#but I can so the leading position in a standard waltz | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

the-right-thyme · 3 months

Text

Four Seasons of Anne Sallow- Chapter 3

https://archiveofourown.org/works/50048131/chapters/127388635

Characters: Anne Sallow, Ominis Gaunt, Sebastian Sallow

Relationship: Anne Sallow / Ominis Gaunt

Warnings: One sided attraction

Summary: Ominis is blind on more than one way.

Chapter Three: Autumn 1890

Hogwarts was made for winters, Ominis thinks, wriggling his back into the plush cushion of the best chair in the common room, perfectly angled next to the fire and away from the draft of the common room door, temperature just right.

The smell of pine fills the room, from the christmas trees he knows are adorning the corners of the room. It’s blissfully empty, most of the school already home for the holidays, Sebastian out blasting holes in the clocktower with a few of the other stragglers at the worst-kept secret duelling club he’s so fond of. It’s been a quiet, comfortable evening with just Anne as company. She’s been fiddling with something on and off for the last hour, Ominis too polite to ask her what it is. She makes a little satisfied hum in her throat and the common room is filled with a slightly scratchy rendition of what he recognises vaguely as an Arthur Sulli-

‘Ominis.’ She says, determined, resolute. It’s the same tone Sebastian uses before such phrases as please don’t be mad but- and I know I said I wasn’t going to but-.

He closes the book his wand is interpreting for him with a soft snap. Ready to talk Anne down from whatever misinformed deed she thinks is worth leaving the warm cocoon of the common room in the name of mischief is.

‘Can you dance?’

He blinks.

‘Y-yes. Of course.’ He stammers, thrown off kilter, confused. And really, she should know, of course he can. His family takes great pride in touting the old ways. A mixture of pretentious and archaic teachings from his childhood engrained as deeply as breathing, involving elocution, etiquette and, oddly enough, how to waltz and polka like a proper gentleman. Quite how it fits in with torturing muggles was anyones’ guess.

‘Teach me.’ It wasn’t a question.

‘Right.’ He says, standing obediently, smoothing the front of his shirt down, waistcoat long abandoned over the back of his chair. ‘Dancing.’ He takes a step forward, clear of obstacles.

‘So, you uh-’

He holds his arms out, beckons Anne with his fingers. Her hands are warm in his.

‘It’s simple, really. A couple of steps. Just follow my feet.’

He talks her through a series of box steps slowly. She’s quick to learn, only bumping her shoes out of time against his a few times.

‘Next, you place you hands like this-’ He guides her arm to his shoulder, the other clasped in his hand as he arranges them just so, placing his own free arm round the back of her waist when he’s happy with her position, until they’re both standing in a suitably passable closed hold. He feels her body heat permeating through his shirt.

‘Excellent.’ He says, and, goodness, has his voice alway been that high pitched? He’s suddenly acutely aware of how ungainly and lanky his limbs seem, how clammy his hands suddenly feel, and how he distressingly hasn’t washed since the morning. It can’t be pleasant. But she doesn’t voice any displeasure, doesn’t voice anything at all.

‘And then you put it together, follow my lead.’ He battles on, nods along to the rhythm of the song, finding their pace, and starts them up in time.

It’s not, practiced, or particularly graceful, would never have been considered acceptable by his family's’ impossibly high standard, but it is fun. After a few steady bars, he even dares a swing, smiling as Anne laughs, twirls herself around, hand finding his again easily on the return. It continues, in a comfy sort of silence between them, filled only with the music and their shuffling steps. His mind blanks as the song starts to slow, Anne presses closer, box steps all but forgotten. They end up sort of, rocking, on the spot, swaying from foot to foot. It wasn’t technically dancing, he wanted to say, but Anne sighs happily, apparently content enough. His chest goes heavy, as if a great weight was pressing down, stalling his breath. It hits him, with an odd swooping feeling in his stomach, that the sensation is real, as he registers Anne’s head pressing into him, her hair tickling his chin. He chews at his lip nervously, aware he’s sweating. It feels only natural, as if some forgotten part of his brain is more aware than his conscience self, when he rests his cheek gently on the top of her head. She murmurs something intelligible, he feels it reverberating in his chest, the swooping sensation dipping when-

CRASH

The doors of the common room burst open, Ominis propels backwards as though her skin had suddenly turned scalding, stumbles slightly, surprised out of his reverie.

‘You’re back early.’ He can almost hear Anne crossing her arms as she speaks.

‘No I’m not, it’s quite late, why, what were you doing?’ Its Sebastian, of course. Ominis realises the gramophone is still spinning idly, music finished, crackling white noise to itself in the background.

Anne says ‘Dancing.’ the same time Ominis utters ‘Nothing.’

Their answers feel significant in a way he can’t explain.

‘Ominis…you dance?’ He sounds, teasing. For no discernible reason it angers him. He opens his mouth to rebuke, but Anne beats him to it in a tirade of nonsensical ramblings and insults he can’t interpret.

‘Woah Anne, sorry-ow-I wasn’t prying I just wondered-ow-what you were-ow-doing, you both looked so guil-OW- stop hitting me.’

Ominis hears their scuffle, dull thuds and replying grunts that suggest Sebastian will be complaining of bruises tomorrow.

‘All right all right I’m going I get it, sheesh.’ He listens as Sebastian crosses the room, disappears up the steps to their room, his footsteps muted on the carpet. Anne lets out a breathy laugh.

‘My brother has the worst timing.’

Ominis feels himself nodding, agreeing with what, he isn’t sure. An expectant silence follows, a clock he’s never noticed before ticking in the background.

‘We ought to get to bed, I didn’t realise the time.’ Anne sighs out eventually, sounding…defeated.

It’s that forgotten part of himself again, the part that apparently has social conformities committed to his subconscious, that makes him reach his hand out blindly, how else, palm up. He hears her shuffle back to him, place her hand tentatively in his. He grasps it, fingers encircling hers, brings the back of her hand up to his face, places a single dry chaste kiss, lips barely touching, before letting go. She doesn’t make a sound.

Ominis tries smiling, hopefully in her direction, says goodnight as he makes his way after Sebastian, only silence in his wake.

#hogwarts legacy fanfic #shadow anthology #ominis gaunt #Anne Sallow #sebastian sallow

2 notes · View notes

dodo-begone · 3 years

Note

*sees bouquets Royal ask* Dodo I know what I'm gonna do today.

Wilbur was watching the peasant that had ensnared his precious baby brothers heart with a scowl on his face. You were with Tommy in the court yard with Henry his brothers pet cow absently petting the creature, he saw you pause once your hand reached the nape of the cows neck looking down with a concerned look on you face. He thought nothing of it until he saw you counting the number of spider webs as you were escorted to your lessons (after all if you were a permanent feature best you not embarrass them) yes there were more than normal this time of year but it wasn't that note worthy. This strange behaviour continued as he saw you watching the pigs kept just outside the castle walls gather sticks, take note of the large number of acorns and squirrels gathering them a bit earlier than normal. It all came to ahead when he overheard you telling his brother that he may want to put Henry indoors since it would be winter soon, ridiculous he thought it was only mid autumn winter was still a couple months off there hadn't been an early winter since the time of his great-great grandfather. The next day he was greeted by blankets of snow covering the castle huh looks like that peasant might be more interesting than he thought he wondered what other strange things you knew.

Technoblade was not looking forward to this his twin had put forth the idea that if you were going to be a permanent fixture of Tommy's life then they could at least use you as a bodyguard for the young prince. Now don't get him wrong he was all for protecting little theseus but what he didn't like was the fact that he was assigned by his father to train the peasant at least on the bright side he wouldn't have to work on building up your physical strength since you were a farmer. He looked over to where you stood on the opposite side of the training field and he grew annoyed at the sight of your chosen weapon, really a pair of sickles chat began yelling at him to teach you a lesson, looking to get this over with as quick as possible he would admit he fought without much thought but he was immediately taken off guard by how quickly you repeatedly blocked his blows and how you returned them littering his enchanted armour with deep cuts and scratches you fought like you were fighting for your life. If his armour wasn't enchanted you might have removed one of his limbs his mind screamed over chats panicked yelling. He was brought out of it when a voice(theseus) called out for the fight to stop just as a sickle was about to bury itself into his shoulder. He looked over as you ran to his little brother, he had lost, he hadn't even landed a blow on you while his armours dents and cuts showed just how much you put him on the defensive, for the first time in prime knows how long excitement coursed threw his veins, he was so glad you had waltzed into their lives he now had a worthy opponent to fight, to spill the blood of (not kill never kill chat chanted). One thought entered his mind later as chat finally calmed down somewhat after rubbing his defeat in his face, you were a peasant, a farmer why did you know how to fight so well, what forced you to fight for your life?

Philza hadn't ruled as long as he had without being observant of those around him and despite his large wing span he could be quite sneaky when he wished. Its how he noticed the odditys of his youngest pet peasant like the fact that you had somehow charmed his other sons. Wilbur who had actively looked for a way to remove you without hurting Tommy instead spent the some of the time you were without Tommy chatting away about how to tell the next day's weather or even early winters from the behavior of animals and plants along side a multitude of things that Wilbur would never know things that only those scrounging out a living would know. The rest of you free time was taken by Techno and wasn't that a surprise the voices that once demanded your head on a pike now started screaming at his son whenever he landed more than a scratch, which was a rare occurrence even when he was in his enchanted neatherite armour wielding his trusty axe that had seen him victories in many a war yet even with that you danced around his son many a time he had seen you walk away with not a scratch while his sons was left bleeding from the iron sickles you used. Wanting to know just how you accomplished this he took to eavesdropping on you and his youngest who seemed to be as intrigued as he was. His curiosity turned to rage as you recounted the numinous bandit attack you have had to fend off over the years and how the guards wouldn't do anything since they were getting a part of the loot in return for their neutrality, apparently if you were to be believed this sort of corruption was wide spread and far worse in the more distant parts of the empire worse of all the people thought he was just allowing this to happen. Physically shaking in pure rage he stormed off to his bed chamber to think over the information that his empire had become a festering pile of corruption and that you a peasant who had lived a stones throw away from the castle had to fight for your life repeatedly from due to his own negligence the fact that his people believed that he had just abandoned no profited off of their suffering was atrocious. He was so mad he could hear his own chat cawing outside pecking at the windows, he was glad his son had brought you into their lives, who knows how long such corruption would have gone on if he hadn't overheard you, he and is family now owed you so much and he didn't even know your name, that along with your position in his family would be changing very soon he promised.

