of the cold water and climbing up the side of the ship. This time, however, Sokka’s got the advantage. He pokes Zuko in the face with the end of the staff and knocks him back again.
(20:17) Katara tries waterbending in combat for the first time. It doesn’t go so well, accidentally freezing Sokka to the deck. She turns to try the move she just worked out on the Fire Nation soldiers rushing her with spears, because she’s got some real strong nerves.
(20:44) Now that everyone’s on the bison and there are no soldiers on deck, Iroh wanders out. First thing he does is go help Zuko back onto the deck.
(20:56) Iroh matches Zuko’s fireball in an attempt to shoot Appa down.
(21:05) And who could have foreseen it, but Aang deflects it! Right into the side of a glacier.
(21:25) If Iroh was trying to impress on Zuko that Aang’s just a child, he missed the mark. (Given Zuko’s relationship with Azula…) Zuko points out that kid or not, Aang just buried their ship. We leave our antagonists as Zuko orders the ship dug out and the Avatar followed.
(21:43) Meanwhile, somewhere in the sky, Katara has questions for Aang. Her first relate to waterbending, how? Aang, however, has no conscious knowledge of waterbending. So even though he’s the Avatar, he’s on similar footing to Katara when it comes to that particular skill.
(21:55) More seriously, Katara wants to know why Aang didn’t tell them he was the Avatar, and Aang’s answer “because I never wanted to be” is an important one. We’ve seen his courage and his selflessness. We can reason out that it’s not the actual saving of the day that he minds.
Aang doesn’t want the responsibility. He wants to be free.
(22:17) Katara gently points out that the entire world needs the Avatar to end the war. Aang doesn’t know how he’s going to do it. He’s got no idea how to tackle this problem (nor much emotional preparednesss to do so).
(22:23) In response to Aang’s despondence, Katara sets out the general outline of what Aang needs to do, and therefore the plan for the rest of the series. Aang has to master water, then earth, then fire. The plan for the rest of the season is to learn waterbending.
(22:31) “We could learn [waterbending] together!” Aang says. Again, the full context of this is that Aang (very much an extrovert) was abruptly excluded from airbending games by his same-age friends when they found out he was the Avatar. That’s the other thing Aang doesn’t want about being the Avatar - being set apart from others. We can start to see that in his eagerness to learn with Katara.
(22:33) As for Sokka, what he gets out of the trip is basically some fighting. Unlike Aang and Katara, he doesn’t have a clearly defined end goal here. Nor a clearly defined role in the group as yet.
(22:50) Aang insists that they stop a few places before going to learn waterbending. Mostly these places involve riding large animals. Again we’ve got the good and the bad here - Aang needs to make time for himself and it’s good that he makes time for himself, but he also can’t duck his responsibilities forever. Whether or not he wanted those responsibilities in the first place.
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Text
Vengeance and Ambition
This was supposed to be a full story with Fawful and King Boo being victorious in the end. I was super excited for it because it's my 2 fav Mario villains teaming up and winning. But then it slowly dawned on me that no one would care in large part because Fawful's not a popular character. And while I have no issues writing solely for myself (I stopped expecting any kind of substantial interaction with my writing a while ago now) how hard Fawful's dialogue is to write (I don't even know if I did it right but I tried my best) makes the fact that virtually no one's gonna read it quite demotivating, killing my enthusiasm. So, because I still really like the idea and worked hard on this part, I decided to just upload this.
~
Fawful came to as if waking from a long sleep, slowly regaining consciousness. Which… wasn’t right. One would expect oblivion on the other side of exploding what was left of the Dark Star’s power within themself. He’d been dying anyway so might as well go out with a bang and bring his enemies down too. But nope, he opened his eyes to see that he was in the courtyard of Peach’s castle, very much still aware. Which included awareness that something was wrong with his body.
A quick look down at himself confirmed his growing suspicions. He was transparent and floating, his body tapered off into a tail instead of legs. He was a ghost; dead but not gone… free of the Dark Star’s power though. Presumably it had dissipated, leaving him here, powerless and defeated again. … Maybe not entirely though; his foes could still be dead, he had to exploded himself right in front of them, there was no possible way they’d escaped… right?
What if they’d also become ghosts though? … He’d deal with that problem if and when it presented itself. He didn’t even know the criteria for when or why someone turned into a ghost upon death.
So, eager to know the full outcome of his last-ditch efforts for at least a partial victory, he started for the castle. Floating along was quite simple, it was just a matter of wanting and choosing to move forward. He could even ascend and descend freely; so much more convenient than his usual means of levitation.
Where the final encounter had gone down, he wasn’t sure, but judging based off the position of the sun in the sky it was late morning. In his last clear memories, it had been past sundown. Meaning he’d lost some time and thus whatever or whoever was left after his explosion would’ve likely been cleared away by now. With no clear leads on where to start looking for what he wanted to know, he’d head for the throne room first.
He was in luck, Peach was there. Along with her elderly Toad advisor and… the red and green plumbers. They were alive and well, seemingly undamaged by Fawful’s explosion. Ugh! Twice now they’d beat him down and took away everything he’d had, coming away unscathed from it. How? He’d worked and planned so hard to get them out of the way while he took over the Mushroom Kingdom. It had been the perfect plan and should’ve worked… it would’ve if Bowser hadn’t far surpassed Fawful’s expectations for him.
And now he was back at square one. Less than that actually because he was dead. He didn’t have even an ounce of the Dark Star’s power anymore.
Holding back the urge to curse and shout, he floated closer, intending to eavesdrop on his enemies’ conversation. He was too late though, they were already getting ready to separate.
“See you later,” Peach said with a smile as the brothers walked away.
They strode right past where Fawful floated invisible. Green slowed down as he looked around, pulling his arms in a little as if he were cold. His eyes slid right over Fawful of course but it couldn’t be a coincidence, he had some sense of Fawful’s presence and possibly of the hate Fawful was glaring at them with too.
“You okay bro?” Red asked.
“Uh… yeah, I’m just tired, I guess. It’s been a long day.”
With that, Fawful turned away from them as they moved on.
The throne room was still a mess from when he’d forcefully taken it over. Many of his statues were still up in here as well as outside. He’d had it in his grasp, he’d been so close. … Too close to just give up. He would take out the plumbers and he would take over the Mushroom Kingdom, he just needed a new plan.
 -
First things first, he went back to his workshop hidden away in the sewers. He got lost for a while phasing through walls and thus eventually settled on following the paths the way a living person would have to. He’d been so sure he’d never have to venture down here again but… ugh. Failure was even worse when he’d been the sole person in charge.
Maybe if he’d still been working with Cackletta things would’ve gone better. Two heads were better than one after all, right? It was impossible to say though and it wasn’t worth dwelling on; she was dead and gone, even her ghost had been destroyed. … He’d have to be careful to ensure he didn’t suffer such a fate.
By the time he reached his hidden workshop behind his mostly failed attempt at a shop – he’d had to settle for sneaking out to steal things instead until he got a bit more clout – he was equal parts anxious and furious again. He’d lost Midbus and his entire robot army that he’d spent so much time and effort building, how was he supposed to rebuild from here? He’d thrown everything he had at his plan and it wasn’t enough. How could he possibly have done anything more? Why did fulfilling his ambitions and getting vengeance have to be so hard?
 -
He may have allowed himself to wallow around in his workshop for a while. He deserved a bit of self-pity at this point though, didn’t he? And it wasn’t like anyone was around to see anyway so who cared? In the process though he found he could no longer sleep which sucked really hard because it meant no more breaks from his thoughts or anything else. It meant he had to get up and get to work sooner than he otherwise would’ve too because lying in bed unable to fall asleep was the worst.
What should he do though? Maybe look for Midbus, it was possible he’d survived and if so trying to patch him up was probably a good idea; he’d been a good minion. And if he was dead, Fawful was a ghost so maybe Midbus would be too and thus the same principle still applied.
 -
If he’d still had blood it would’ve been boiling at the sight of what was left of the Dark Star extractor. A group of Toads was dismantling it with all the technological grace of a particularly stupid mountain goat headbutting a brick wall until it finally broke. All the many, many hours Fawful had put into designing, building, and perfecting it – not to mention everything else that had gone into this plan as a whole – and they were just ripping it apart like it was worthless scrap. And to top it off, there was no sign of whatever had become of Midbus anywhere in the room.
He floated over to grab one of two the spare hammers left on the ground and flung it at the nearest Toad. Unfortunately, it missed, sailing right over his head, but he screamed anyway, drawing the attention of the rest of the Toads. Oops, maybe Fawful shouldn’t have done that. … Oh well, he was too mad to really care.
“The hammer levitated and flew right…” the Toad was saying, cutting off with a small yelp as Fawful lifted the other hammer to throw as well. This one hit the Toad squarely in head. He teetered for second before going limp into the arms of the Toad beside him who, along with the other two, screamed and bolted for the door, dragging the unconscious Toad with them.
Fawful zoomed over to grab the hammer again and throw at them. It hit the door right as they closed it though. Ugh!
He snapped back around to face his invention again. It was almost entirely dismantled, there’d be no saving it. Not that he had any further use for it anyway, the Dark Star had been destroyed and it was all Bowser and the two wretched fink-rat plumbers’ fault.
But… as angry as he was, he should focus on finding Midbus. His help would be nice for whatever Fawful’s next plan would end up being.
 -
After searching the whole castle and the ground surrounding it, there was still no sign of Midbus. He was either dead and gone, a ghost who’d decided not to stick around the way Fawful had, or alive and recovering from his wounds elsewhere. The latter two might be because Midbus had figured Fawful had been completely destroyed or as was more likely the case that he didn’t care enough to even think to look and was choosing to abandon Fawful.
It didn’t really matter though because no matter what Fawful for sure no longer had Midbus. Which was… fine, he didn’t care, why should he? He’d been on his own before and risen so far, he could do it again. And he’d be successful this time, third time’s the charm after all, right? … Hopefully.
***
Being trapped in a portrait was in some ways worse than in a vault and in some ways better. In the vault he could move even if there wasn’t much space to do so, and speak freely even if no one could hear him, but he couldn’t see anything that was going on outside. In a portrait though, while trapped and unable to move, he could see what was going out in front him.
E. Gadd could’ve easily put something over him, depriving him of even that. But he didn’t. Instead he’d hung King Boo up in the front part of his lab. There wasn’t much to see most of the time but it was better than nothing and he could bide his time here. He’d been dead for a long time so time meant little to him. … Except he’d always been impatient compared to how long he’d existed for.
One could only cycle through all the ways he could’ve improved his prior plans to make them more likely to succeed or about possible new plans and what he’d do to his enemies if/when he finally defeated them before even that got old. And now he was just thinking about being bored for the umpteenth time, making it a boring thing to think about too. Truly one could not get any more bored than that. And yet there was nothing else to do but think and think and be bored and hate the people who’d done this to him and be bored some more. If only something would fucking happen.
As if the thought had brought it about, the doorbell rang. It was most likely just Luigi coming for a visit because he did that sometimes or a door-to-door salesperson but it would break the boredom of staring at an empty room for a little bit at least. And if he was really lucky, Luigi might even glance his way with a nervous expression before following E. Gadd into the lab proper.
As was often the case, it took three rings before E. Gadd came out of his lab to answer it. He didn’t spare King Boo a single look as he walked over to open the door. “Oh hello,” he said in a tone that indicated that it wasn’t Luigi at the door. Which could only mean it was someone new. Awesome! Too bad King Boo couldn’t see them from this angle.
“This be the residence of E. Gadd, yes?” The voice had an odd quality to it almost as if it might be coming over a speaker or radio.
“Yes, now might I ask why a…” He cut off as a cloud of thick purple smoke engulfed him, centering on his head. “What is…” Another cloud puffed in from outside. Whatever was going on here was getting more exciting by the second.