Ender-anon

Hope ya like it Dodo, bouquet.

god this is so good Ender- a damn mASTERPIECE!! I don't think i can add more to this!! Like!! :O

Like they thought that, because you were in a lower caste than them, that you wouldn't be nearly as skilled as them. Obviously that has been proven wrong. Socially you may not be on par with court standards but your fighting can easily defend that. Make it excusable... ish. You still needed some educating.

Imagine Philza just treating you like,, differently after he heard what happened. As a "thank you" without admitting he overheard what you said. The behavior was odd but welcomed. You didn't want to look a gifting horse in the mouth, after all. Who knows what it could entail. It could lead to more trouble than it was worth.

#ask #ender anon #royal au #tw: bleeding #tw: fighting #tw: injury #c: phil #c: techno #c: tommy #c: wilbur #long post #rambling with dodo

81 notes · View notes

aquagirl1978 · 3 years

Text

Welcome back for week three of our review of Antares Fairchild. This set was a hot one, certainly the steamiest one so far. Let's get started!

#1 - Favorite line in set

aliboo: Sometimes, you hit a point in your life where you realize the only explanation for your choices is "it seemed like a good idea at the time." - Relatable, MC.

aqua: "I was planning on seducing you, actually." - I don't think anyone was expecting *that*!

violet: "If you value your life, be somewhere else."

#2 - Favorite scene/moment

aliboo: Let Antares seduce you (first heart scene in the set). How very dare he do THAT! Very Hot scene piling on the sexual tension, and was just.. unexpected. But with his ego, it wasn't out of place either!

aqua: MC telling Antares she was in his room to seduce him, his reaction and everything after - so hot! He doesn't even touch her - I can't wait to see the sparks fly when he finally does touch her.

violet: When she ran back into the building to see if he was ok. Putting all their banter and one-up manship aside, her immediate instinct was to check on him. I loved that as it speaks to so much of what is going on underneath the surface.

#3 - Did you buy hearts? Which scene(s)? Worth it?

aliboo: I got all of them. As always, they were all worth it. I have to say the first heart scene was my fav for obvious reasons, which is that no one is immune to Antares' seduction.

aqua: Of course I bought all of them! The cg is paywalled behind the last heart scene, so if you collect the cgs, that's the one to get. They're all really great though. *whispers* The first one tho....

violet: I got all of them and they were truly worth it, but the first one is a masterclass in how to make a scene sexy without the characters even touching.

#4 - Standout character

aliboo: Antares. Alongside 'the only scene I've talked about so far' ("If I set out to seduce you, Ms. Revati... you would be mine." - swoons), my other fav moments were basically anytime he behaved like a little shit, including (1) His antics when they reach Omia - technically not going back on his word, clever. (2) His annoyance and wounded pride at getting caught up in the blast and then whiplash as he waltzes off with Psyri. (3) "If you value your life, be somewhere else." to the spaceport worker. Brutal.

aqua: Antares, always Antares. He's such a dominant presence throughout these sets - he doesn't even need to touch MC to get certain reactions out of her. And he was so brutal this week for not just restraining MC and keeping her on his ship for "three galactic standard hours", but also later when he ran off with Psyri, leaving MC in the dust. I can just see that cape flapping in the wind during all these antics.

violet: Antares for me. When he listens to what MC has to say about her family and why she does the job she does, the respect he showed her in that moment, small as it may have been. I love seeing the cracks in his "Captain Fairchild" persona. Cracks created by the MC, however unwittingly.

#5 - Thoughts on the CG?

aliboo: I love it! I'm still pissed that I thought it was going to be something else though haha.

aqua: I didn't know what to think when I saw the preview, but was quite pleased with the cg. My only issue is - why only one eye? Why???

violet: It was a different angle of the backed up against the wall position we have seen in other CGs and I liked it. It really made you feel his presence.

#6 - Fave screenshot

aliboo:

aqua:

violet:

#7 - Secondary character shining moment.

aliboo: MC - "I was planning on seducing you, actually" - amazing! And her absolute boldness throughout (especially if you play the heart scenes!)

aqua: Let's be real - this is not a route filled with tons of secondary characters. It is very Antares x MC heavy. That said, my vote goes for Psyri for continuing to be a complete mystery to everyone. And for creating that special failsafe. it did lead to the great scene later between our two leads, but did ya have to drop an entire building on Antares?

violet: Keda. She's proven time and again what a good friend she is to MC. And holy hell is she tal.

#8 - Thought on the villain.

aliboo: The Union will be the common enemy and we haven't seen too much of them YET. It was no surprise that they cancelled MCs contract though.

aqua: Becoming clear that the Union will be the villain. Really did not like that officer ending MC's contract like that. Tho now she has no reason not to side with Antares.

violet: The UNION. I happen to agree with a certain grumpy pilot when he says the Union sucks.

#9 - Most OMG scene?

aliboo: Just one? I'll choose the moment they reach Omia and Antares follows his agreement with MC to the letter, meaning that as soon as they were no longer working together, he could do what he wanted - ie. detain her. It was another moment I hadn't predicted, but the OMG scenes after that were less of a shock as I was starting to expect his Little Shit behaviours.

aqua: When Psyri activated her failsafe, and dropped an entire building on Antares. His poor cape didn't quite survive that moment. Rip billowing cape.

violet: When MC says "I was trying to seduce you." I think we all went...wait, WHAT? Girl of all the things you could have said. Although it did lead into that heart scene so I'm not mad at all.

#10 - Any predictions for next week?

aliboo: Urgh, I'm terrible at this! Antares to the rescue! He will rescue MC from her current pickle and find out that she is in much debt, has no contract and no credits to send to her parents. And then he will Hire her.. to be his prisoner / assistant / whatever his latest kink is.

aqua: Whatever his latest kink is? 😂 Hmm...I'm kinda terrible at this too, so I'm sure this is all wrong. The Union figured out MC was still tracking Psyri and have come directly for her. So it's their gunshots aiming at MC. Of course, it would be really amazing if it was the Starship Promise crew popping up - or even just Orion. Speaking of Orion....no direct mention of him this season so far.

violet: She and Antares will join forced against the Union and work together to find the downed ship. And I HOPE there will be more banter. And more shirtless Antares. And more mini CGs of other Antares body parts cause Voltage is feeling generous towards us right now.

#route reviews #lovestruck #starship promise #antares x alien!mc #sp antares #antares fairchild

17 notes · View notes

schrijverr · 3 years

Text

Stepping Side by Side

Bakugo and Midoriya used to dance competitive ballroom together. When nightmares keep them awake they start dancing again and finding their friendship back as well. Until a dance lesson brings it to light.

On AO3.