Before the smoke had cleared, a little green drone flew into them room. It looked around for a bit before it seemed to freeze looking at King Boo. It zoomed over for a better look.
“Aha!” whoever was controlling it said through it. “I have success! … I think. It could be being a painting that is normal. Hopefully and probably not because why would E. Gadd be having a painting of King Boo if it is not being actual King Boo?”
Weird way of talking or no, whoever this fellow was had just made King Boo’s day. … Assuming he was here to rescue King Boo anyway, it was possible he just wanted to steal the portrait. But even that would be exciting and changing hands would increase the likelihood of his boos being able to come in and free him.
The ghost of a beanish person with swirly eyes, wearing a cape and holding what had to be the drone’s remote control floated through the still open door.  “Stay in corner,” he snapped at E. Gadd who was kind of just standing around now. “Fawful has no time for the gloating yet, in humans mind control spray be wearing off faster than the joy of eating the last cookie in the jar.”
“Yes, right away, Lord Fawful,” E. Gadd said, his cadence almost normal as he moved to obey.
Fawful then looked down at the controller to neatly land the drone on the desk. He placed the controller next to it before zooming over to pull King Boo’s portrait off the wall. He poked and prodded at it a bit before turning it over, presumably do poke and prod at the back too for a few seconds before flipping it back over.
“E. Gadd! How one be freeing King Boo from the frame?”
“Shine a dark light on it.”
“Where is dark light? Fetch it for me, quickly.”
The sound of E. Gadd walking out of the room indicated that he obeyed. He returned a few seconds later to hand one of his flashlights to Fawful. “The switch on the side turns on the dark light.”
“Good, go back to corner.”
King Boo was mentally vibrating with anticipation as Fawful leaned him back against the wall. Next, he floated back to shine the dark light squarely on the portrait. The sensation of being pulled out of it was odd and uncomfortable as always but as soon as he free, he was laughing with exhilaration. Freedom at long last was his!
The very first thing he did with this newfound freedom was levitate the now empty portrait out from behind him and float over to E. Gadd to put him inside it instead. It was harder to do without an enchanted crown to channel his magic through and lacking its stored power to assist him but he got it done. E. Gadd, still affected by the mind control spray didn’t fight it, resulting in a rather calm looking portrait of him. … Expressions of fear were preferable but whatever; King Boo was free and E. Gadd was trapped and that’s all that mattered right now. He might try to fix it later but for now…
Leaning the portrait against the wall to be retrieved later, he snapped back around to face Fawful again. “I appreciate the rescue. I know you didn’t do it for no reason though. What do you want in return?” As long as it was reasonable and within his means, he’d probably grant it. He was that grateful and being generous had gained him many loyal followers in the past and he was always open to more followers.
Fawful grinned wide, even chuckling a little as his ghostly tail curled in visible anticipation or perhaps nerves. “I have the wish to offer an alliance.”
King Boo had been down this road before with Hellen and that had turned out terribly but it didn’t hurt to hear him out. “What kind of alliance?”
“Well… as new ghost, Fawful was wondering around Peach’s castle unseen, hearing many things, seeing many more. Whispers about King Boo were common, your hatred for the red and green plumbers clear as a glass of wine after one has found nothing but sorrow at the bottom of. So the alliance: Fawful will be helping take down plumbers and at the same time, King Boo will be helping in the conquering of the Mushroom Kingdom for my taking.”
“You want to conquer the Mushroom Kingdom, huh?” King Boo wasn’t into kingdom conquering himself, he was perfectly content with the land he had and didn’t desire any more especially if it was infested with living.
“Yes.” Fawful nodded. “I be wanting a kingdom and I don’t be liking the red and green plumbers so I will be taking their kingdom. With our alliance like the icing on the cake, I leave the vengeance of them to you.”
Given how many times Luigi had sucked him up into that wretched vacuum of his, King Boo might actually be willing to go along with this even if to an outsider looking in, Fawful would appear to be getting much more out of it. But really, a good chunk of the work in taking over the Mushroom Kingdom would be done with just taking out Mario and Luigi. If it worked, King Boo desire for vengeance was more than strong enough to make assisting with the rest of it worth it. But… “How do I know you can carry your weight in such a scheme?” No way was he going to be doing everything himself with his supposed ally barely helping.
“Because if was not for a certain spiky snack being much spicier than expected, Fawful’s last plan would’ve been success.” With that, as if eager to share his tale, he launched into it explaining his last plan and how close he’d gotten to succeeding.
Honestly it was a rather entertaining tale, especially the way he told it. King Boo had been around more than long enough to know about the Dark Star so that gave credibility to his tale because few living knew of it by now. He had gotten rather close to succeeding though.
“And so,” Fawful said after his tale had winded down, “I be thinking in terms of evil schemes we are near equals. Our goals don’t align but they be overlapping like multilayered cake of ambition and vengeance. Working together we could perhaps be making a plan that is unstoppable like large boulder made of vengeance and knives rolling down steep cliff crushing any daring to be standing in its path, including nasty plumbers.”
Maybe King Boo should take a bit to think about this, confirm Fawful’s tale of near success over the Mario bros with one of his castle spies, but after spending who even knew how long trapped in a portrait after his third defeat, he was rather eager to set in motion some vengeance. Besides, he was starting to like Fawful, he was odd but in a way that made him interesting, far more so than Hellen – not that that was too difficult to do. And who knows, maybe all King Boo’s plans had been missing was a horde of killer robots. So… “All right, I’ll agree to an alliance.”
With an excited snicker, Fawful extended a hand out of his cloak to shake King Boo’s hand – something that stubby boo arms always made weird but he didn’t say anything about it – sealing the alliance. If this didn’t turn out well then so be it, it wouldn’t be the first plan or even first failed alliance King Boo had attempted. But it was worth a try in case it worked and regardless it should at least make for an interesting time. “First though, I need to free my boos. Then we can go somewhere to discuss the finer details.”
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shreddedparchment · 5 years
Text
Pseudo Princess Pt.01
Among the Muck
09/27/2019
Pairing: King!Steve x Reader          Word Count: 4,835
Warnings: Language, future smut, future dub-con (because of the time period this is set in), future angst, future violence
A/N: I’ve been watching a lot of the Tudors and inspiration struck. I’ve been wanting to make a Medieval AU but this will be different to those I’ve read. These characters will still be them. Tony is still Iron Man (you’ll see how I do that), Bruce will still be Hulk, Steve and Bucky will still be super soldiers. So this falls under more Medieval Fantasy than just pure Medieval. As such, this will not be historically accurate but hopefully within the historically accurate bubble in all other aspects. This will not be a fluffy story. There will be some fluff (I love soft moments and I do them often) but there will also be some major angst. Anyway, I hope you like this first chapter. xoxo
If you would like to be tagged. Please, send me an ASK. I will not add you if you send me a private message or if you do so in the comments.
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Coarse dirt is caked underneath your fingernails. Your feet squish against the wet gloop of mud. With a gasp you falter, losing your balance, and throw out your hands to catch yourself.
They sink in all the way to the elbow, stretching the muscles on the back of your thighs until they burn.
Labor is something you are familiar with, but this. This searching is exhausting.
“Are you alright, dear?” An old woman croaks, voice quaking with age.
Glancing back at her with her withered white skin, caked in grime and dried sweat, you smile.
It’s meant to be reassuring but you feel as if it’s really a grimace.
“Yes.” You answer simply, as she worries, watching you struggle.
She’d been walking along the side of the uneven dirt road when a group of teens—from the village because you’ve seen them before—rushed by on stolen horses. They avoided the lady easily but the guard chasing behind them did not.
They barreled towards the old woman and she’d had to jump out of the way to avoid being trampled.
She’d landed in this mud puddle, losing her purse in the process.
Watching it all happen, you’d dropped your pails and raced over to help her.
Grateful, she’d accepted your offer of assistance and you’d sat her on an overturned tree stump to wait while you looked for her bag.
Well, since your hands are already in, you might as well take advantage of it. You reach around freely, searching. Making small groaning noises in the back of your throat from the effort it takes to wade through the viscous muck.
“Thank you for helping me, young lady.” The old woman sighs. Probably tired.
“My name is Y/N, grandmother. Feel free to call me as such.” You tell her, peeking once again with a reassuring smile.
“Not many young people would help a fallen old woman.” She continues, as if you hadn’t interrupted.
“Then I guess there ain’t many decent young people then, is there?” You ask rhetorically.
“No.” She answers sadly. “There ain’t even much in my purse. Maybe you shouldn’t bother?”
“Nonsense, grandmother. I will find your purse and return it to you, and I beg you to keep off the roads in future. We don’t need you breaking your neck on account of the guard.” Just then your fingers make purchase, a small string of rope passes between your fingers and you grab it. “Gott’it!”
It takes a mighty tug to free the small ratty bag from the muck. You nearly lose your balance again and fall back onto your behind, but you manage to catch yourself and once you’re steady you turn and traipse back towards the old woman. By the time you reach her, you’re sweating.
“The string is still tight.” You tell her. “Your money is safe.”
You hand her the bag and she takes it, opens it—quickly wiping off as much of the mud as she can then smears it onto the grass beside her to clean her hand—then reaches in for a large silver coin.
“Here. You deserve it.” She says.
With a furrowed brow, you pull yourself out of the mud fully. You wipe your hands on your long tattered brown apron, but you know you’ll need a bath to get all he mud off. “No. I’m alright, grandmother. I don’t need payment. I’m happy to help.”
“Take it, young woman.” She shakes her fist at you, silver coin dangling between her thumb and forefinger.
You shake your head, dropping your apron before you move to her and squat down beside her. With the skirt of your woolen dress still pulled up and tucked to create a pair of makeshift pants, you take the silver coin and her dirty purse and shove the coin back into the bag.
“I said, I don’t need it. You keeping well is all the payment I require.” You draw the string closed and then reach out to shove it into the pocket of her own dark gray skirt. “Your skirt is torn here, and your bodice needs mending too. As does that shamble of a hat you’re wearing. Why don’t you get yourself a decent set of dresses with this money before winter comes instead of handing it out?”
“At my age, what does it matter what I wear when I freeze? I’m going to die sooner rather than later. New clothes would only be a waste of money.” She sasses you.
“Even so.” You put your elbows on your knees and smile at her. “It would make me much happier to know that you’ve spent the money taking care of yourself. I can’t always be here to help you when the world takes a bitter turn.”
The woman cackles. “Oh, sweet girl, you’re much too late.”
A sudden rumble pulls your gaze up towards the road. Through the tall rows of trees that make up the outlying forest, you see a distant coach and six horses riding hard and fast.
“What’s that?” The old woman asks, “Help me up.”
You get up, untying your dress so that it falls around you again to shield your legs, then help the old woman up. Keeping your hands on her elbows until she’s steady, you observe the smaller details of the approaching carriage.
“It’s a royal carriage. There’s gold and silver fixtures upon the horses' harness.” You observe.
“You can see that from here?” The old woman gasps. “I really must be old. I can’t see shite.”
She squints in the same direction that you’re staring and as the carriage gets closer, the sounds of hooves, a whip, and the call of the coachman becomes louder.
He’s dressed in a fine black tunic, a singular bright baby blue circle at the center of his chest that slowly grows out in smaller circles darkening in color until it reaches the edge of the circle. The pattern makes it look like it’s glowing. From the circle crop out several silver lines of thread that line the seams and edges of the rest of his uniform, tunic and all.
On his head he wears a hat. Simple. Nothing too exciting. No feathers at least.
“It’s the King’s carriage.” You whisper at the old woman and as the carriage grows closer, you and she drop your heads and curtsy as it passes.
“We can’t give up.” A male voice says from inside the carriage. It floats out and reaches your ears and while you try not to listen, you can’t help it. “We’ll find a girl that’s suitable if we have to search every village in my Kingdom until-wait…did you see that?”
“See what?” Another male voice says.
This one you recognize. Colonel James Rhodes. He comes into the village every few months to look over the new recruits for the king’s army.
Polite. Nice. No time for funny business though. Stern.
“That girl. Stop the carriage.” The other male voice—the king you suddenly realize—calls.
“WHOA!” The coachman says. “Whoa…”
The carriage rustles to a stop, gravel and dirt grinding against the thick reinforced wheels. The footman jumps off the back of the carriage and hurries forward pulling open the door. He saunters out with sharp movements that you observe for all of one second before you avert your gaze again, legs beginning to ache from your held curtsy.
You’ve never seen the king up close before and you did not expect him to be so young. Well, not young, but he wasn’t old. He might have been an older uncle or your father.
“This one.” He says, and you can almost feel him pointing.
You peek up at him, take in his leathered tunic, dark and supple. His sword resting at his hip, a deep blue cape with a black bear’s pelt around the collar to keep him warm as the last vestiges of summer slip into autumn. His hair is dark brown, only the slightest hint of gray along his temples.
His body is lean. His gloved finger pointed at you, just as you’d thought. His deep brown eyes watch you with curiosity, eagerness, and surprise. Happiness too. He’s excited.
His travelling crown is a golden three-inch band with very little jewels. Only about four or five red rubies are set within it and they dazzle you in the midday sun before you avert your gaze again.
“That one? Really?” The Colonel has joined the king.
“Yes. She’s the right age.” The king asserts. “Come here girly, stand before me. Here.”
He makes an X in the gravel of the road, but you can’t seem to find the strength to move. You’ve never been so nervous in your life.
Here you are, face to face with the fucking King of Malibia, and you’re covered in mud. Your hair is falling out of its braid. You’re sweating and haven’t bathed in almost a week. You look worse than you’ve ever looked in your life.
“Hey, girl, are you deaf? Did you not hear your king?” The Colonel asks, military voice hard and commanding. “His Majesty has given you and order.”
It takes you another half second to urge yourself out of your curtsy and move to the spot marked on the ground.
“Stand up straight.” The king orders.
You do.
“Head up.”
You lift your chin.
“Shoulders back. Don’t slouch.”
You push out your breasts.
“She’s perfect.” The king says.
“Your Majesty…” Colonel Rhodes begins. “…Tony, she’s a peasant. Look at her. She hasn’t bathed in almost a month.”
You glower at the Colonel, unable to help yourself. You’re not that dirty. Not a month’s worth. Jerk.
“We can easily fix that. She’s the one, Rhodey. Our search is over. Problem solved. What’s your name, girl?” The king suddenly asks, moving to stand closer to you, his hands behind his back.
You bow your head, not meeting his eyes. “M-My name is Y/N, your Majesty. At your service.”
“Do you have any family?” He asks, worried suddenly.
“No, your Majesty. I don’t have anyone.” You don’t mean to sound sad about it but not many people as you that question.
Everyone in the village knows your story so you have no reason to retell it.
This is the first time you’ve realized that you’re alone in the world. No one will miss you if you die.
“Perfect. Excellent. Magnificent. Get in the carriage.” He turns and leads the way back, disappearing into the mouth of the open door.
“P-Pardon me, your Majesty?” The shock in your voice is apparent and you find your limbs frozen and locked again.
“You heard his Majesty.” The colonel says with exasperation. “Get in the carriage.”
“B-But where are we going?”
“Will you just get in? We don’t have time for all your questions. His Majesty will explain everything on the way.” The colonel moves to you, grabs you by the elbow and drags you away from where you stand to the carriage door.
One foot up on the step in, you look to the old woman with large, terrified eyes and she’s staring at you with an utterly worried expression. She shifts from foot to foot, hand at her throat as she watches you get taken away.
Strange that she’s worried about you when she’s never shown such emotion before. Guess there are some good people in the world.
“Goodbye…” You mouth to her and she gives you a tiny wave before the colonel is pushing you into the carriage.
You find your seat on the far corner, opposite the king.
As the colonel sits down beside him then hits the roof of the carriage twice, the king can only smile.
No. It’s a smirk. A grin. A pleased one. He’s so damn happy that he’s kidnapped you.
You suddenly remember rumors about the king. Whispered secrets in taverns from drunken lips, spoken with shifting eyes and pounding hearts.
The king devoured young girls. He’d steal them away from their families and towns, trap them in his castle and have his way with them. He’d been with many. Hundreds, they say.
Is that what this is? Are you being taken to be the king’s fodder?
Too afraid to ask, you mash your lips shut and stare at your mud caked hands.
It’s dried and when you twiddle your thumbs, your skin pulls against the stiff coating of dried muck. It cracks and dusts, but you don’t dare look up, afraid you’ll get your answer in the king’s piercing gaze.
~~~~~~~~~~
You ride in silence for what feels like hours. Head down, thumbs twiddling away.
There’s a slow inhale of breath, the click of a tongue draws your eyes up.
“Do you always come silently when you’re abducted?” His Majesty asks, leaning his elbow against the small window’s ledge, fist resting against his chin.
“No, your Majesty.” You reply, somewhat meekly. “I mean…I ain’t-”
“Haven’t.” King Anthony says.
“Your Majesty?” You peer at him with confusion.
“Haven’t. It’s I haven’t. Not I ain’t. Better start speaking properly from the get-go or you’ll fall into bad habits.” He orders.
“Oh.” You lick your lips, feeling a slight bit of shame.
It’s not your fault that you’re not exactly eloquent. You’ve never been to school. Not once.
“I haven’t ever been kidnapped before, your Majesty.”
“I haven’t been kidnapped before.” He says, editing your reply. “Keep it simple. Have you been taught? Did you go to the school in the village?”
You shake your head. “Before they passed, my mother and father said that my place was at home where I could help mother take care of the house. My father was away a lot.”
“Mm.” The king nods. “And where are your parents now?”
“They’re dead, your Majesty. Sixteen years ago now.” You’d been a child when they died.
“I’m sorry to hear that. Did they die in the famine?” He checks, giving your body a quick up and down almost like he was checking to see if you had been marked by death too.
“No, your Majesty.” You shake your head.
“War?” He wonders. “Accident?”
“No. The plague took my mother first, my father followed shortly after. I’ve been alone ever since.” It’s funny, you rarely ever think about it like this. Like you’re alone and orphaned.
“The plague?” His Majesty asks, confused by their deaths and you know why. “But the plague didn’t take many lives. We were well prepared for it.”
“Yes.” You nod. “My mother was the first to die. Her death raised the alarm and my father’s death came shortly after. Too quick before his Majesty’s medicines made it into the village. It happened very quickly. They didn’t suffer long.”
A peachy gloveless hand reaches out and settles over your nervous twiddling thumbs, preventing them from fidgeting.
You look up, startled by the gesture, and meet his stunningly bright brown eyes.
“I’m sorry for your loss.” The king says. “And your parents are heroes. Without them, we wouldn’t have been able to prepare as quickly as we did and the losses to my kingdom would have been much greater. Thank you.”
You don’t know why you should be thanked for losing your parents, but you understand what he’s saying.
There’s kindness in his eyes and he means nothing by it. You didn’t know that the king could be so nice, and he speaks in an offhandish tone, but there’s feeling in his expression.
“Your Majesty.” You say, thanking him for his kindness. With a look back down at his hand over yours, and because it’s what people do, you pull his hand up to your dirty lips and kiss it in gratitude.
This is your king and he’s surprisingly nice.
The colonel suddenly clears his throat and you lower his Majesty’s hand back to your lap.
He gives you one more squeeze then takes his hand back, regloving it.
“We’ve still got a few hours before we reach the castle. If you want to sleep, you should sleep. Once we arrive it will be some time before you can rest.” His Majesty says.
It takes you a while but eventually you do doze off against the side of the carriage.
When you wake up, you find that the king is also not a liar. You’re awoken by a young man, the footman from before, shaken gently who then wraps your shoulders in a long black cloak. He pulls the hood over your head and then double-checks to make sure that you are properly hidden beneath it before he leads you through a side door of a tall dark gray stone wall.
You’ve never seen the castle before, and you attempt to take in as much of it as you can while you’re led in but all you see is the cobblestone walls of the lower floors. Servant’s quarters usually, and a large parapet wall, that stands at what must be twelve feet in height. Maybe taller.
It’s too dark to make out much more than the distant illuminated windows of the upper floors then you’re weaving your way through a confusing array of twists and turns.
“Where are we going?” You ask the footman and he sighs.
“His Majesty told me to show you to your quarters and say nothing else. I’m sorry, miss. His Majesty will explain everything later.” He gives you an apologetic look.
“Where is his Majesty?” You wonder, since he can’t tell you what’s going on, clearly, maybe he’s willing to tell you about the castle?
“He and the colonel have gone to take care of some business. Queen Virginia has been waiting all day for his return. I’m sure he’s greeting her too.” The young man says.
The way he smiles makes you think that he’s right. You’ve heard that King Anthony Stark loves his queen more than any King has ever loved his Queen in the history of the kingdom. Any kingdom.
She’d been his right hand, and best friend, long before she was queen. After courting many women, his Majesty had seen the light and pursued Miss Potts until she’d given in and agreed to marry him.
Shortly after, they’d had their daughter and the Kingdom had rejoiced. With an heir to the throne, prosperity in the kingdom doubled.
“Wait,” You reach out and grab the young man’s wrist and pull him to a stop. “Are we going the right way?”
He’s leading you upstairs. It’s a small narrow staircase that winds up and up and up. The servant’s staircase but one that no doubt leads up to the nicer bedrooms upstairs.
“I am only following orders, miss. Come along. I have other things to tend to after I drop you off.” He pulls his arm from your hold and leads once more.
You follow in silence, growing more and more nervous.
Were the rumors really true? Is the king going to have his way with you? Are you going to be taken in as his mistress?
No.
Your mind flashes back to the kind look in his eyes in the carriage and his gentility with the news of your parents. You can’t link the sweet and noble king in the carriage to the rumored philandering king that those rumors paint.
He loves the Queen. Why would he stray?
The hallway you are brought out on is a surprisingly light. Gleaming limestone above a floor made of alternating black and white marble. Gilded chandeliers with flickering candlelight illuminate the darkened hallway.
“Are you sure we’re in the right place?” You ask in a whisper, afraid to wake up some nobility sleeping over.
“Yes, Miss. This way.”
He leads you down a second hallways, this one nicer and lined with stunning paintings of the various landscapes in the kingdom.
King Anthony must really love his homeland.
Finally, the footman stops before two large, steel reinforced oak doors. He pushes them open inside the small entryway is a chair and a decorative table, beside another set of doors that already stand open.
You move in, gawking at the light blue and white damask wallpaper. The golden vanity with a tall ornate golden mirror to match, both beside a tall four post bed with baby blue sheets, fluffy gray pillows, and a beautiful canopy made of heavy white draping. At the end of the bed is a pink chaise lounge, a soft fur blanket waiting to be draped over a shivering body.
Several candles have been lit to illuminate the large space which is big enough to fit your small home in it thrice. A floor to ceiling window has been drawn closed. There’s a desk with a letterbox for writing. Comfy chairs and a small table for card playing. Another two cushioned chairs by a big fireplace for reading.
Beside the chair is a smaller table with a plate of fruits and bread.
Your stomach growls and the pain of hunger hits you suddenly.
“This is where I leave you.” The footman says.
“Wait!” You gasp, turning to follow him into the entryway of your room. “Wait, are you sure this is where the King asked you to bring me?”
“I’m positive. Have some food. That’s why it was brought. Then wait for his Majesty to come find you.”