Ships: could be read as pre-slash BakuDeku

Warnings: mentions of mild homophobia

~~~~~~~~~~~

There used to be a time when you couldn’t tear Izu and Kacchan from each others side with all the force in the world. However, that time had nearly completely passed by the time they got into Middle School, and had fully disappeared when both of them got into UA.

So now it was Midoriya and Bakugo, who walked through hallways as ghosts of another time with knowledge of the other and a person they could hardly place.

Still, the two got better. It might have taken a lot of trauma and a fake city that was destroyed in a fist-fight, but they were tentatively getting better.

The getting better got in the lift on a faithful Wednesday night (though it was already Thursday at that point), when both had woken from dreams that showed them memories they would rather forget.

Midoriya wasn’t an uncommon guest in the kitchen at ungodly hours, but seeing Bakugo there really surprised him.

“Kacchan?” he said softly, not wanting to startle the other.

“Deku? Why are you awake?” Bakugo didn’t even have the energy to sound harsh with big bags under his eyes and a slump in his shoulder.

“Probably the same reason you are,” Midoriya answered with a sad smile.

Bakugo nodded, also taking in Midoriya’s exhausted face, before silently offering him a cup of tea, which Midoriya accepted gratefully. He was surprised to find, Bakugo had remembered how he took it, though he had seen it many times on competition mornings.

They stood in silence for a moment, drinking their tea. Neither one really wanted to talk about what had awoken them in the middle of the night.

“We should probably go to bed again,” Midoriya said when they had finished their tea, his voice betraying how much he did not want to try to sleep. Bakugo had the same voice as he agreed: “Yeah, we probably should.”

It was quiet again.

Then with a soft voice, Midoriya asked: “Remember when we danced together? We never really talked about it again, but- Never mind...”

“Huh, what made you ask that? Of course, I remember, dipshit,” Bakugo frowned.

“Well, it’s kind of dumb, but you remembered how I take my tea and that surprised me, but then I thought you saw it so many times on all the competition mornings and it got me thinking of the dancing and it suddenly popped up again,” Midoriya muttered.

Bakugo had been on the receiving end of Midoriya’s mutterings enough times that he could follow them and said: “Hmm, hadn’t even realized.”

Midoriya was surprised with how gentle compared to normal, Bakugo was being. Well, maybe not gentle, but he wasn’t being defensive or aggressive, which was a nice change. Itreminded Midoriya of when Bakugo had been his best friend.

“Yeah,” he replied softly, content to let the conversation end and fall back into silence.

They were truly just standing around in the kitchen, both in their pajamas, tired and still unwilling to rest for fear what it may bring. They must have looked like quite a pair, leaning against the counters at this hour.

Bakugo was typing away on his phone and Midoriya regretted having left his behind on his nightstand, because he didn’t know what to do with his hands.

Suddenly Bakugo’s phone started playing familiar music and Midoriya looked up in surprise, only to find the other holding out his hand with an expecting eyebrow raise.

“W- what?” he stumbled over his words in confusion.

“Come on, nerd, I wanna see if you kept up your training,” he said, “Though, I suppose I was always the better dancer.”

“Oi, you were not!” Midoriya protested and took the hand.

Bakugo grinned victoriously when he did. He knew his friends competitiveness like no other and he had played into it with success. So, he lead his dance partner and fellow sleep-avoider onto the floor, which was the bit of empty space they had near the door.

He’d put on a simple waltz, he didn’t want to think too hard at this time and it was more about the basic steps to keep his mind of other things.

They swiftly fell into old routines and Bakugo was surprised how well Midoriya was keeping up with him. He had assumed that since it had been his parents with the dance studio, only he would have kept up with the techniques.

Midoriya must have seen the surprise in his eyes, because he grinned in the little shit way no one in class 1-A believed he could and said: “You still hold instead of cup, Kacchan.”

Bakugo looked at his offending hand and saw it was indeed the case, so with an eyeroll he corrected it then send a glare to his partner.

He couldn't help but pout slightly: “And you still don’t keep your chin up.”

Midoriya had always been a bit shy and nervous, so their coaches and parents had always reminded him before competitions to ‘keep your chin up, just look at Katsuki, Izuku, you’re gonna do great out there.’

So, the other corrected his mistake as well as he was spun away, then back to Bakugo, who resumed their steps with Midoriya following easily. It had been their under 11s debut dance and it had been quite precious to them at the time.

The song on the phone stopped and changed into a latin song. Bakugo raised a brow questioning and Midoriya returned the challenge.

Not one to back down, Bakugo got into a familiar start position. He would show that shitty nerd he still knew his fucking latin, alright.

They danced a few more songs until the late hour and physical exercise caught up to them and they had to stop to breathe. Both felt more at ease and more ready to face the night than before. Midoriya smiled: “This was nice. You know, dancing again.”

Bakugo was quiet for a moment, then – almost as if he didn’t want to – he confessed: “Yeah. Yeah, it was.”

“I feel like I can finally sleep,” Midoriya stretched with a grin.

“Same, I- I’ll see you around,” Bakugo said awkwardly.

“Yeah, don’t be a stranger around the Midnight Kitchen Dance Club,” Midoriya joked with a hint of truth.

They held each other’s gaze, then Bakugo walked away, but not before saying: “I won’t.”

And that was the start. The first time had been a coincidental meeting, but after knowing the other might be downstairs, the two ventured to the kitchen more often, hoping for the comfort of familiar company.

The second time had been a bit awkward, but then Midoriya had asked if Bakugo still knew that stupidly hard foxtrot that had taken them forever to learn and Bakugo jumped on the chance to show that he still did.

So it had evolved until Bakugo grabbed his wireless headphonesby instinct so that they could share and not wake everyone up, while Midoriya always madetwo cups for tea.

When they had just started they dances old routines, but after a while they had started working on them, looking up competitors still dancing and trying to incorporate their moves into their own dances, making them unnecessarily complicated just by virtue of time.

While both still had enough sleep to keep them up as aspiring heroes doing a lot of exercise daily, they still found themselves in the kitchen at least twice a week. It would never compare to the six days a week and on Sunday competition regime that they’d had in the past, but still…

The dancing had helped both immensely with their sleeping as well as their bond.

Midoriya hadn’t noticed it at first, but suddenly realized that at some point Kacchan had returned to calling him Izu when they had their nightly dance session.

It delighted him to no end that he was seeing glimpses of the grumpy and competitive, yet observant and grounded presence Kacchan had been in their youth. Until Middle School had pushed him in the wrong direction and he didn’t want to dance anymore, because someone had said it was girly and that Deku was girly too and all the stupid connotations that had.

Sometimes Izu really wanted to slap Middle School Kacchan for who he had befriended and how he had let everyone shape how he viewed himself.

Sure, Izu might have been pushed into insecurity and skittishness, but Kacchan had allowed himself to be pulled into the “alpha’s” of the school, the ones who had to conform to a certain standard constantly or loose their place. Having to pretend to be someone else constantly until he thought he had to be that version all of the time.

It had fucked with Kacchans mind and perception of the world, Izu had seen that first hand.

But the dancing made Kacchan smile carefree again. Izu saw how he would get excited about learning moves they couldn't just pull off but had to work for and routines that went well.

In turn Kacchan couldn't help but notice how Izu was carrying himself differently again. The subtle grace that seeped into his normal cower and the confidence that rolled off him when he was being spun around by Kacchan.

Kacchan loved witnessing those little moments.

He loved how Izu would cheekily comment on his form or babble about his hero notes while they stretched or sip his tea at the end, smile playing around his lips.

It reminded him of how good it had been before he turned completely into an asshole and guilt bubbled up in his throat. So, one night when they were sitting on the floor, he began: “Hey, Izu. I, uhm, I wanted to, well…”

“Kacchan?” Izu frowned when he heard Kacchan stumble.

“I wanted to say sorry,” he said, wanting to erase the frown he put there.

“Why?” Izu asked, genuinely confused.

“Because I was fucking dick to you, Izu,” he answered, rolling his eyes at Izu’s obliviousness.

“Oh, well, yeah, you were,” Izu agreed and a pit formed in Kacchans stomach. “And it was hurtful, of course it was. But I understand and I think I had forgiven you before it even occurred to me to blame you. I don’t know why, Kacchan, but I could never be mad at you, you mean too much to me.”

Kacchan looked at him in shock. Izu said it like it was natural, unavoidable that he forgave Kacchan, just like that. After everything. He didn’t know what to say.

Izu understood that too, because he got up and said: “Come on, you promised that we could do the latin routine.”

He let himself be pulled up by Izu and got into the opening stance like second nature. He wondered how he ever got this lucky with Izu as a friend.

Naturally since it was them, things like this didn’t stay private. Though it had been their own choice. Partly. Mostly.

Class 1-A was learning how to dance.

It had come as coincidence and was part of their social relations course, since galas could be part of their future careers.

So, Midnight was teaching them, with Snipe as her partner, because he was apparently the only who didn’t mind dancing and could keep his mouth shut the entire time. Midoriya could guess who those two categories referred to, but didn’t see the point in identifying their homeroom and their English teacher out loud.

Midnight had explained the most basic waltz which Midoriya could do in his sleep, so he took his time looking around. It was easy to see that some had difficulty taking it seriously and that others were already completely lost.

“Okay, everyone, partner up,” Midnight clapped her hands, getting into the position with Snipe.

Since their class had more boys than girls there would be a few all boys couples. Being used to dancing the “girl part” anyway, Midoriya didn’t mind being the first to face that reality as he grinned to Iida and said: “Here, Iida, I’ll be your dancing lady.”

Some others snorted, but afterwards everyone paired up faster.

Midoriya couldn't help but look what Bakugo would do. He saw the fiery blond had paired up with Sero and had forcefully taken the “boy part” despite Sero’s protests that he was taller.

They went through the basic steps and spins and Midoriya found that Iida was semi-okay to dance with. Though, since he came from a rich family that shouldn’t be a surprise, those families forced most of their kids to dance classes at some point.

From what he could hear Bakugo had no such luck, because he was cursing at Sero loudly, while Sero apologized for stepping on his toes or accidentally tripping them up. Midoriya wondered how long Bakugo was willing to put up with it.

As it turned out it wasn’t long.

The first attempt to dance had just stopped and Midnight announced that they would go back to explaining before trying again.

Bakugo let Sero go as if it hurt him to hold on and scowled at the sheepish boy, before he turned to Midoriya and raised a brow, asking if Midoriya was okay with it.