He gives you a quick head to toe.
“Maybe stay out of the bed until you have cleaned up? Mrs. Parson would not be happy with you if you ruined the sheets.” He gives you a smile then leaves you there, shutting the doors behind him.
At first you hover around the entrance, hesitating each time you’re tempted to go back into the large bedroom.
When you finally give in, instead of racing for the food immediately, you wander around the room looking at all of the fine furnishings and the items having been left for you.
Your favorite by far is the large wardrobe. Full of dresses and outerwear made of fine silks in every color.
When your stomach growls again, you give in and move to sit at the very edge of the chair by the small table in front of the blissfully warm fire. It crackles and dances as you munch on grapes and apples, then bite and tear into the bread. A small pitcher of wine has been set aside for you and you gulp down a small glass before pouring yourself another.
The food hits your stomach painfully. Too hungry for too long. Now that you’re filling it, your stomach stretches uncomfortably.
You put your hand on your stomach and groan, still chewing on an apple slice.
The sound of your doors opening startles you up. You set your food aside as his Majesty suddenly sneaks in and quickly shuts the second set of doors behind him.
Heart pounding, nervous, and suddenly worried that you are about to be ravished by force—well, sort of…if your king wants you, then you’ll surrender yourself to him. He’s your king!—you back up until your back hits the post of your bed.
“Were you eating?” He asks, smiling happily as he looks from your terrified form to the plate you’d just abandoned. It’s almost empty. Only a few grapes and an apple slice left.
He looks back at you and seems to realize that you’re scared. He holds his hands out to you and beckons you forward.
Because you must listen to your king, you move towards him, avoiding his gaze.
He reaches down and takes your hands, dirty as they are, then leads you to the chair you’d been sitting in again.
“Please, sit.” He urges you and once you’re seated, takes the other. “You must have lots of questions.”
You nod.
“Tell me.”
“Why am I here?” You look up at him, swallowing past the nerves loudly.
“Straight to the big one, huh?” He smiles. “Very well, we’re taking you in.”
“What?!” You ask in shock.
“Pepper—that is, Queen Virginia—and I are taking you in. We…where to start?” He wrings his hands, sits back and looks up at the ceiling. “Three months ago, the King of Broklin sent me a letter. He asked if it were reasonable, that I introduce him to my daughter. He wants to marry her as his own Queen died a year ago and he is called upon by the duty to his people to give them not only a new queen but an heir to the throne.
“Because Princess Morgana is heir to my throne, I wrote back to him and told him that I would need to discuss it with my own queen and after much deliberation, since the two kingdoms are neighboring, we decided that with their marriage and upon my death or his, we might combine our kingdoms for good.”
He smiles a little tightly, a frown you realize.
“What happened?” You wonder.
“Well, Morgana is very young but either way she has always been a woman of her own. She’s strong minded and strong willed and she wasn’t raised to expect to share her kingdom. Not only that but she has since declared that she will only marry a man whom she loves. She will not marry for political purposes and when I told the King this, he took offense.
“War hasn’t threatened our Kingdom in almost sixty years. Even if I have the means to defeat his kingdom, I would rather not have it come to that. So…against my wife’s wishes…I may have told Morgana that she will marry the King of Broklin whether she likes it or not.”
That seems…well, not reasonable but understandable considering the consequences if she shouldn’t.
“And what did the Princess say?” You ask him, leaning forward and completely invested in his retelling.
“She ran away.” He smiles at you, eyes sparkling. “She’s like her mother. A strong woman. And she gets her iron will from me.”
“She ran away?” You gasp, shocked by the Princess’s behavior.
“She did.” King Anthony nods. “And we can’t find her.”
Okay, so all of that makes sense but what exactly do you have to do with it all?
“Since I am not going to be able to marry my own daughter to the King of Broklin…I concocted a plan not to deceive him but so that we might both be happy. You will be my eldest daughter.”
“What?”
“I know it’s a crazy plan, but we’ve already begun to spread the news and I wrote to the King this morning that I have an elder daughter. One who I sent of when she was very young because she suffered from emotional problems.” He explains. “And was obviously a daughter born from an unfortunate tryst in my youth.”
“What?!” You rise to your feet, shocked beyond reason.
“A special school up north has reformed you and you are recently returned to us. And now that you are cured, we’ve welcomed you back into the castle with open arms. Since Morgana has been trained to rule our kingdom, you would make a lovely queen for his. Or…something like that. I can’t remember how I worded it exactly.”
“Emotional problems?” You demand again. “A tryst?”
King Anthony winces, but he smiles at you.
“It happens. Lots of royals have them. Both the emotional problems and the affairs. Anyway, that’s why you’re here. We need an older princess to send to the King of Broklin and you are the lucky winner.” He says, almost laughing, congratulatory as if you’ve really just won a prize. “You will be the queen of an entire kingdom. Lucky you!”
“Your Majesty-” You begin, shaking your head because you can’t be a queen! You don’t know how queens act or speak or move or think. You’re an orphan from a small village where you’ve taken to sewing to earn a few coins just to get by.
“Please?” King Anthony reaches over and takes hold of your dirty hand. “I…can’t bring myself to condemn my only daughter to a life in a loveless marriage. I married for love and I want her to be able to do the same. I’m sorry to ask this of you. It’s not fair to you either but without you, our kingdom might have to go to war.
“Lost lives can be prevented simply by your marrying the King of Broklin. Please, please do this for us. For the Kingdom. Please?” And his begging is genuine.
You. A nobody from nowhere has brought a king, your king, to his knees to beg.
“I-If I marry him, it will prevent a war?” You double check.
“Yes. You’ll be keeping the lives of the young men in our kingdom safe.” He urges.
You stare at him, wondering if you’ll really be able to pull this off. You’re going to have to work harder than you’ve ever worked before and that’s because you work with your hands when you can’t earn enough money with the sewing.
Calloused hands. Not the hands of a royal.
King Anthony massages those hands, staring at them as he waits with bated breath.
“Okay.” You relent. “I’ll do it. I’ll marry him.”
This time, King Anthony kisses your hands. Dried mud and all.
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thewolfmanslayer · 3 years
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Honestly the amount of people who say artists and writers should do stuff for free, or try to rip them off on comissions still royally piss me off.
I think the worst part of it is the entitlement, I dont want to make this too much about generations but a lot of commissioners are millenial/Gen z's who grew up on the "steal and pirate everything" mentality, take everything that you can because no one else is going to hand it to you. which I can get behind, when you are screwing over MULTI BILLION DOLLAR COMPANIES. NOT THE STRUGGLING ARTISTS AND WRITERS who are trying to keep food on the table as desperately as you probably are!
It's simple, you wouldn't walk into a restaurant, order food and tell the server "sorry I don't have any money, but I've got like a few thousand followers on social media, I can get your name out there, get the restaurant some exposure" NO! They don't need "exposure" they need you to pay the damn bill!
On top of that, most of these artists and writers ALREADY HAVE FOLLOWINGS. They already have thousands of people following them, waiting for the chance to get a commission, who are willing to pay for said commission, they don't need "exposure" when they're already out there! He'll even the artists and writers with a few hundred don't need it, they'll get more followers as time goes by, their skill alone will see to it.
And what is with people trying to get free art and writing? It's not going to work! You can't harass someone until they cave, trust me, you'll be long since blocked before you even have the opportunity. I don't do comissions, online anyways, but my own friends and family, people who actually know me STILL PAY ME whenever they ask for me to do art for them because they KNOW it takes TIME AND EFFORT.
How many times do we need to have this discussion???? Like when is it going to finally click that people who need to pay their bills just as much as you do AREN'T going to do this shit for free!?
Here's the thing about art and writing, that you've heard a billion times but still aren't getting; IT. TAKES. TIME. AND. EFFORT. TO. GET. DONE. the art isn't going to magically appear and the writing isn't going to suddenly write itself, if either were so convenient YOU WOULDNT BE ASKING AN ARTIST OR WRITER IN THE FIRST PLACE!
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Look at that, you see that? The first picture I did back in 2012-13, the picture beside it? I did that TWO YEARS AGO. I didn't suddenly know exactly what to do, or had anything close to a god given talent for drawing (I'm not that talented). The first picture WAS THE ABSOLUTE BEST I COULD DO AT THE TIME THAT I MADE IT. In the time between these two drawings I admittedly took a break from art, but then I got back into it four years ago. EVEN STILL that was four YEARS of starting over from the basics, relearning everything, learning new things, wanting to actually improve my art.
Which, guess what, DID NOT HAPPEN OVER NIGHT. It was HOURS UPON HOURS of my limited free time as an adult drawing over and over and over and over again, every single goddamn day to get to the point that I was able to make that redraw look as good as it does in comparison. He'll, my art now puts them both to shame! Because I spent the time improving my quality!!
Now look at these artists doing comissions, they've probably put EVEN MORE of their time to get that good! They've put in LITERAL YEARS of sweat, blood, tears, frustrations and dedicated hardwork. Some did the same as me, self teaching and lots of practice, others probably had to go to school, which definitely wasn't cheap. But all of us put in that time and effort TO REACH THESE POINTS. Of being better artists, developing our styles, getting faster at drawing.
And maybe you think that this is super easy, right? That I or every other artist can just fire some art off and boom its good and done in like an hour?
FUCK. NO.
Even now it takes me several hours a day OVER MANY DAYS to make something exceptionally good! It doesn't matter how good an artist is, it still. Takes. Time.
Maybe the issue is that you don't understand how much actually goes into art, let me break it down for you, the steps that most people follow to finish ONE drawing.
-Rough draft: general character outline, get a feel for what I want to draw.
-Rough sketch: I start doing a bit of pencil to start filling in details like mouth, nose, eyes, hair, clothes. Ect.
-Penciling: I go over the rough sketch and clean everything up, maybe do some editing, this is when you can start making out all the details.
-Ink: I trace over the finished pencil with a pen tool and actually have the line art, everything looks clean, presentable, it actually looks like a character now. I'll spend time editing this and possibly redoing the inking many times over to get to a point where I like it.
-Flat color: I decide on which colors to use for skin tone, clothes accessories. Ect.
-Shading/highlights: I figure out where my light source is and how strong it is, I then apply the correct amount of lighting and shadows to the color to give it depth, I also have determine the texture of skin, clothes and accessories to make everything look real and natural.
-Blending: I smooth out the shading and highlights so that it looks more natural and isn't too hard (noticeable difference between color) so that it looks as natural as possible.
-Finish: I go over last minute details, finish any editing or corrections that need to be done. Once it's good I call it a day.
Each process is longer in length then the previous, with the exception of the final editing (as long as everything looks good) and even the rough draft can take some time. Over all this is SEVERAL HOURS of work for a SINGLE DRAWING.
So is it sinking in yet? How much is put into doing even a single character drawing? God forbid if its done with background. This isn't a "scratch a pen around and be done with it in ten minutes" kinda deal, no, this is SEVERAL HOURS OF SOMEONES LIFE BEING PUT INTO THIS
And if you still have the AUDACITY to try and wrangle free art from an artist then there's no helping you, you're just a selfish piece of shit, no question and I want nothing to do with you.
Someone might say "But I got free art/writing from.-" look I don't give a shit if someone did something for you THAT ONE TIME, these other artists and writers? Totally seperate and different people. You're one freebie experience does not, and should not apply to other artists and writers.
"But what if I really want this commission but don't have the money right now?" Well, that's tough shit. Save up and properly commission them when you can, it's not their problem.
"But what if I'm in a really bad financial situation and really want it?" That sucks, and I'm sorry, but again, not their problem. Chances are this is their only source of income and they need to make money so that they don't end up in a similar situation.