It made Midoriya smile that Bakugo considered his side before yelling and he nodded back, smiling slightly. With Midoriya’s permission, Bakugo yelled: “I don’t want to dance with this shit head, he sucks. Izu, come dance with me.”

“Okay, Kacchan,” Izu agreed easily, apologizing to Iida as he switched places with Sero under the confused gazes of the class.

After gathering herself again Midnight said: “Well, if everyone is okay with that, then we’ll continue.”

There were a few whispers around them, most of them were about why Bakugo would choose Midoriya of all people and if they had heard ‘Izu’ correctly.

Midnight went on with her lesson, repeating all the steps they’d just learned and helping those who needed it.

With Izu and Kacchan dancing together, they just did the steps easily and Izu giggled at Kacchans bored face. Sure, the basics were very important and a big chunk of what you did at a competitions, but they could do much funner stuff.

So they did a few spins extra here and there, turned as they waltzed together and tried their best with their posture just to have something to do.

When Midnight came to check on them, she raised a brow and commented: “You two are doing well. I like it.”

Izu blushed brightly, while Kacchan just huffed: “Of course, I’m no longer dancing with that toe-stepper over there.”

Deciding not to engage with that comment Midnight turned back to the class and announced they would hold a mock ball and to get in position. She warned: “Another difficulty is keeping track of the other couples on the floor. Try not to bump into anyone. And have fun!”

Then she turned on the music and awkwardly the class began to dance.

Relieved that they would finally have something fun to do, Izu and Kacchan set into a simple waltz that was only slightly more difficult than what they’d just learned and glided through their classmates with more grace than one should seek in two teens.

It didn’t take long for the others to catch on that one pair – and the most surprising one at that – was doing much better than the rest. They slowly stopped their own dancing to watch them.

Kacchan was slowly upping the difficulty, dragging Izu along with him. He was faintly aware that others were giving them space, but he was more focused on Izu and the dance. Izu’s hand was heavy on his shoulder and his grin bright.

They were getting lost in their dancing.

Midnight had never seen such grace in her classes and it became clear to her that the two had been trained on a much higher level than she ever had. Curious to see what they could do and if they even would, she put on a latin song.

Unbeknownst to her the song she had picked was the one Izu and Kacchan had first started with and choreographed an elaborate routine to.

When the music started a gleam came into Kacchans eyes and Izu knew he would be pulled in too, which he gleefully did.

Both got in their starting position.

The class watched with absolute bafflement as Kacchan practically prowled around the dance floor, hips moving enticingly, while Izu twirled and teased in a manner they would have never expected of the green haired boy.

Their faces contorted as they fell into a rhythm, holding on to another and spinning away, only to be pulled close to the other again. Hand in hand, other on shoulder or back as their feet movedat a dizzying speed, everyone awed that they hadn’t stepped on the other’s foot yet.

When they were done, Kacchen unconsciously twirled Izu into the ending bow, while he bowed as well.

He hadn’t counted on actually getting the applause that they were used to, but sure enough class 1-A burst into enthusiastic cheers once they had gathered their bearings again.

Kirishima came bounding forwards, saying: “I didn’t know you could dance like that, Bakubro. So manly!”

“Tsk, of course I can,” Bakugo huffed.

“Don’t be mean, Kacchan, you know almost no one keeps up with the ballroom world,” Midoriya admonished.

“What?” Kirishima was now confused.

“Ah,” Midoriya explained, “Kacchan’s parents own a big dancing studio and they were world champions four years in a row. They’re a pretty big deal within the ballroom world, so it would make sense that Kacchan can dance, but you have know about ballroom first. Don’t worry about not knowing.”

Midoriya’s answer made the class explode again.

When they had calmed down slightly, Iida asked: “And how about you Midoriya? Where did you learn how to dance?”

“Well, uhm, my mom was friends with aun- Kacchan’smom,” he said, “They went to the same High School and uhm, you see, my- his-”

“My mom babysat because she didn’t have a boss to answer to so she could just have us with her in the studio,” Bakugo finished Midoriya’s babbling. “We learned to walk in a fucking dance studio.”

“Yeah, that,” Midoriya said awkwardly.

“Ahw, that’s so cute,” Hagakure gushed. “Are there pictures of little you?”

“No, keep out of-”

Bakugo was cut off, by Midoriya puling out his phone: “Yeah, my mom has them on her Facebook, wait a sec and I’ll look them up.”

A few of the girls leaned over his shoulder as he found the post. He grinned: “She posted this the first time we won the under 11s Junior championship. We’re eight in the second picture.”

The crowd prevented Bakugo from ripping the phone from Midoriya’s hands and he watched with a blush and slight horror as the girls cooed over the two of them.

The first picture was them smudging the mirrors with their dirty little hands. Bakugo was in an green sleeping-bag onesie, Midoriya in a orange one, both were standing for one of the first times in their life. The other was them in shiny shoes, black slacks, a neat white dress shirt and a black waistcoat with red embroidery. Their hair was slicked back and they were grinning widely, holding a trophy.

‘I’m so proud of my two little champions, how far you’ve come!’read the caption.

“You competed?” Tsu asked.

Seeing an opportunity to brag, Bakugo said: “Yeah, we started when we were 6. And from our 7thwe were undefeated in the Juvenile under 10s category and from out 8th we were undefeated in the Junior under 11s category. We competed in the under 14s as well from when we were 9, but we only won during our last competition in that category when we were 12.”

“That’s insane, dude,” Kaminari said with big eyes.

“We were good,” Bakugo shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal, though he added: “Despite this shitty nerds flat dancing just now.”

“Oi, I’m not the one who had his balance wrong,” Midoriya shot back to everyone’s surprise. They had expected him to shrink under the critique, but on the dance floor the two had always been equals and Midoriya wasn’t afraid to call his partner out.

“I was not out of balance,” Bakugo pouted.

“Yes, you were, after the moving of the head part, I had to carry that bit,” Midoriya said. “You’re lucky we trained with that ballerina one time and I have good balance.” Bakugo frowned, but didn’t reply, so Midoriya smugly grinned: “Thought so.”

“Your side was still a bit flat,” Bakugo grumbled.

“I can live with that.”

With that conversation apparently done, Kirishima asked: “Why did you stop competing?”

“Yeah, Kacchan, why did we stop?” Midoriya repeated.

Bakugo looked away guiltily and said: “I didn’t want to dance anymore, because it was girly and not cool.”

“And some classmates were mean about it,” Midoriya shrugged. “I mean, it sucked, but they weren’t wrong. I was girly.”

“Izu…” Kacchan said, unsure of what his friend meant.

“It’s true, Kacchan, remember that one competition when I showed up in a dress,” Izu giggled. “I thought that one judge was going to explode.”

“The asshole one, who didn’t like we were dancing together?” Kacchan grinned. “I remember, god, that was amazing.”

“Why didn’t he like you two dancing together?” Kaminari asked.

Midoriya raised a brow, but Bakugo explained: “There are more girls than boys in dancing, so there are all girls tournaments. However, I refused to dance with anyone but Izu, so we got to compete in the normal tournaments, but they didn’t like that two boys who could have a girl dance partner were dancing together. And we were good, they also didn’t like that.”

“Which is stupid,” Midoriya added, still angry about it, “So I wore a dress as a sort of a ‘now we look like your normal pair, is that what you wanted?’ and he liked that even less.”

More people giggled at the story of little Kacchan and Izu, they almost couldn't place the two in front of them in that story, except when they looked at the grin they gave each other.

In that look you could see the two had known each other since before they could talk, you could see that there had been a time when neither wanted to leave the other’s side and when they were completely in sync.

A time that might be returning.

A/N:

This whole fic is I watched the Baby Ballroomdocu on Netflix and I have nothing better to do than project my own want to learn ballroom onto characters.

#RR writing #bnha #mha #boku no hero academia #my hero academia #bakugo and midoriya #midoriya izuku #bakugo katsuki #could be read as #bakudeku #bakugo x midoriya #class 1 a #bnha class 1a #midnight #bnha midnight

16 notes · View notes

strictlycomesparkle · 3 years

Text

Tom Fletcher and Amy Dowden - Cha Cha

Well, that was definitely a lot better than I thought and for week one, it was out of this world. The cha cha is such a hard dance but Tom definitely delivered as well as anyone could hope. Of course, he has amazing musicality but from the very off, he had those hips moving like there was no tomorrow and he had some great footwork with those retractions and straight legs. My only issue was his arms sometimes looked awkward but it’s to be expected from someone who always has a guitar in his arms. I also loved the dad dancing we saw, and I can’t wait to see what he brings next week.

Tilly Ramsey and Nikita - Waltz

Bless her! For someone so young, Tilly really made her mark in the competition with a romantic af waltz. Before I compliment her, the only issue was there was no heel leads like this dance needs. Yet, it was full of content with basic steps, a fleckle here and there but more importantly, there was a beautiful story and it seemed so elegant. Also, considering how old she is, there were moments where her top line was impeccable and it was a shame she couldn’t keep it throughout.

Ugo and Oti - Samba

Can we confirm that this man is a sportsman because I have never seen an athlete let go in a samba like this so early. The samba is one of the hardest dances in the competition and he definitely didn’t struggle like I expected. Although he wasn’t as fluid as when Danny did it (which is obviously the standard), he had so much fun and just exuded positivity. Those hips couldn’t get enough and I just wish he let go even more. Hopefully, as the weeks go on, he grows in confidence and we see his full potential.

Rhys and Nancy - Viennese Waltz

I had high expectations from Rhys after last weeks opener and he didn’t disappoint! Although he seemed like a latin boy, he even smashed the ballroom, especially considering how hard the Viennese waltz is. Although his fleckles weren’t the best, he had great potential with his frame, even though it sometimes fell. For me, he had great swing and sway with musicality that just oozed charisma and told a great story. I am definitely going to keep my eyes on him.

#strictly come dancing #scd #oti mabuse #tom fletcher #tilly ramsay

6 notes · View notes

dreamer213 · 3 years

Text

Broken Machines: Lights the Dark

Chapter 3 Evening In Atlas Part 3

At the sound of his voice Penny breaks free from her trance. She looks back at her hand remembers that they were still in a life or death situation. Somehow of the gravity of the situation had been lost in her fawning over him.

Penny: Y-Yes Of Course! I-I’ll Get You Up Right Away!

Penny, now flustered, grabs his other hand and pulls him back up onto the balcony. Once he’s back on his feet and dust himself off Penny gets a look at his full figure. He was two inches shorter then her in heels, he’d be two inches taller than her if she was in her normal shoes, he had a model’s figure very slim and elegant, and his limbs are long and delicate especially his hands. Long elegant fingers with clean manicured nails and soft palms. He was like painting come to life and Penny can’t help but admire his beauty. While she’s admiring him Whitley fully composes himself and speaks up.

Whitley: Thank the gods I thought I was done for. If it’s wasn’t for you I could’ve died! Thank you, thank you so much Miss?

Penny: My n-name is Pe-

“Good Heavens Are You Alright?”

A sudden shout interrupts them prompting both to reenter the ballroom floor. Once they set foot back in they are immediately surrounded by group of “considered” onlookers. Penny recommend the woman who screamed as one of the ladies she ran into early.

Woman in indigo dress: Whitley dear, I saw the commotion and ran over as fast as I could! Are you alright?

Short business man: Yes we saw you being pull up and were too shocked to move!

Woman in red dress: And to think your fate was left in the hands of a little girl. Gods you must have been absolutely terrified.

The crowd turns their gases towards Penny, watching her for a reaction. Penny could feel the stares on her and tried to think of something to say, she doubted her normal response of “ just do what’s right” would be taken well but she couldn’t think of anything else. It was only reason she did what she did but there’s no way this people could understand that. She starts trembling a bit but before anyone else can start questioning her Whitley takes her hand and pulls her close. She turns to asks him what he was doing but he just gives her a knowing smile. He knows where this is going and he’d be damned if he was going to let foulness be thrown at the person that just saved his life.

Whitley: Actually I was quite happy. When I fell I thought it would be the end for me but this brave young woman thrown herself into harms way to save my life without any hesitation. And after such a daring rescue I’m sure my savior must be very tired and I myself am still quite shaken, so of you’ll excuse us, We need to go find a place to rest.

Woman in red dress: But of course after such a harrowing experience who would need a rest. Here, let me watch over the girl while you get some rest.

Whitley: Thank you Mrs. Dahlia but I can’t possibly ask that of you especially when you already have some much on your mind already.

Mrs. Dahlia (red dress): What do you talking about? Our business is doing wonderful and I just bought a new fur I haven’t a worry in the world right now.

Whitley: But didn’t your son Jacob just return from his health spa retreat? Certainly he needs your attention much more the I do.

Mrs. Dahlia: How did you-

Whitley: He was gone for so long I thought he’d never return but it looks like he’s finally pulled himself together. Though it seems he still has issues with slurring his words and maintaining his balance. So I think it be best if you go and checked in on him first before worrying about us.

Mrs.Dahlia: Y-your absolutely right! I’ll go check on him right now! Excuse me!

Dahlia runs off, face as red as her dress completely shamed. The short man, a Mr. Aster, is about to speak up again but Whitley spots it and goes ahead of him.

Whitley: Oh Mr. Aster I believe there was a man in a tiger print suit looking for you earlier. I think he said some about some debts you owe and lead pipe-

Before he can say anything else Aster has already scurried away. With that the crowd grow silent, they know that Whitley wasn’t going to tolerate their behavior and soon the sea of people parts down the middle allowing Whitley and Penny passage. Once they’re past the crowd Whitley whispers to Penny.

Whitley: (whisper) I’ve never seen you before did someone bring you with them? If so where are they?

Penny: (whisper) Yes I was brought here but we got separated. The last time I saw him he was talking with a large group of people at the entrance of ballroom.

Whitley: (whisper) How many people?

Penny: (whisper) Thirty six people when we separated but there could be more they were still coming when I left.

Whitley: (whisper) Then he should still be there, I’ll take you back to him.

Penny nods in responses and they begin to make their way through the ballroom. On their way they encounter more elites trying to make conversation with Whitley. But Whitley is able to bypass all of them using his practiced social skills. His methods consist of redirecting their attention to someone else, giving them a quick response and promising to continue later, or subtly shaming them until they take the hit and run off with their tails tucked in. For him this was sort of thing was like breathing, in effortless function he did to survive, but to Penny, who was getting a front row seat of this, it was incredible. It was like combat in verbal form with the strategic weaponization of words, tactical use of information, and well timed retreats. In this battle Penny was just a civilian, lost on a battlefield she doesn’t know how to fight on being carried to safety by a veteran soldier while he strikes down enemies left and right to clear their path. It was remarkable.

They’re near the dance floor all they have to do is cross it and they have a clear shot to the entrance. As they near the edge of the dance floor Penny spot General Ironwood across the room. He was just a few yards away from the dance floor if they cut across they’d end up right next to him! Penny tugs at Whitley’s sleeve then points in Ironwood’s direction.

Penny: (whisper) He’s right over there we just have to get across.

Whitley: (whisper) Well then let’s not keep him waiting.

Just as they’re about to move forward suddenly music starts to play and couples make there way onto and around the formally empty dance floor. With all the people on the floor there’s no way to walking across and the crowd of onlookers was far too thick to see through. There was only one way to get across the floor. Whitley taps his feet to the music, a standard 3 step waltz a beginners dance. He looks over to his savior and meets her gaze.

Whitley: (whisper) Do you know how to dance?

Penny: (whisper) N-no I do not.

Whitley: (whisper) Hmmm, Okay then just stay close, hold on tight, and let me lead.

Before she ask what he means Whitley pulls them onto the dance floor, he takes her left hand and places it on his right shoulder puts his right hand under her left shoulder blade, and raises their joined hands up to a little above shoulder level, at standard waltz position. He starts slow until Penny gets the rhythm of his movements. Once she’s got it he speed up a bit moving them a bit closer to the other people on the floor. They’re closing in on the other couples dancing they just need to match their speed then jump in. Whitley looks to Penny and mouths “Ready? she think for a moment then nods. With that he speeds up to match the song and the other dancers, and throws them into the sea of dancing couples. Whitley leads them around the dance floor looking for openings to cut through the other dancers to get across. Meanwhile Penny is bewildered, she’s trying to get her body to go on autopilot and just match his movements but she just can’t! Her mind is a jumbled mess and all she can focus on is trying not to step on his feet. This whole night had been an insane mess, here she was supposed to be on a mission but somehow she ended up here on the dance floor with him. To be honest it was like a fairytale and she was the heroine dancing in the castle with the prince, how enchanting. No no no she couldn’t think like that she had to focus on getting back to Ironwood not her own fantasies. Whitley notices her attempts to keep up with him and is honestly amused by it. Her face is scrunched up in focus and her eyes are trained on their feet, it’s so obvious and clumsy that it’s actually sort of cute. Just enough so that it makes him laugh a bit and puts a little smile on his face. The sound of his laughter gets Penny’s attention and she looks back up but only for a second as the moment she sees his smile she goes bright red. She may have lacked an actual heart but something in her chest was pounding like a drum.

It only lasted around four minutes but it felt like an eternity, once the first song ended they had already made it to the other side though Penny hadn’t noticed she was still trying to unravel the odd new feelings she was experiencing. How could one person make feel so nervous but so happy it was so confusing. As she ponders a familiar figure approaches them.

Ironwood: Penny.

Penny: General!

Whitley: General Ironwood?

Whitley stood in shock as Penny ran to Ironwood’s side, he couldn’t believe this small sweet girl Penny was here with General Ironwood. Now most of Whitley know about coming from the dealing between Ironwood and his father. The relationship between them hadn’t been good for long time as Jacques was too money focused to see the bigger picture while Ironwood was straight forward, always had a plan of action, and dislike compromise with Jacques on anything. But with global communication down they were stuck with each other. He also knew that Ironwood was a workaholic and an antisocial especially since Beacon fell. The charity gala was his first appearance in high since the catastrophe and for him to be at another event so soon was off kilter but bringing an unknown young woman with him as well, completely abnormal. Ironwood was here for a reason and While had to figure out why.

Whitley: General Ironwood it would seem that I found your lost companion.

Ironwood: Indeed you did. And Penny isn’t just a companion she also one of my soldiers.

Penny: I’m sorry I didn’t say anything earlier. I was going to introduce myself but that crowd at the balcony frightened me and could not finish my sentence.

Ironwood: A crowd? Hmm, We’ll talk about that later but first I should thank you for returning my soldier Schnee.

Whitley: Please General call me Whitley and honestly I should be the one thanking you. If you hadn’t brought her here tonight I wouldn’t be standing here right now. Getting this lovely girl back to you was the least I could do. In fact I’d like to offer you a lending hand in you’re endeavors as thanks for your soldier’s heroic actions.

Ironwood: Really? And why a lending hand? Isn’t gifting a nice car, summer home or some other luxury item the norm from your family.

Whitley: (chuckles) Oh General I think you’ve gotten a bit confused that’s my father’s style of gifting. He likes to give people pretty things because that’s what he thinks everyone wants. While it can be very effective it’s just not my style. No I prefer to look past simple glitz and glamor to see what they really want and from what I’ve seen General you didn’t come here for a good time.

Whitley had been reflecting on what had happened tonight and a few things stood out. Ironwood had come to this party which was completely out of character, he brought a naïve young woman with him, and said naïve woman was a soldier and if her actions earlier were any indicator of her skill, a damn good one at that. There was only few reasons a man like Ironwood would come to an event like this with such an gentle but very capable soldier at his side and all of them led back to one thing. Information. That what Ironwood wanted and if Whitley could give it to him then his plan for the future might go smoother the he thought. All he needed to do was reel him in.

Whitley: If there’s something you’d like to know or need help find out about something I’d be happy to help. But if you’re non interested I could also offer some etiquette lessons for your soldier, seeing as she such a hard time tonight some formal training would surely be of great use to her.

Whitley existents a hand to Ironwood.

Ironwood: This will be kept discrete?

Whitley: Of course, discretion is absolutely necessary when dealing with the military.

Ironwood: We’ll go over the details later but for now I accept. Your contribution will be greatly appreciated by myself and by Atlas as a whole.

Ironwood gives Whitley firm handshake, it hurts a bit but Whitley shakes it off. He puts his now slightly pulsing hand in his suit pocket and pulls out two business cards. He hands one to each of them. Penny takes hers with both hands, reading very carefully. The information on it was standard but somehow felt significant, specifically his number. It was like a link, a way she could reach him to for…well she didn’t know there was just so much she wanted known, wanted say. She still hadn’t even properly introduced herself! After all that’s happened tonight she couldn’t leave without doing the one thing she was supposed to.