"They have a gift! They should share it!" What kind of cheap ass- LOOK, just because someone is talented or really good at something does not automatically obligate them to do anything for total strangers in anyway shape or form. These are living, breathing people, the same as you. They need to eat, they need to pay rent/mortgages, they need to pay vet bills, send their kids to college, do their taxes and everything else that YOU YOURSELF need to do. Asking anyone to spend their time doing something for free, when that something is how THEY ARE SURVIVING is beyond asinine. Not only that, this obviously isn't a hobby to them, it is very clearly THEIR JOB. Would you want to do a job where you didn't get paid at all? Doing a shit ton of work for absolutely nothing? No? Didn't think so.
"It shouldn't be about the money!" Well unfortunately, as with almost every other job, it is. We live in a world where we desperately need to make money in order to survive. That's the painful fact of the matter. If money never had to be an issue ever again then this would be a very different story. But it's not, plain and simple as can be.
Look, these people are just like you, artists and writers who are just trying to get by in a shitty ass world, using the one thing they have that let's them have an income. Leave them be, don't try and trick them, guilt them, or cuss them out when you don't get your way. Either properly comission or leave them the hell alone, plain and simple.
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writeroutoftime · 4 years
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march fic recommendations
hello! so I think we all know that sometimes we don’t appreciate writers as much as we should here on tumblr. they are amazing people that write some wonderful stories for us (for free) and they put a lot of time and effort into doing so. to honor that, each month, I’m going to be posting a fic rec list with a whole bunch of stories I have recently read and loved, and that I want to share with you all. and if you find some you like? let that author know their work is appreciated!! (let’s all support authors more!)
Bucky Barnes x Reader
Hold My Girl by @captain-ariel-barnes - this one HURTS let me just tell you. it is absolutely beautiful and does a wonderful job at not only portraying bucky, but also the feeling that I'm sure a lot of couples who were split up because of wwii felt. like I said this story is amazing but it left me crying and my heart hurting - in the best way possible! 
Soft by @chillingbucky - oh my goodness did this story hit home for me. for the most part, I’ve been pretty confident with my body but also have wanted to change to boost that confidence even more and then felt worse when I didn’t stick through with my new plan.this story perfectly encapsulates those feelings and it nearly brought me to tears over how incredible bucky was at comforting the reader. when I read this it was the first story I read that day and it put me in such a great mindset!!
Lifelong Love Song Series by @suz-123 - even though this is not a bucky x reader (it’s an oc), this story is beautiful and the way it portrays bucky just feels so right and so spot on. there is fluff, angst, hurt, comfort, love, everything in this story. you should definitely read this series! 
The House by @softlybarnes - ahhhh!! that is what I have to say for this story because it is so darn cute! bucky just makes me swoon (as always) and there is a great relationship between him and the reader! also, now I really want to fall in love and buy a fixer-upper house with the guy I marry. overall, if you want something fluffy that is extremely well written, this is one of those stories. 
Truth Hurts by @ussgallifreyfics - this story is so different than other fics that tackle this same topic, but it the best way possible! the beginning hurts, but slowly bucky starts to come into the story and it is so sweet. not only that, but there is a lot of power from within the reader, which is AWESOME! heck yeah we can rescue ourselves (but if Bucky wants to help as well, I won’t be mad lol)
Lemon Pie Series by @nacho-bucky - I have reread this series like three times already, and it is just perfection! not only do we get 40′s bucky, but we get a HAPPY BUCKY WHO SURVIVES THE WAR AND GETS TO START A FAMILY! Each chapter/snippet is just so beautifully written, and I get pulled into the story each and ever time. bucky just makes me want to swoon, and if I don’t find someone who treats me the way bucky treats the reader in this series, I do not what I will do. but, this and all cait’s stories are amazing so please go read this, it will make your day! 
Thomas Shelby x Reader
If Only You Knew by @im-not-looking-for-forgiveness - while this is technically a tommy x reader story, it really focuses on the friendship between the reader and lizzie stark, which I absolutely loved! it is such a healthy change to see lizzie portrayed in a nice way instead of a bitch as she often is written in stories. we love girls supporting girls, which is this story! 
My Dear Charlie by @kadwrites -again, another story that is technically tommy x reader, but focuses on a different relationship, and this time it is between the reader and charlie! what I love about this story is, it highlights the love that one can feel for a child that isn’t biologically theirs, which is just a reminder of how important it is to show our love to others and to demonstrate our appreciation to those who do love us. also, I love that this story focuses on an older charlie, which is something I haven’t really seen yet. 
Matches by @rhxegals - now this one really does focus on tommy and the reader, and I adore it! we get to see the reader confront tommy and I love when the reader is his equal in the sense that neither of them stand for being lied to or being left out of things. not only that, but we also see a more vulnerable side of tommy, and we get to understand his protective side a bit more which I am also a fan of! 
this drabble by @connerkennt - it is short and sweet but powerful! it really shows (again) how protective tommy is over those he loves and I adore protective tommy! (alfie also plays a role in this drabble, which is always a plus!)
John Shelby x Reader
Something Unexplained by @justauthoring - man do I love john shelby, and if you do too, this is the story for you. just the way that olivia describes how john loves the reader makes my heart absolutely gush! I don’t want to spoil anything, so you just have to read it! (and there are so many other wonderful stories on this blog to check out after you finish this one!)
Steve Rogers x Reader 
Beauty and the Beast AU by @kayteewritessteve - I am so so glad I found this story when I did so that I can include it on this list! au’s are some of my favorite stories to read/write, and the fact that this is beauty and the beast and mob!steve is absolutely amazing!! kaytee does such a wonderful job with drawing you into the story and really making you feel the power and emotions of the scene! only the first few chapters are up now, but they are great! 
Peter Parker x Reader 
Moving On by @midtownpetey -  my goodness, this one really hits right in the feels! I was tearing up throughout this entire story, because it is so beautifully written and really highlights the process of moving on when losing a loved one. it is not a graphic story, but the healing aspect, learning to move on when you feel like you can’t, that’s really what got me! 
Harry Potter x Reader
Under the Stars by @lvmosity - this story is just pure fluff and it’s an actually harry potter story, which I feel like is so rare here on tumblr. anyway, I love how it’s just the reader and the golden trio worried about getting dates for the yule ball! there’s no underlying threat, just teens being teens, and harry being adorably awkward!
Scott Lang x Reader
Blue Dresses and Daises by @mypassionsarenysins - I just want to take this moment to appreciate the heck out of this story because it is absolutely amazing! not only is it a scott lang story (who is severely underappreciated! which why? he’s a dork and it’s paul rudd!) but this story is just filled with so much love that it makes me so happy and smiley. definitely a good one if you’re feeling down or you just want something extra fluffy!
Bonnie Gold x Reader 
Ring Girl by @blinder-secrets - okay so I recently just got into bonnie gold stories, and man am I glad I did because this one is wonderful! bonnie is just so cute but he is also so protective over the reader, and it makes my heart swell! I love when you can feel how intense a relationship is through writing, and that’s what this is. 
Roger Taylor x Reader
Hold Me Close Before I Go by @queenrogah - sobbing, just pure sobbing! well first of all, this story is slightly inspired by the song ‘so close’ from enchanted and I LOVE that song, so I was hooked from the beginning. but this story is very angsty but also mixes together so beautiful to tell this story of lost love between roger and the reader. it combines the past and the present so well, that truly tugs at your heartstrings for an emotional roller-coaster that is so worth it!
Long Distance by @dreamer821 - alright this is super long, but I promise it is so worth reading!! from the beginning, I was hooked and I got to witness this amazing story and all the love there is between roger and the reader. there is a bit of smut in this story, but the whole story really goes to show how powerful love is even when two people aren’t always near each other. it’s one of those stories that can restore your faith in love!
Laurie Laurence x Reader
Lost Love by @lotsoffandomimagines - ever since I saw little women in theaters, I have been looking for a laurie story, and this is the first one I found. oh my goodness, it is AMAZING, and I truly hope that there is a second part. but this story just draws you in and makes you fall for laurie, then comes there with that ending! I know I’m not describing this as best as I could, but trust me, the writing is beautiful and it wonderfully emotional. go read it! (also the gif of laurie is perfect!)
What I Wished I Said by @lillie-writes - do you want an angsty laurie story? well, here you go! this story is the form of the letter, and it made me tear up by the time I reached the end. it is so simple, but so heartbreaking. you can just feel how much laurie loves the reader and how much he wants to apologize, and I just wanted to find a way to hug him and comfort him. you will not be disappointed with this story! 
Ransom Drysdale x Reader (Knives Out)
this drabble by @terry-perry- oh my goodness!! alright, first, I love knives out, and second, I love chris evans as ransom drysdale in that movie even though he is an asshole. however, this drabble does a wonderful job at showing a different side of ransom and how dedicated he and the reader are to their relationship!
Haunted by @et-lesailes = this is such a powerful story! now there is a trigger warning for this one so please be mindful of that but this story does a wonderful job at tackling such a difficult topic and how sometimes opening to another person can be exactly what you did. (and we also get to see more soft, non-asshole ransom which is always great!)
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doyoufancyathought · 3 years
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Through The Utility Closet Part 3: Get Tested
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Y/N had never been a fan of hospitals. In fact, she had gone above and beyond in her efforts to avoid going to them. She thought she could probably count all of her hospital visits on her fingers. Thankfully, she was a fairly healthy individual, so it wasn't hard for her to stay out of the Emergency room. They were too sterile, too clean, and everyone was always bustling and grumping around, and poking and prodding all the time. Y/N knew that the hospital wasn't supposed to be an enjoyable place to spend time, but she definitely was of the opinion that steps could be made to make it at least comfortable. Or hospitable, if you'll excuse the joke.
Still, she was in a new dimension, apparently, and so exceptions must be made when it comes to personal dislikes against institutions. She wanted to get home, after all, and this was a necessary step. In order for these scientists to send her back home, they must figure out where exactly she is from, otherwise they could end up sending her to a completely wrong place or time or what have you, and that would just be a disaster.
Once she was up on the exam table, Y/N did her best to appear friendly to the business-like nurse. She was quick and efficient as she hooked Y/N up to at least different machines, and tied a rubber band around her upper arm. For a moment, Y/N was worried that these strangers might be shooting her full of drugs, but then she remembered that this was simply routine for drawing blood. She hoped that medical procedures weren't too different in this world from her own.
Y/N was relieved when the nurse brought in a tray of empty vials and begin to explain what she was doing.
"I'm going to draw some blood so we can do some tests. I'll also need a hair sample, and I'm going to do a saliva swab as well, just so we can take a look at your DNA. How's that sound?"
"Invasive."
The nurse smiled. "I promise you'll barely feel a thing. The swab will be oral, same as checking for strep."
The nurse did her tests, and then let a few scientists in lab coats in. They pulled up chairs in front of the exam table and introduced themselves, although Y/N forgot their names as soon as she heard them.
"Okay, so I guess the first question is for you to introduce yourself and where you're from."
"My name is Y/N Y/L/N, and I'm from (hometown) in (country). I was working at one of my jobs when I fell through an inter dimensional portal and ended up here."
"Good start. Can you tell me about the planetary system from your home world?"
"I guess so." Y/N thought about it for a second, trying to remember those astronomy lessons from many years ago. "Earth is the third planet from the Sun, which is the centre of the system. Then there's Mercury, Mars, Earth, Saturn, Jupiter, Uranus, Pluto, and I think I'm missing some. I can't remember the order, sorry, I've never been good at planets."
"That's all right. Can you tell me how many days in a year?"
"365."
"And how old are you?"
"22."
"And how old do people usually live to be?"
"Uh, I don't know. Maybe anywhere from 70 to 90 years?" Should have paid for attention in stats class.
"How big are spiders in your world?"
"Some of them are super tiny, like you can barely see them. And then some of them are huge, like a dinner plate."