Whitley: Thank you again General Ironwood. We’ll contact you about the details in the morning. Have a nice rest of your evening.

Whitley turns to walk away but Penny quickly steps up behind him and grabs the hem of his sleeve causing him to turn back. Penny stand straight up, with a bright smile and her signature salute finally speaks the line she’s been trying to get out all night.

Penny: S-s-Salutations! My name is Penny Poledina, it was a pleasure meeting you tonight!

There’s a pause, silence falls over the scene until a little chuckle escape from Whitley. Once he’s pulled himself back together he looks at Penny with an almost sincere smile.

Whitley: It was nice meeting you as well Ms. Poledina and I hope to see you again soon.

With that Whitley walks off to go find his father to inform him over this new opportunity he’s secured for them. Penny returns to Ironwood expecting to be scolded for her actions but instead he pats her head and give her a nod of approval. She did well tonight as she just secured a life debt from what could be considered the royal family of Atlas high society. Not only that but it was with the most level head and even tempered of the family. This was the golden key of contention and Ironwood couldn’t be more proud.

Informing Jacques had gone better than Whitley expected. Though that was mostly because Jacques was absolutely thrilled by the prospect of Ironwood own him a favor given their tumultuous business relationship and planned to milk the situation for all it’s worth. With that Whitley was dismissed for the night and retired to his bedroom while Jacques return to the party.

Happy but exhausted Whitley baths and changes into his sleepwear then heads to his bed where he quickly falls asleep. As his consciousness fades slowly the darkness of his mind is illuminated by a white light. Whitley finds himself on a cold floor, he looks around and sees that his in the middle of a circle surrounded by a circle of lights and armchairs, soon figures begin stepping out from behind them, each give a wave before taking a set in their respective chair. Each figure was the same but different, all where the same white haired blue eyed young man but each dressed in their own fashion and adorned their faces with unique animal masks. This is council of thought, a reacquiring lucid dream of his was the only place in existence Whitley could speak freely and full engross himself in his thoughts. Whitley stands and looks around, there are five chairs and five figures. The smartly dressed owl in a sweater vest and plaid pants, the smirking fox with rolled up sleeves and pants legs, the lion dressed in battle wear with a red cape with gold lace trim on his back, the peacock dolled up in his finest with his usual over the top suit and long feather coattails, and the wolf.

Whitley: Looks likes everyone’s here, it’s time to proceed. Owl! State of current affairs.

Owl: We’ve been formally announced as new the heir, preformed well at the party, had an near death experience which led to us to extending a hand to Ironwood. We now have in opportunity to start repairing our family’s relationship with the Atlas military. Father was pleased with our actions and our awaiting further instruction. That is all for current affairs, the floor is now up to commentary.

Fox: (Yawn) Gods keeping that stupid smile on our face was absolute pain. But watching those vultures squirm on their boots trying to keep up with us was priceless! I mean that Aster practically fainted when we mentioned the tiger suit (Laughs) too easy.

Lion: That’s because we had one hell of a bounce back! I mean what other elite could almost fall to their deaths then jumping right back into the fire not two minutes later! (chuckles)

Peacock: Let’s not forget about appearances Dears. You can’t deny that us staying prim and proper the whole night was key in our success. Especially with the General, gods knows he wouldn’t have taken us seriously if we let ourselves get disheveled.(giggles)

Whitley: Looks like we’re all in agreement, the night went well despite a few hiccups. Isn’t that right Wolf?

The last figure, Wolf, was a far cry from the rest, as apposed to sitting in his chair he squatted down in front of it, his appearance was just as odd. Long and unkempt hair, his only clothing were a tattered pair of dress pants and silver chains shackled on his wrists and ankles with a tight collar around his neck. Scars clover the skin of his biceps, feet, and back. And then there was his eyes. They were almost completely devoid of life, the only thing reflecting out of them was pure unbridled hatred.

This was the one part himself Whitley never showed but kept at the forefront of his mind at most times. This monster had grown from the depths of his once innocent heart after many years of suffering. it’s hungry was the only thing keeping him alive when things had got to their worst in the manor. No matter how tiring this game of playing good boy for Father was, no matter how painful interacting with his mother and sister became, and no matter how hopeless he felt at times the wolf’s hunger would always push him back onto his plan. It needed him to see this to the end HE needed to see this to the end! He’d never be at peace until then and until then the wolf remains waiting for that day.

Wolf: (growls) Why most we give more to that damn BASTERD!....After everything he’s done to us… what he’s done to our sisters….to Mother…….TO KLEIN! (Anger Growl)

Whitley goes over to wolf, he bends down to Wolf’s level and pets his shoulder.

Whitley: Shh Shhh, there there Wolf be patient. Just a couple more years, a little more boot licking, and plenty of good behavior and then we will strike. And when we do-

Whitley looks deep into Wolf’s eyes, that same look of pure hate now reflected back into Wolf.

Whitley: We. Will. Be. Freed. And. You. Will. Be. Fed. We just have to be patient if only for a little while longer.

The wolf growls in agreement, he smiles wide showing off his big bright fangs. Having pacified Wolf the meeting of thought had come to an end for the night and Whitley should be returning to a state of darkness before waking up. But instead of the room fading away into nothing the sound of a chair being pushed can be heard behind Whitley and Wolf. Whitley turns around to see another chair has been pushed into circle with a small rabbit mask place in the seat. He’s confused, this had never happened before, the dream had never changed against his will. The rules of this place were simple, this room and everything in it were all there was and that there should be here. And it was a always ALWAYS under Whitley’s control. So why? Why had that changed? Suddenly a new voice calls out from the void. It was soft and small like the animal the new mask mimics.

??????: …..That girl….she…was..so nice….Her smile was so….sweet….so..pure…so…..real…How long has it been…since someone smiled at us that way?..... How long has it been….since someone looked at us that way?.....I…want…..I want to see her….I want see her smile again.

Suddenly everything fades to white and Whitley wakes up.

#broken machines #whitley schnee #penny polendina #james ironwood #rwby fanfiction #fanfiction #fanfic

10 notes · View notes

onmykneesforhotdilfs · 3 years

Note

5, 16 🔥❤

5. "Stop moving and let me braid your hair."

16. "Take my hand. Just trust me."

He fidgeted on a cold, hard, and quite frankly, really uncomfortable floor. His butt was numb at this point but as he started to move to alleviate some discomfort, her sharp and yet somehow calm voice spoke. "Stop moving and let me braid your hair." He whined but stopped moving non the less. Bloom, after all, held the strands of his hair in her fingers and he knew she possessed more than enough strength to actually pull out a strand or two if she so desired.

For a few minutes the only sounds that could be heard in a silent room were their breathing and swoosh Bloom's fingers made as she carefully, and as gently as possible, took another strand of his impossibly long hair, seriously she's quite confused as to why he's keeping it this long, to create another delicate braid.

He earnestly tried to stay calm but he was sitting on this floor for at least an hour and his back started complaining about the uncomfortable position, he estimated, 15 minutes ago. As minutes ticked by, he found himself slouching forward bit by bit in hope to take some pressure off his lumbar area. He felt Bloom's gentle hands on his shoulders as she urged him to improve his posture because she was aware he will complain about it later. "C'mon, just a few more minutes."

He exhaled but forced his spine to stay erect even though it was causing him discomfort. "I'm sorry. It's just... it's not the most comfortable." She chuckled and leaned forward on his shoulder to plant a kiss on his cheek. Her lips lingered on his cheek a bit longer than could be considered standard and he found himself leaning into her touch and angling his head to give her more access. She ran her nose over the spot she kissed and then moved away to resume braiding.

"I'm almost done. Quit whining." She heard him whine especially loud in protest and her lips twitched upwards. A thunderstorm of an entire magic dimension, the most powerful wizard, whining just because of some discomfort. She took the last free strand and divided it into three parts before she tucked the final braid into a carefully crafted masterpiece she created. She leaned forward once again to whisper in his ear, her hot breath washing over the shell of his ear and he shuddered. "All done."

She stood up and handed him the mirror so he could see what she created. He took it and looked at it from all directions before handing it back to her. He stood up carefully from the floor, the action taking him longer than usual because of the discomfort in his lower back, and opened his arms so she can slide in. Bloom took him upon his offer, as she wiggled happily in his embrace, his huge palms running up and down her back as she basically purred from pleasure. He pressed a long kiss on the crown of her head. "I love it. No one has ever done something like that for me. Or better yet, no one has ever tormented me in such way." He received a gut punch for that last one and he almost doubled over but held his stance stubbornly as she tried to break free from his strong arms. He laughed at her pitiful attempts but squeezed the flesh of her hips in a silent apology. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding. Don't get upset. I do like it. I wouldn't let you do it if i didn't like it."

She sniffed quietly. "You're mean." She felt him stiffen when he heard her sniff but she raised her head so he could see she wasn't really upset. One of his palms came to touch her chin and for the first time ever she noticed how big his hands truly are. His hand could completely cover half of her face from temples to chin. They weren't rough, like one would expect from a warrior such as himself, but soft and really gentle. He always touched her in tender moments such as this one like she was made out of crystal and she would break at the slightest rough touch. But she also knew those hands could leave a lot of damage on whoever dares to hurt that which he holds the most dear. His thumb traced her lip as he leaned down, almost bending completely in the waist area, to reach her awaiting mouth. He pressed a gentle, quite chaste for him, kiss on her mouth, on her cheek, on her other cheek, on her temple, on her neck until he heard her giggle and buried his nose in her neck to inhale her intoxicating smell.

Valtor lowered his arms down so they rested comfortably on her lower back, his head still buried in her neck, as Bloom locked her arms on his neck. They stood there, simply hugging like lovers that have not seen each other in a very long time, for almost five minutes. His arms tightened it's hold on her before he stepped away from her and bowed down like a true gentleman should in front of a princess. He offered her his hand. "M'lady."

Bloom laughed, a cheerful sound that never failed to make something stir in his chest. "What are you doing?" She asked in confusion even though her eyes were shining like those of a child on Christmas.