"I see. And how big are chickens?"
"What?"
"How big are chicken? I know it's a weird question, but some worlds have gigantic chickens that actually prey on humans."
"Thats, um, disturbing. But my chickens are normal size? Like small enough to fit in an oven."
"Ok, well that's good. "
There where more questions like this, some about history and some about geography and flora and fauna. When they were all done, the scientists discussed for a minute by themselves.
"Okay, well, from what we can tell, your world is incredibly similar to our own, with the major differences likely being social development. You say you don't have the Avengers in your world?"
"No, we don't have any superheroes or superpowers at all. I wish, though."
"Yeah, that makes sense. How much do you know about inter-dimensional portals?"
"Absolutely nothing."
"Ok, well that's fair, it's a tough subject. So pretty much, each dimension has kind of bridges to reach out to other dimensions. When two bridges line up, there's a chance for people or things to cross over."
"Okay, that makes sense I guess."
"A lot of the time, these bridges go unnoticed. Some dimensions are connected permanently, some are connected cyclicly, and some are connected for less than a second at a time, which makes them extra hard to track. You with me so far?"
Y/N nodded.
"Don't worry if you don't get it. Basically, what I'm trying to say is that we might have a hard time tracking down your world."
"Okay, but how long do you think it'll take? How long does it normally take?"
The scientists shifted uncomfortably. "Well that's the thing. There is an infinite amount of universes you could be from, and it'll take a while to narrow it down to just the most likely. From there, we would have to figure out what kind of bridges they all have, and figure out how to predict it, and then figure out a way to send you back."
"Oh, that does sound complicated. So like a month?"
They glanced at each other. "We've never done this before, and we've never sent anyone back through a bridge."
"Two months?"
"Maybe a year."
"What?"
"I said, maybe a year?"
"I'm going to be here for a year."
"Maybe, like I said we've never done this before so we can't really give you an idea of how long it will take."
"Oh my God."
"We're very sorry. We'll give you some space."
The scientists left, and the nurse from before came back in and started unhooking Y/N from the monitors.
"We've run all the tests we need to, dear. Do you have any questions?"
"I have so many questions, I don't even know where to begin."
"That's understandable. We'll have your results back in a few hours, and that'll help the scientists get a head start on where you're from. I've got your clothes here, if you step through that door you'll be able to change in privacy."
Y/N nodded and jumped off of the table, gathering her clothes in her rooms and she quickly walked across the cold floor to the changing room. She pulled on her work clothes, which consisted of jeans and a black t-shirt, but opted to leave the apron and baseball cap off. There was no need to wear them here. Y/N put her shoes back on, simple canvas slip-ons, and reflected on what she had just learned. Here are the facts.
1. She had magically teleported through a door.
2. She was now stuck in a world that apparently had superheroes.
3. The superheroes had no idea how to get her back, or how long it would take to figure it out.
4. She was stuck.
Now, a normal person might cry when they considered this situation. But, Y/N was not a normal person. She had the fun meal-deal of anxiety and depression, and at this moment, she thanked her ill little brain for causing her to overthink every little scenario so she would be prepared for the worst to happen. Of course, none of those thoughts covered time and dimension travel, but they had covered a sudden zombie apocalypse, so it was just a matter of adjusting the survival strategy. Find shelter, find friends, and fight to live.
So far, Y/N had maybe found friends. The Avengers seemed like a friendly bunch, if oddly beautiful, and Sam had offered his basement as shelter. Now, all she had to do was figure out the day to day stuff. Get a job, live a life, and get back to her world.
So she stepped out of the changing room back into the hallway, and say the Avengers gathered around. They all turned to her as the door closed behind her.
"And what did you find out from the scientists, Y/N?" Vision asked.
"Well, they tried explaining how inter-dimensional portals work. That went way over my head. But basically, I'm gonna be stuck here for a while until they can figure out where I'm from and figure out how to get me back. So, I guess I'm going to need to find a job or something pretty quick."
Tony shook his head and stepped to the front of the group. "That won't be necessary. I'm loaded, and I'll make sure you're set up to not need anything."
"Why?"
"Because I want to? You just flew through outer space into a whole new world, and you're worried about getting a job? Come on, live a little! You look like you work too hard. What work do you do?"
"At which job?"
"Well how many do you have?"
"Three."
"Holy moly."
"Yeah."
"Why?"
Y/N shrugged. "I get bored."
"So you work?"
"Beats sitting around on my ass."
"Fair point. Well anyways, enjoy the vacation for now, and in the future if you still want a job, we'll have to figure out the proper documents. For now, enjoy your vacation! I'm loaded, and this is the perfect opportunity to share, okay?"
"If you really want to, I mean, I don't mind working."
"Clearly, you have three jobs. Psycho. But no, I don't mind. In fact, I would be offended if you didn't accept my offer."
"Okay, well, then, thanks!"
"No problem. I already gave Sam a credit card for you, so you can go shopping on your way to his house. You do know how to work a credit card, right?"
Y/N grinned. "Yes, Tony, I know how to work a credit card. My world apparently isn't that different from this one, just a few small differences I guess."
"Good. Alright, well, roll out, team."
The Avengers dissipated until it was just Sam, Steve, and James standing around with Y/N.
"So you're still coming with us, right?" Sam asked.
Y/N shrugged. "Yeah, I guess so. If you don't mind, of course."
"Not at all. It'll be nice having a girl in the house, for once."
The group of four started walking down the long hallway.
"So do you just collect strays, Sam?" Y/N asked, curious of why he was so eager to offer his spare room to a total stranger.
Before he could answer, Steve cut in. "Yeah, I mean, why else did you think we lived with him?"
"I don't know. I thought maybe you were in a band, or really good gym buddies, or maybe even a throuple."
Sam choked on a laugh, but Bucky and Steve looked confused. "What's a throuple?" James asked.
"It's like a couple, but instead of it being two people, it's three." Y/N explained.
"And you thought?" Steve almost looked offended.
"Look, sorry, I don't know what's normal for you here, and I didn't want to assume it was all platonic!"
Sam was dying laughing. "You thought -" he had to lean on a wall to keep standing upright. "Man, we're just good friends, and these two have absolutely no credit, so it's hard for them to find places to stay."
"Ah. I guess being a superhero might not pay well."
"Well, I mean there are other reasons too, but yeah let's go with that." Steve didn't exactly want to jump this poor girl with the fact that he was also over 100 years old and had been frozen for a while. She had enough to worry about.
Y/N didn't pursue the other reasons, because they had finally exited the building and she was looking around, comparing this new world to her own. It was dark out, because it was night. She looked down the street and saw a McDonalds sign, which made her smile. At least she could have her chicky nugs if things got too tough. Turns out this world was just like hers, just with a bit of a different history. A lot more violence, hence the need for superheroes.
They got into the car, and Sam drove them to a mall, where they spent an hour and a half hopping around to different stores to get stuff. Y/N got used to spending someone else's money, and she definitely took advantage of the three guys following her around who offered, nay, insisted on carrying her bags. However, she insisted on going into the drugstore alone so she could collect toiletries.
She grabbed a cart (and honestly who uses a cart in a drugstore unless you have serious money to spend) and spent about 45 minutes going up and down most of the aisles to find what she needed. Luckily, the products were exactly the same as she was used to, so it was only a matter of finding exactly what she needed.
When Y/N finally walked out, she spotted her new companions sitting down on one of those middle-of-the-mall benches that are intended for senior citizens and mothers with rowdy children and men waiting for women to finish their shopping.
"Got everything you need?" Sam asked as he stood up and stretched.
"Yup."
"Alright, let's head home. You feel like pizza for dinner?"
"What's pizza?" Y/N deadpanned, and the three guys looked shocked.
"You don't know what pizza is?" Steve asked.
"Nope, never heard that word before in my life."
"Seriously?"
"Why would I joke about it?"
"You've never had pizza before." James reiterated.
"Nope. What is it?"
"No, you gotta experience it." Sam smiled and started walking back the way they had come.
Steve and James were perfect gentleman, and oddly strong as well, but Y/N again did not complain when they grabbed her bags from the drugstore. She opened doors for them as they went out to the parking lot.
Once they were back in the car, Sam got on his phone and ordered pizza that would be delivered right as they got home, provided traffic cooperated. Y/N spent the drive looking out the window at all the lights and people she saw, and didn't pay much attention to the conversation the guys were having. Nothing looked too out of the ordinary, except for the whole superhero thing.
Once they got to Sam's house, a tidy little bungalow in a quiet neighbourhood, they unloaded the car and headed inside. Steve and James ran downstairs to put Y/N's bags in her room, while Sam gave her a tour.
As they were walking down a hallway, Y/N stopped to look at family pictures hanging on the wall.
"Is this your family?" She asked.
"Yeah, that's my sister and her two boys. They've grown a lot since that picture was taken though."
"They look like lots of fun."
"They're a handful, that's for sure."
"And these are your parents?"
"Yeah," Sam said quietly. "They passed a few years ago, that's the last picture we ever took of them both together."
"Oh I'm so sorry." Sam shook his head as Y/N reached out to touch his arm. "They have really kind eyes." She said, her gaze returning to the picture.
"They were the kindest people I've ever known." Sam said, and just then, the doorbell rang. "Sounds like the pizzas here."
Y/N could hear the two boys thundering back up the stairs as she followed Sam to the front door. She expected that he would need help carrying all the food in.
She was right. The delivery driver had to go back to his car to get a second load of pizza. Y/N brought the first load into the kitchen and got a few plates down from the cupboard.
"Oh, good, you found the plates!" Sam said as he walked into the kitchen a few minutes later.
"Yeah, lucky guess."
They set the table in silence as Steve and James washed up, and then they sat down for dinner.
Sam decided he wanted to know more about Y/N. "So, Y/N, tell us a little bit about yourself."
"Ok, well," Y/N hated this questions, because how do you boil yourself down to just a few facts? She just wished people would ask direct questions, because she could answer questions if they were clear. She hated vagueness. "I'm 22, I still live, or lived, with my parents. I like dogs. My favourite colour is yellow. I have three jobs, as a nanny, in retail, and also at a Bubble Tea shop in my hometown. What else do you want to know?"
"Well that's a lot. Why do you have three jobs?" Steve asked.
Y/N shrugged, having to explain her workaholic tendencies twice in a day. "I get bored. And I like working, keeps life interesting."
"I'll bet. What do you do for fun?"
"I read a lot. And I like to go to the lake. And crochet."
"What kind of books do you read?" Steve asked.
"It depends. Sometimes fantasy, sometimes mystery. I read a lot of those cheap drugstore romances."
"Wait, you crochet?" Sam asked. "What are you, a grandma?"
"Like a crazy, chaotic grandma, kinda. I drink a lot of tea and wear a lot of sweaters, sorry for being comfy!"
They went back and forth for a few minutes. "How do you like the pizza?" Sam asked.
"Well," Y/N waggled her head back and forth, debating how to break the ruse. "Not the best I've ever had, but it's close."
"Wait, you've had pizza before?"
"Yes."
"You said before though-"
"And you believed me?Rookie move, gentlemen."
"Why would you trick us?" They weren't mad, just a little confused. And amused. James hadn't really said much since they sat down for dinner, but he grinned and chuckled at the confused looks on his friends faces.
Y/N shrugged. "Gotta keep you guys on your toes, yaknow?" They all laughed. "But hey, tell me more about you guys. You're super soldiers? What does that even mean?"
Sam and Steve took turns explaining who they were, and how the Avengers came to be. They didn't touch too much on James, who excused himself fairly into the evening. He was a little shy and quiet around newcomers, apparently, but Y/N wasn't bothered. She had bigger things to worry about than someone being shy around her.