Valtor smirked. "Take my hand." She shook her head but placed her hand in his, not before asking why, curious thing. He pulled her close, his right hand holding her left as his other free hand traveled and made itself at home on her waist. "Just trust me." He raised her right arm so it rested on his shoulder and then made a first small step forward as she mimicked his move with her own in the opposite direction. He waltzed with her in an empty room, without music, the only sound leading him synchronized beating of their hearts.

"Why are we dancing?" She asked and made a sound of surprise as he twirled her and then dipped her down towards the floor, his hand supporting her so she doesn't fall. She was smiling when he brought her back up, small wrinkles around her eyes crinkling.

He kissed her cheek. "I don't know." He said between the steps, weary of the furniture across the room. "It just felt right at the moment." He spun her around and brought her back to his side kissing her other cheek in the process.

"But why without music?" She giggled as he spun her around and then kissed her other cheek. He didn't answer, instead he dipped her one last time and she leaned her head back, her hair brushing the floor, as Valtor loomed over her and placed a gentle kiss on her neck. They were both panting by the time the dance ended and not just because of physical activity. There was something electric in the air as the two stood and tried to catch their breath. Bloom moved first. She stepped into his personal space and hugged his torso, as she pressed her ear against his chest, a clear thump of his heart against the ribcage could be heard.

She smiled. The music really was unnecessary.

#baltor x bloom #bloom #bloom x baltor #bloom x valtor #sparxshipping #valtor #valtor x bloom #winx #winx club #sparxshipping fluff #fluff #sparxshipping questions #sparxshipping prompts #sparxshipping requests

38 notes · View notes

cartoonfangirl1218 · 4 years

Text

Royal Friends Headcanons

Because they are good friends, business meetings tend to be relaxed, not so much tension of someone wanting more than their share, they all just want to work together to get the best outcome.

However, for some it can get so friendly that Alonso and/or Chloe would go off wanting to discuss personal stories and just having fun rather than treaty work. Though when they do get together to party Hoo boy. They party. There's no party like a royal party. And I don't mean Esteban's fancy waltz, seven chambermaids to seven men, I mean the Galdonian chair dances and mulberries and impromptu olaball matches and dance-offs. It's a lot of fun, and no one but a fellow royal really gets how much a party is needed for stress relief.

Being the only two princes, Alonso quickly took Marzel under his wing to become his best "bro" and his wingman. And though sometimes Alonso's "legendary" plans are disastrous, they are a good influence on each other with Alonso helping Marzel be more outgoing and Marzel bringing Alonso back down to earth.

Alonso plans to bring Prince Ari under his wing when he gets older. Rebecca not-so-jokingly swears it will be under her dead body. She likes Alonso, but she doesn't trust him to be a good babysitter much less a good role model.

The girls have royal girls night which is basically a spa weekend with some olaball thrown in, and dressing room fashion shows. Sometimes there’s matching outfits at Val’s insistence. And yes, they it looks awesome.

Chloe and Marisa became such fast friends. Their bubbliness overflows into one another and they're the two main huggers of the group. Plus they both are very interested in learning about each other's worlds, and Marisa can gently but firmly guide Chloe when she backslides in social habits of oblivious selfishness. Also Marisa is always up for helping Chloe journey back to the territory of the sea nymphs and visit her gf Maliga.

Rebecca develops a snarky relationship with Alonso since she was one of the few that doesn't fall for Alonso's charms or tangos AT ALL. He likes to tease her about her perfectionism and she mocks his playboy attitude. They act like they can't stand each other, but also are brutal when they team up for olaball. When Valentina joins their team, basically the match is won before they even do anything.

Valentina was a bit perturbed by Chloe's touchy-feeliness, especially when it smushes her ruffles, but she comes to enjoy Chloe's positivity. They really enjoy shopping together too and admire the materials found in the other's countries.

Valentina sometimes takes Marisa and Marzel as her "pet projects" in teaching them the ways of the human world, and outfitting them in the best of the best Paroisan outfits even if they cannot walk in the many layers and in Marisa's case, the corset.

Chloe, Marisa and Rebecca have ongoing bets on Valentina and Alonso, and Eleteo's relationships.

More and specific Elena and XY hcs under cut.

Marzel has a small crush on Rebecca, best displayed that whenever Rebecca has to take a trip overseas, he volunteers to guide the ship in case of rocks, even if it takes a couple of weeks, and he has his own princely duties. But he is smitten enough to forget that he has his own kingdom. Rebecca finds it sweet and is considering seeing where it goes especially with Marisa's jokes that they can be sisters-in-law.

Rebecca is lowkey the mom friend of the group, always trying to find solutions to other's problems and trying to make events enjoyable for everyone.

Alonso is the one who unofficially cheers the other's up. He doesn't do emotions, and likes to keep things light, so he's the one to go for jokes and pratfalls and caricaturing himself, bound to put the smile back on their faces.

Chloe gives the best gifts. Not all yachts like King Hector, but very sweet and personal homemade ones.

Elena and Alonso

They still have a teasing flirtation with Alonso knowing it won't go anywhere and Elena always smirking as she shoots him down. But now Elena freely helps Alonso with his romantic woes with Valentina when he endearingly, frantically asks for help to show Val how he cares without looking lame and "whipped."

In return, Alonso offers free advice which Elena ignores because she doubts Mateo will like the things which Alonso claims "all men want."

Alonso gives Elena updates on how Charoca and Charica are and sends the lava crystals that they send as gifts.

They enjoy having dance-offs and whenever Alonso wants to show off some new moves, Elena is usually his partner because she picks up dances quickly and they are surprisingly in-sync a lot of the time (they did do an amazing impromptu tango the first day they met after all).

Alonso actually enjoys indulging in her love of puns. Even if he thinks they're lame, he still does them till Elena is crying with laughter.

Elena and Valentina

Elena and Val are probably the closest even if they sometimes fall into a friendly competition. Elena likes to try out her magical expertise, and her new spells that Mateo has taught her with Valentina who is a very proficient wizard in her own right. Their kingdoms actually hold wizard exchanges and Elena often invites Mateo to join her meetings with Valentina because watching Mateo and Val geek out about magic to be amusing. As well as Mateo's silent frustration at her boasting.

Now they are allies in the kingdoms, they make amazing teammate on the olaball field and invented the Double-Trouble Queen fastball.

Elena actually taught Valentina to cook since Val had made it part of her royal duty to learn about all different aspects.

Their first dish was pan dulce, with Avaloran chocolate. In return, Val has taught Elena some new hairstyles with copious locks and waves, with some of the best Paraisan hair ornaments.

Elena and Marisa

Marisa gave Elena multiple, stylishly dyed kelp shirts for her visits to Coronado and inadvertently created a trend for kelp clothes.

Much like Ariel, Marisa goes to Elena to confirm or ask about new human objects that come to the shores that Camila no longer recognizes.

Marisa got Elena addicted to romance novels that are apparently very popular in Nueva Vista and they spend some beach days laughing about some of the cheesy paragraphs and then they talk about their own romantic lives or the lives of others.

Elena and Marisa do amazing duets together and every year on the Human-Sirena Treaty to celebrate the improved relations.

Elena and Marisa took crossbow lessons from the Turners, and have an ongoing competition for who can get the most center targets. So far Marisa is in the lead with 3-1. It's slow-going.

Elena and Marzel Elena and Marzel enjoy each other's company a lot during kingdom negotiations. They find they have a similar worldview with formerly having a black & white morality, insecurities in living up to their fathers and so they work well together in working toward a common goal. They enjoy the feeling of accomplishment.

Marzel taught Elena how to play Hermit Hold'em which is basically a poker game, and soon the two were running around Coronado's casinos, having the time of their lives. But that was a bad idea with all the money they wasted, they have been banned by their family members.

Elena urges Marzel to participate in athletics and helped to teach him olaball, and fencing, the latter which Marzel was surprisingly proficient thanks to his own battle training. But he still enjoys frisbee the best.

Elena also helps undo some of Alonso's more damaging advice about how to act on the human world, especially in regards to girls.

They both share their concerns about their younger siblings, while Marisa and Isabel see them as overprotective and overly cautious, they think Isabel and Marisa are impulsive and jump into situations before they're ready. It's nice when you have someone who automatically agrees with you on things.

Elena and Chloe Elena and Chloe share the same humor when it comes to puns, and always greet each other with a hug and a pun.

Chloe tends to go off-topic when she sees her friends again instead of focusing on business as she should, but she also asks questions about the other's lives (as Elena once taught her or sang to her to be more precise) and then Elena gets dragged in describing the latest event that her kingdom faced and a whole afternoon goes by before they go back to the treaty Elena came for.

Chloe gave Elena a taste of some of the best mulberry pies which Elena quickly consumed and had seconds. Which Chloe made into a friendly pie eating contest.

Chloe takes Elena on hikes through Norburg's amazing pine trails and Elena shares some of the "winning" yoga moves that Ixlan taught her.

Chloe gives Elena updates on the relationship between Abigail and Hector and proudly details her own diplomatic skills when they fight. Elena is just glad it's not her who has to do it. Elena and Rebecca

Rebecca became a sort of big sister inventor to Isabel, though she's not as knowledgeable in STEM, she has the creative knack for it and helps bridge the gap between Isabel's scientific talk and Elena's out-of-the-box thinking.

Elena and Rebecca share a love for cultural events and what it means to bring the kingdoms' communities together so they often trade lessons on important dances and foods.

Rebecca and Elena both have a tendency to focus on the minutiae of event/business details when they feel stressed with something. Luckily, it's not at the same time and usually can talk the other off the brink. Though Rebecca tends to hold herself to a high standard, Elena helped to unleash her fun side and created a vicious prank master. Prince Ari blames Elena for all of it.

Elena and Rebecca are often the first ones to go for adventures like rock climbing or horse racing and the others are jealous of how easily they take to things like that.

#elena of avalor #elena castillo flores #prince alonso #princess marisa #princess valentina #princess chloe #princess rebecca #prince marzel #my headcanons #my hcs #headcanons

40 notes · View notes

grimoire-of-seven · 4 years

Note

a slow dance?

PROMPT :: Dance Me Into A Stupor

Rating: SFW || Barbatos’ Warning: Out-of-context spoiler for Belphie’s prompt

Words: 250-400 words per character

Characters: Demon brothers + MC / Gender-neutral Reader