When the talking turned to yawns, Sam offered to show Y/N to her room. He took her down the stairs into the basement, which opened up into a spacious rec room. There was a massive TV and a pool table. Down a short hallway were the two previously spare rooms, both of which were now occupied by strays that Sam had picked up. The only bathroom was unfortunately across the basement, but Y/N didn't foresee any problems with that.
Sam explained how every room had it's own colours for sheets and towels and stuff, and Y/N was very impressed with how domestically organized he was turning out to be.
Sam went back upstairs, and Y/N took a few minutes to settle in. She would unpack and run her new clothes through the laundry tomorrow, but for now all she wanted was a hot shower and a good long nights sleep.
She went into the bathroom, and saw that James had already made space for her stuff in the shower caddy, on the towel rack, and in the medicine cabinet above the sink. With a smile on her face, she put her few new belongings in those empty spaces, then drug herself through the shower and fell into her bed, exhausted.
Before her eyes closed, Y/N considered what had happened to her today. In a new dimension, living with three strange yet wonderful men, something that would be sure to give her mother a heart attack. And yet, she was excited for the morning to come. Part of her hoped that when she opened her eyes again, she would wake up in her home world, and she would be surrounded by people she knew and recognized. That's what a normal person would hope for in this situation, right?
But as I've told you before, Y/N is no normal person, and the other part of her was wishing that when she woke up, she would still be here, in Sam's house. She wanted to opportunity to explore, so see what else was out there. Maybe she'd discover a new life, a new chance to be the person she had wished to be but never got the chance. Whatever happened, she knew that tomorrow would be full questions, and hopefully a few answers. She hoped, anyways.
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Seventeen Reaction to: This Isn’t A Game (But Isn’t It?)!
Simple games with Seventeen turn out to be more than either of you bargained for.
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S.Coups/ Seungcheol (Caring and Observant ,The Dominating Rapper )
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So, hahaha… S.Coups is very competitive. If there is a prize, then his competitiveness would go through the rough.
DO NOT PLAY PHYSICAL GAMES WITH S.COUPS. Just do NOT. S.Coups would become a massive jokester and would not let you hear the end of it. S.Coups wouldn’t really give it a hundred percent at first, and would let you think you have a chance. Then he would go all out and win with a smirk visible from a mile away.
If it’s a board game then maybe the playing field is a bit more fair. But even then S.Coups would nitpick everything you did in hopes to catch you cheating in some way. He wants to win and you would be able to tell that he wanted to win.
Play a frustrating game with S.Coups and he would rage quit over how unfair this game is. 
S.Coups loves winning, and he would refuse to lose because he would quit the game before he had a chance to lose.
S.Coups would not forgive you for winning, and it would take some time for him to get over his loss. He would be so upset over it, he would not play a game with you unless he knew he would have a chance of winning-- actually NO he would need to KNOW he would win!
Jeonghan (Cheating Mischief Maker, the Angelic Voice )
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Hahahahaha… No. The title is actually true in this regard. Jeonghan plays to win. Watch any Going Seventeen (or any Seventeen content) where there is a game involved. You more than likely will find that Jeonghan will find a way to borderline break the rules if he doesn’t already try breaking them. Jeonghan is good at games, and if he isn’t good at that game then he will find a way to learn the system so he can use it against anyone else involved.
So if he is playing a game with you, he is playing to win. Every trick in the book will be thrown onto the table and he will win. No you will not win. If by some universe defying miracle you do win, he will be very petty because he gave a thousand percent maximum effort JUST to win.
Joshua/ Jisoo (Joking Gentleman, The Peaceful Voice )
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Joshua would be pretty relaxed at the beginning of the game. If he didn’t know how to play and it was one of those you needed to play to get, he would be pretty focused on learning the game. Why? So he can abuse the system, kind of like Jeonghan but not nearly as blatantly. Once he gets the game or the game has progressed he would get into it and try to win. The closer Joshua gets to winning, the more aggressive his gameplay style would get (which is funny if you think about this being about a board game. How do you play a board game aggressively? Roll the dice and yell, “SEVEN! YES! YOUR TURN!!!”?)
Joshua would be graceful in defeat and call it a good game and all that jazz. BUT, if there is a punishment involved, then he would turn to bargaining. If the punishment is severe, he would try to lighten his sentence since this was a friendly game amongst friends. 
If things went really bad, Joshua wouldn’t play a game with you one on one for a while unless he had a good chance of winning. Joshua likes to play, but he likes winning just a little more.
Jun/ Junhui (Charismatic Blunt Sir, The Breathtaking Dancer )
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Jun would accept the challenge of a game. However, when I say this (as I say everything in these reactions) I mean it in the most non offensive and nice way possible. Jun would a hundred percent cheat at some point in the game. And he would not admit it until the game is over.
If you cheat though, he would call you out on it and remind you of it until you admit to it. At a certain point it would become less about being fair and more about who can get away with the most weirdo gameplay.
Jun plays the game to enjoy it for the most part, and if he knows he is at a disadvantage or can’t win, then he wants to make this a difficult if not frustrating experience for you.
He would gain a lot of enjoyment from teasing you throughout the game. He would be salty if you won though.
Now, if Jun is good at the game he would tell you he’s good at the game. And if he was not doing well in the game he said he was good at, he would make up an excuse. 
Overall, despite everything that occurred and all the underhanded and weird game tactics displayed, Jun would enjoy the game play.
Hoshi/ Soonyoung (Comedy Trio ⅓, The Show Stopping Dancer )
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Have you seen Hoshi play the Don’t Lie Game in Going Seventeen? As well as the IF game series second episode? That’s it. That is Hoshi. 
Hoshi is a clever player and if he knows his opponent he more than likely can figure out a way to win. However if he is outnumbered or outsmarted somehow in the gameplay process, then he resorts to his bare bones prideful Hoshi energy and will take every single risk that leads to victory. Does not matter if he gets closer and closer to losing in doing this, he will continue to do it. (The type of person to say let’s play another round. If I win, we call this even. If I lose, I’ll do double the punishment… Yeah.)
Another thing. Hoshi will play to win because this is Hoshi and he seems to enjoy games quite a bit. However if there is a prize or punishment at stake? The gloves are off and he is way more into this game then before. Course that means he will be more likely to make clumsy mistakes and that may even lead to him losing.
Hoshi is a clever player but when he’s cornered he is not afraid of throwing off his gloves and taking risks to win the day.
Wonwoo (Literary Soul, The Emotion Filled Rapper )
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If the game is something within Wonwoo’s skill range or something he would consider himself to be good at, then he would seem nonchalant and act like this would be an easy challenge for himself. An arcade game would be something he would figure out easier and he would have a good time playing it with you.
If it was a physical game, then he would still play but at a much more leisure pace.
This is all to say that if Wonwoo isn’t comfortable with the game or if it isn’t based on skill, then he would be a bit slow to get into the game. That’s because he is focused on understanding how the game works and how he can realistically win.
This isn’t a game you can play with two people, but don’t play Mao with Wonwoo. It’s a game where you have to get rid of your cards while following unspoken rules. And no one explains anything to you EVER, so you just kind of have to figure out what is going on as you play. I think he would get super frustrated and eventually just quit the game (I’m totally not speaking from personal experience or anything… HAHA).  
If Wonwoo can figure out the game, then he pretty much will put in the effort to totally annihilate you in the game.
Woozi/ Jihoon (Brilliant Creator, The Tranquil Vocal )
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Woozi would appear to be not interested in the game at first, but secretly be super competitive and want to win. If you threw in a punishment then he would try so much harder because he doesn’t want to do anything after he has exerted that much energy and time in a game.
Also, he would want to see your face when you lose and have to do a punishment, so he would try a little harder than usual. But most of the time he is playing he will act like he is here because you asked to play the game. Even though his demeanor and behavior indicates otherwise and that he is actually having fun.
He won’t forgive you if he loses. Really doesn’t matter if it’s his own fault that he lost. He would hold this tiny grudge in his heart until the next time you play and he would try hard out of his own pride. That’s it. He wants to win so the score is even. And Woozi would a hundred thousand million percent be the type of person to keep a score in his head of how many times you’ve won against each other.
Woozi is competitive but in a low key secretive kind of way.
DK/ Dokyeom (Comedy Trio ⅓, The Killer Smile and Soul Vocal )
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Please look at the sentence above DK’s name card. It says “in a low key secretive kind of way.”
No. DK wants to win. In a very high key and obvious kind of way.
Any game really is fine so long as there is no suspense element to it. Like hide and seek or jump scares. I think DK would actively refuse to play these games and would not budge unless… nothing. Absolutely not playing. 
DK would follow the rules though and he wouldn’t really cheat unless it was that sort of game (y'all should play Monopoly’s Cheater Edition with your friends. It’ll get ugly really quickly… Not personal experience though… AHAH).
In fact, imagine playing that with DK and a few other members. It’s Monopoly but you cheat. Weird right? So with this game as an example, I will describe how DK would play.
One, DK would call everyone out on there cheating and would go broke. While he is pretty good at catching people, he ultimately would have a slip up on words What I mean is he would know that said player cheated but not how. You have to say how for it to count or else you end up paying for it (literally).
Two, after a while everyone would know when DK is cheating. He would have this certain face every time he’s accused and that would just draw attention to himself. Doesn’t matter how discreet he is, people would just know. When he is confronted DK would turn this into a kind of bicker fest to draw attention away from the question, “Did you cheat, DK?”
Anyway, this is all to say DK is good at playing conventional games where you play pretty conventionally. You have to be the fastest, you have to follow the rules, or you have to be the most or least of some metric. But unconventional games where you have to cheat or be underhanded are what I think DK would struggle with. At least if it was him against a smaller group or just a one on one setting.
Mingyu (“The Tallest~”, The Dynamic Rapper )
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A hawk so to speak. Mingyu would try to win the game by taking a more observational route to the whole thing. He would over analyze everything you did in the game and ask you questions. Basically, he’d eventually annoy you and be a physical manifestation of self doubt (Dodj or Daar from Gumball anyone? No, just me? Sigh…). 
“Why would you do that? Will that help you win? You know you are probably gonna lose this game, right?”
Mingyu would keep it light in good fun, maybe going a little too far with it though. 
Honestly, I see you rage quitting the game over it and Mingyu would have to apologize for playing that way.
If Mingyu can’t outsmart you then he would probably cheat a bit. Something like moving the pieces on the board after distracting you, looking at your cards when you go do something, etc. Mingyu wants to win like a ton of the members, but he wouldn’t brag about it unless he was reminded of it. Like the next time you play a game, he would smirk as he remembered his win. He would make sure to remind you too that he won back then, and that he was going to make sure that he got another win under his belt.
Totally another member to keep score on who has won how many times. He would want to keep the score in his favor if not even as much as possible.
The8/ Minghao (Multiple Aspect Photographer, The Agile Dancer )
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Now in a normal game setting where it is just The8 and yourself playing together, The8 would just be there to have a good time. Now if there was a prize at stake, he may go for the win a little more. 
If you play with The8, you would have to play pretty fair. You wouldn’t get away with cheating and he wouldn’t be one to cheat either. He would play by the rules because he would want to beat you fair and square and earn the prize.
The8 would also need to understand the game before he could start playing. Understanding and playing the game right would be crucial to him, or at the very least he would want to be on the same page as you.
For the most part, The8 would be excitable and he would enjoy playing games with you. 
If you dare to break the rules and cheat, you may need to earn The8’s forgiveness later on.
And if The8 won the prize then you would have a smiley, smug, and maybe even bragging man for several days.
Seungkwan (Comedy Trio ⅓, The MC Power Vocal )
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Seungkwan would play the game regardless of whether he knew how to play, had a chance at winning, or was the most experienced player in the world. His experience or skill wouldn’t matter because he would accept. 
It wouldn’t take much egging on or pestering to get him to accept the challenge. Like a number of members, it’s a matter of pride and the hope of bragging rights. Not to throw shade at Seungkwan (because he is a tame version of myself during games) but he has appeared ready to fight the members on several occasions because of said games.
The hope to win is fierce within this one. The problem here is that luck does not seem to be on Seungkwan’s side EVER in a game setting. Be it an accident or too much energy, he winds up playing the game in a way that doesn’t favor him. It’s not even his fault, it’s just the world and nature saying, “Nah, I want to see Seungkwan lose today.”
A lot of your victories aren’t even to your credit. It’s because the universe has it out for Seungkwan when it comes to games and I believe at a certain point in losing games with you Seungkwan wouldn’t even play with you anymore.
You’d ask him to play a game with you and he would flat out say no. You’d ask why and this is his response.
“I don’t feel like getting hurt today. Emotionally, physically, mentally. No, I do not want to lose a game with you today.”
(Same Seungkwan… Same.)
Vernon/ Hansol (Calm and Collected, The Fly Rapper )
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I see Vernon as winning without really breaking a sweat or trying too hard.Naturally good at games, but rarely will go out on a limb and treat the game like life or death. So whether he wins or loses he is a pretty good sport about the entire thing and is really playing to have fun with you.
However, he would get more into the game the more you play. If he is close to winning then he would definitely try harder to actually win the next round or next game.
He also wouldn’t want to play something easy. So if it’s a game that he is good at and you are new to, then he would give himself a handicap. He wants the game to be a challenge for himself but still a fair game (if that makes sense).
All in all, out of all the members, Vernon would be very relaxed throughout the game and would just be there for a good time.
Dino/ Chan (Michael Jackson Fan, The Smooth Dancer )
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Dino is in the game for the bragging rights. He would play the game fair and square and would be in it from the first round. He wanted to win and he wanted to have the right to constantly remind you that he won. Dino does not play a game he knows he has zero chance of winning, and he will use every advantage he has to win the game. In short, Dino gives it a hundred percent to the game purely to reap the rewards. If he loses, he will be bummed for a bit but he will try to sum it up as, “That was fun.”
Teasing him a lot when he loses is probably not the best option, because that would make him pretty grumpy. Not to mention the fact that if he did lose, the next time you guys play he will give it a thousand times more effort so that he doesn’t lose again.
If you took the time to read this reaction, thank you so much for your time. Stay happy and healthy! Make yourself a magnificent morning/afternoon/evening/night whenever in time or whenever in the world you may be and I hope to see you all again soon. Bye bye~
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touchmycoat · 3 years
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OP!Anon for Leverage!HX/LQG: *SCREAM* oh I adore how you wrote this - HX is so good at reading everyone and understanding how to motivate/manipulate them, except for lqg. I love how angry he got at the idea of lqg seeing him in the same light as swd, and also how lqg's just like, yep, swd's gotta die when he heard the full story. I love the idea of HC coming in like the king he is and laying down the law about XL. ahhhhhhh!!!! just imagining hx and lqg getting close after lots of shenanigans!
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teamwork baby
"Xue Yang must die" is literally one of my favorite WWX quotes of all time LMFAO time to pay homage
so you know how in book 3, during the Black Water arc, HX is there trying to push his whole scheme forward? It's well-timed, well-thought-out, but the only fucking spanner that keeps jumping back into his work is XL-and-therefore-HC? Yeah I imagine working with grifter!HC is pretty much like that. He's always late or never shows up at all to briefings, or he shows up to the very end to hear the conclusion and goes "Nope, that's fucking stupid, change it." SQQ's like "Why??" and HC's like "oh, lil boy can't figure it out?"
and whenever they have an actual plan going, HC sometimes just shows up and starts doing his own thing in the middle and forces HX to keep up. This is often motivated by one of XL's jobs, and XL would ask if HC knows a little piece of intel, and HC would be like "oh you know what, I actually have a hostage right here to ask about that, one moment please :)" and utterly prioritize XL's thing. HX has to change the job on the fly so many times, and it's so fucking annoying, but it's not like HC leaves him at a dead end, so he always does find a way out.
(this got fucking long, but HX/LQG under the cut)
Bingliushen are also annoyed as fuck, but while they're godtier at their own things, none of them are mastermind-level (yet—Binghe's gonna get there, isn't he), so they just have to put their faith in HX and keep chugging forward. This is how the foundation builds, y'know? HX insists to both others and himself that he's being honest and faithful to his team because that's just the best way to handle them, not 'cause he's actually a team player and not 'cause he cares for anybody at all. And LQG's a simple guy—you save my life, I'll save yours. You act in good faith, I'll be loyal in turn.
It starts with something small. HX's suffered tremendous loss, and has been on his own for a very, very long time. He's used to taking care of himself, but we all know LQG's love language is "here, you dropped this. I've been quietly paying attention to everything you like and do, no big deal." So maybe it happens on a mission. HC has three marks to dupe in succession, and they're playing a nasty Big Pharma group, so it's hitting close to home for HX. At the last minute though, HC says over the comm, "the CEO & CFO made me. Must've recognized me from speaking to the secretary earlier. He Xuan."
"Can you still do the COO?"
"I'm not about to waste this outfit, am I."
and HX has to hop in and do 2/3rds of the grifting himself, which is fine, he's completely capable of this, he's a goddamn prodigy at hiding his murderous tendencies. but out of nowhere LQG is on the line, "Shen Qingqiu, you said you can hack the finances, right?"
"Yes, but nothing else."
"Then He Xuan doesn't have to talk to the CFO. Give me 2 minutes, I'll knock him out."
and HX doesn't stop him because sure, why not? It was more efficient for HC to do three of them at once, but now that it was HX doing it (and HX still has his own part to play), it would save them more effort if LQG goes for the blunt force solution. But it rubs HX the wrong way—what the fuck? Yeah, HX may not like grifting as much as HC, the stupid drama queen, but hasn't he proven himself every bit as capable of it? Why did LQG think it necessary to, what, bail him out?
So that night, after debrief, HX pulls LQG aside to give him a piece of his mind. "Don't ever try to override my judgment again." "What are you talking about?" "I made a call, I did not need your 'help' on the grift." "That wasn't help." "Then what was it." "You hate talking to guys like that!" "???" "You didn't need to talk to him, and I was right there. It was the obvious thing to do."
and HX still doesn't get it, not until the next day, when SQQ and HX are quietly setting up for the morning, and SQQ says out of the blue, "that's just how he cares. Liu Qingge, I mean. It's never an ego thing once he's your friend."
"I don't need friends," is HX's automatic response.
"No," SQQ snorts in agreement. "You need revenge. That's fine. Then I'm sure he'll get over it."
Which—okay—no? Bastard. That's just a passive aggressive attempt at a guilt trip, and it's not going to work. HX has already made it abundantly clear from the get-go that this was simply a job, he was the pointman, once they were done everybody will go on their way. It's not his fault SQQ dragged in a hitman with the loyalty instincts of a german shepherd, and it's certainly none of his business whether LQG treats him as friend or a colleague.
LQG will just have to be disappointed.
BUT OF COURSE WHAT GOES ON TO HAPPEN IS THAT HX sees more and more of the things LQG does, the ways LQG manages to be thoughtful. The way LQG handles visitors during HX’s mealtimes despite how much LQG hates talking to randos, bc HX has bad food days and can’t really stand eating with others. The time they had some time to kill undercover in a consultant’s office, and HX passed the time by pointing out all the things wrong with the office’s mini-aquarium set-up, so when SQQ brought up something inane about decorating their headquarters, LQG made HX draw up specs for a saltwater tank of their own. HX and everybody else kept insisting it was a waste of time, but LQG still went ahead and got it made anyways, and now it’s HX’s favorite thing in the entire HQ.
But HX wasn’t about to owe anybody anything. If LQG insists on this game, then fine, HX was going to play to win. He requisitions new toys (read: weapons) for LQG, he builds heists around the sole purpose of giving LQG a room of satisfying bad guys to beat up, he goes to the gym and spars with LQG, he even tries to give LQG’s weirdly famous younger sister’s novel a read—which was a lot. Ahem. But LQG loves his younger sister, so surely this would be the ultimate “hah! I’ve given you more than you’ve given me! I win! move.
...turns out LQG’s never read the damn thing, and just takes everything HX gives him in total stride. “We still on for tomorrow?” “...Yes.” “Cool. See you.” And HX’s over here totally overthinking EVERYTHING while LQG’s just chilling, super matter-of-fact.
Fuck, were they friends???
HX rage-panics, because he does. not. need. friends. And it has nothing to do with how everyone he’s ever loved dies, it has nothing to do with the careful balance of vengeful fury and self-hatred inside him that’s about to tip over any day now, once they take down SWD. It has nothing to do with HX being too traumatized and grief-stricken to imagine moving on from revenge, to ever imagine being simply content again.
His eating habits get worse. One day he snaps at LQG for pining so much after SQQ. “You already know he’s never going to return your feelings. It’s embarrassing to watch you insist on giving so much when he’s not going to give anything back.”
“Shut up,” LQG snaps, “it’s not about getting anything back.”
But that makes it worse. Of course HX wasn’t actually talking about SQQ, though sure, that’s annoying too. LBh obviously knows, so why can’t they take their infernal flirting somewhere private, instead of flaunting it in front of LQG all the time?? But the fault’s with LQG too, what with all the giving. He should find someone more worthy of his affections and stop wasting his time here.
HX cuts everything he and LQG has built up in one fell swoop—completely gives him the cold shoulder. Only ever talks about work, no more dry quips, no more infodumps on niche hobbies. HX wishes he could destroy the tank at HQ, but that would be way too confrontational at this stage.
Until one mission, when LQG knows HX is not in a good place, and keeps trying to argue HX out of doing something excessively risky. HX rounds on him and says, “you’re just a hired gun, so shut up and shoot where I'm pointing, or you can pack your things and get out.”
LQG goes red, then white, and storms away.
“Nice sucker punch,” HC comments idly where he’s lounging on the side. Who knows when the fuck he showed up. “Right where it hurts.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Don’t tell me you don’t know. His five-year stint with the Sha City Demons?”
Of course HX knows about that. He’s looked thoroughly into everybody’s backgrounds. But what does that have to do with this?
“Gege is the best at this, after all. See you and I, we stopped asking questions once we knew the name, because we don’t think people are ever as pure and good as they pretend to be. But you know what Dianxia said, after I mentioned Liu Qingge’s old gig to him? ‘Five years, hm? I wonder what they had on him. In my experience, men like Liu Qingge don’t work for crews like the Sha Demons. And in order to sink their claws deeper into men like him, the Demons always make them do the worst jobs.’ Just a hired gun indeed.”
That’s right. LQG gets a Moreau backstory of his own. HX feels his heart sink to the pit of his stomach.
“Fuck.”
“I don’t know why you’re so stressed out about it. He is just a hired gun—”
“You know why. Fuck.”
“So get out of my face and do something about it already. You know where he’s gone, I know you’ve put trackers on your entire team.”
“...”
“You didn’t? No, you didn’t put one on him? My god, you do care.”
While HC’s busy sounding disgusted, HX is reeling. He just sent the best hitman in the field packing, and was an absolute dick about it. He was not a kind man, but he also wasn’t a cruel one. He believes in fairness, and everything he said simply had not been fair. It had all been his own guilt and issues talking; if he really didn’t give a damn, then he wouldn’t have...done all this.
“How much are you willing to pay?” HC says, swiping at his phone.
“What?”
“Because I don’t trust any of you, and did put a tracking device on Liu Qingge.” He sure has—HC is waving the loading tracking app in HX’s face. “So I’m asking, how much are you willing to pay?”
...And that’s the reason why HX owes HC so much damn money.
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