Notes: This isn’t… my usual quality of writing but please be patient with me! I’m running late on a few school deadlines so I’ve crammed this a bit to keep up with the schedule. I hope everyone still liked this! And I’ll do my best on the next prompts (ಥ﹏ಥ)

LUCIFER

“So…”

“So…?” You asked, eyes staring at Lucifer’s for inquiry.

The two of you were on a firm waltz hold, the closed position led by the Avatar of Pride stood strong and proud in the middle of the ballroom. Diavolo’s lavish parties never get old in this part of Devildom.

You absolutely love attending such events, considering that a certain someone is always wearing those stylish high-class suits. So form-fitting and deliciously snug on the–

“Well,” Breaking character from his usual calm facade, the ravenet broke off eye contact with you, his voice laced with… guilt? “I suppose an apology is past overdue…?”

You blinked once.

Twice.

“Apology for what?”

He started at you for a few moments, bewildered at the nonchalant answer.

“My behaviour from our first dance, during the third day of the retreat in Lord Diavolo’s castle.” He explained briefly, the following words were chosen carefully, “I was quite concerned for my brothers’ well-being that I threatened you.”

Oh, that…

“You weren’t threatened at all, were you?” Lucifer grinned at you with a seemingly concerned face.

“I probably was,” You replied, but then sheepishly lowered your gaze in embarrassment, “But then I forgot about it.”

The dark-haired demon shook his head in affection, “What am I going to do with you..?”

MAMMON

Dances… aren’t really your thing. The first time you’ve danced with a demon here in Devildom, Lucifer was whisking you away with an unnaturally strong hold and whispering death threats above your head.

It’s the kind of thing that makes you not want to participate in the waltz. Ever.

That is, until Mammon, all in his glorious demon-form, walked up to you with that adorable blushing face. For a moment, he stood still. Hesitation is visible in his face and it seemed that he was struggling in forming cohesive sentences.

Does he want to…?

“W-Well, if ya a-ain’t got a partner like the loser Levi is, the Great Mammon is still w-willing to spare his first dance with ya.” He said to you, forcing out the words from his mouth.

Still…?

As if you can say no to Mammon’s roundabout way of inquiry. “I’d love to dance with you, Mammon.”

“Y-Yeah, of course ya do.” The Avatar of Greed huffed, offering his hand, “U-Unlike last time when… when Lucifer’s got all buddy-buddy with ya as if his stinky ass’ got a pact with ya.”

“Oh…” So that’s what this is about… With a slight giggle, you positioned yourself infront of him at a standard waltz hold, “If it’s any consolation… I was hoping to have my first dance with you, back then.”

Processing your statement, he remained silent and eyes were as wide as the full moon seen from the hall. The white-haired demon’s expression changed from surprise to doubt to happiness within a split second.

“Really?” He breathed out in disbelief, searching your visage for any trace of a lie.

“Yes.”

“Are ya tellin’ the truth?” Mammon’s grip on your hands tightened, as if he doesn’t want to let go, “Like, really???”

He laughed, a genuine one in a long time, and waltzed you onto the dancefloor all night long.

LEVIATHAN

Hand in hand with Levi, the two of you shared a moment under the moonlight as Lucifer forced the two of you ‘loners’ into participating at the festivities.

Levi kept his eyes down, seemingly more interested in the floor than dancing with you.

You can’t really fault him. Lucifer had dragged the whole house with him to this ball, and it was evident that the Avatar of Envy did not like the plan one bit.

You opened your mouth to break the ice but was cut short by the purple-haired demon, “Man, Asmo took the time to dress you up but your clothes are still all super long.”

“It can’t be helped.” You shook your head with a smile.

At least Levi is also trying to make conversation, rather than completely sulking at the situation you’re both in.

“We didn’t have the time to have it altered.”

“You know, in one of my favourite shoujo anime, ‘I’m a Cafe Maid But It’s A Top Secret Because I Am The Emperor’s Daughter Who Ran Away From My Responsibilities Because My Dad Is Forcing Me To Marry’,” He started rambling, a slight blush peppered his pale skin, “There’s a part where the princess slips on her dress and one of her suitors, a NEET gaming-addict who is also a shut in and doesn’t have any friends except for his pet fish, caught her and it’s so romantic–”

He stopped mid-sentence, foot slipping at the excessive amount of cloth on your fur coat.

“Woah, careful, Levi!” You caught him, one hand cradling him by the shoulders and the other stabilizing him from the small of his back to avoid a sudden fall. Levi held on to you for support, momentarily paralyzed.

“.…!” He met your worried gaze, his face heating up at your closeness and the warmth of your arms surrounding him.

“Are you okay?” You asked, holding him tight liken of a fragile porcelain vase that will shatter if you let him fall, “Did you hurt yourself?”

“I-I-I-I’m fine…”

Little did you know, his mind was already racing at the possibilities of him being in a shoujo anime with him as the princess and you as his knight and shining armour.

SATAN

Liken of a true gentleman that he is, Satan offered you his hand at the waltz the moment Lord Diavolo ended his speech. He brought you to the middle of the dance floor, leading you with graceful movements - with a fiery spark in his eyes. It’s as if the blonde is showing off his skills to everyone in Devildom.

Weird…

From the corner of your eyes, you saw Lucifer dancing, almost as gracefully, with a rather alluring witch.

Ah, Satan’s as competitive as usual, you thought to yourself, forcing yourself to not roll your eyes at the realization. That would be rude.

With his usual grin, he spoke, “You look amazing. The clothes Asmo picked for you fits you perfectly.”

E-Excuse me, what?

“T-Thank you.” You nodded politely at his words, feeling the rush of your blood on your cheeks.

Satan held you closer, whispering sensually by your right ear, “Your scent is different tonight, too. Something… mysterious.”

Woah–! “Aren’t you…”

The Avatar of Wrath dropped his tone, the type that sent chills down your spine, “You smell delicious–”

“Okay, what gives, Satan?” You pouted at his mischief, shoving him ever so slightly to regain what was left of your personal space. “What’s with all the super specific comments?”

He laughed with great amusement, surprised that you caught on to his jeers quite fast, “I get to see your pretty blushing face.”

“Not fair!”

“I’m not lying, though.” Satan’s expression changed, his visage now conveying a much more genuine smile, “I wanted to show you off to everyone, all in your blushing glory.”

ASMODEUS

Ever since the party started, Asmo hasn’t left your side. Much to Mammon’s absolute horror, the Avatar of Lust has kept his arms around your own all throughout the ceremonies.

He has been flirting with you the whole night with his usual string of compliments.

‘Your eyes gleam whenever you see him, as if there’s a galaxy bursting within them.’

‘Your lips were absolutely alluring, he’d spend hours kissing you and appreciating them as much as he could.’

‘The way your clothes fit your frame so delicately that he wants to ravish you while you–’

It was embarrassing to hear, given that there’s eight of you on the table and the peach-haired demon did not consider lowering his tone. Everyone in the table most definitely heard his soft yet aggressive comments.

It never stopped even until the two of you were dancing together in the waltz. Asmodeus held you in a firm hold, his natural beauty has always struck you whenever he’s this close, “Aren’t our clothes absolutely stunning?”

“They are, Asmo.” You smiled at him, only now do you ever feel the butterflies on your stomach at his words. “Your eye for beauty is unmatched.”

“Of course!” He swayed with you gracefully, his aura of sensuality piercing through the roof at the sight of him in his three piece suit, “This is a special night, I wouldn’t pass off the opportunity to show you off to the whole of Devildom!”

“That is so like you.”Giggling at his comment, you allowed yourself to finally relax and take in his praises. This intimacy is so much better than the earlier situation at the table.

“Come on, honey, give me a graceful twirl~” Asmo beamed at you, leading you into a twirl step with much finesse.

“And again!”

Wait-

“And again!”

“No-!” Feeling dizzy and slightly nauseous at the repeated spin, you tripped on your own shoes and find Asmodeus holding you stable. Sighing at the charming demon’s whims, you shook your head with a smile, “Asmo, this is a slow dance not tango.”

BEELZEBUB

The night is still young yet you sought refuge on the balcony, silently watching the moon from a nearby bench. Nights in the Devildom are often colder than the ones in the human world…

But then again, after months of staying here, how do you compare when traces of the human world get lost in your grasp every moment you spend down here?

You imagine the contrast of the bright sun during summers above and the dim light everyday here in–

“You look like you’re lost in thought.” A voice pulled you from your own thoughts, your head moving ever so slightly to confirm the person who joined you on the balcony.

It’s Beel.

“Ah, well…” You shrugged, rubbing your arms to stave a bit of the chill in the air, “I’m just a bit exhausted from socializing. Formal parties aren’t my thing.”

“It isn’t my thing, too.” The red-haired demon peeled off his coat, gently putting it over your shoulders and sat beside you, “I can’t eat all the food on the table. Lucifer is glaring daggers every time I try. He’s telling me that we’re representing Lord Diavolo’s name so I have to behave.”

You chuckled at his words. Lucifer sounds so much like a father to his siblings.

“We’ll get you some food at home. I’ll cook you some homemade–”

“Do you want to dance?” The Avatar of Gluttony asked you, the sounds of the orchestra from behind the two of you suddenly registering in your mind at the offer.

“What?”

He wants to dance?

“It’s just the two of us here…” He stated, holding out his hand towards you, “We can take it slow so you won’t get exhausted.”

You held his coat closer to you, the corners of your lips curling up at the saccharine proposal. “You’re too sweet, Beel.”

You took his hand.

BELPHEGOR

Despite the rough beginnings of your relationship with him, he tried his best to mend and gain your trust - this time, genuinely.

He’s always been so sweet yet there’s always a distance he’s kept whenever he’s with you. You can’t fault him. Perhaps the guilt of his past actions is always at the back of his mind…

You wanted to help him get past this. And the solution to your questions is today’s dance.

It’s your first dance with Belphegor.

Everything has been laid out perfectly in your mind. You’ll talk to him about it, he’ll answer you honestly and your relationship with him will be a lot stronger than before. Quite Disney-esque but you had to try.

That is… until he declared something that slipped your mind.

“I want to sleep.” He groggily announced, your dance slowing down much more sluggish than the actual tune of the waltz.

“Belphie, come on.” You tried to alert his senses a bit, hoping that he won’t sleep on you, literally, while the music is playing. “It’s Lord Diavolo’s birthday, we have to participate.”

The ravenet yawned, his hands slipping from yours, “The orchestra is playing lullabies, how can I not…”

“Stay with me!” With all your might, you tried to support Belphie’s weight, looking around to see something that would wake him up.

“Look, even Mammon is hitting it up on the dance floor…” Is he fucking dancing dougie… on a damn waltz?! This isn’t a dance battle, Mammon!!!

Scandalized at his inappropriate dance to a waltz, you shrugged it off, “Okay, we’re not watching him.”

“You’re as soft and warm as a pillow.” Belphie rubbed his head against yours, his body now shamelessly draped over yours while you struggled to lead him to the dance.

“D-Don’t you think this is a bit too close for a formal dance, Belphie?”

“Mnn…”

Very heavy!

#obey me shall we date #obey me headcanons #obey me game #obey me #lucifer #mammon #leviathan #satan #asmodeus #beelzebub #belphegor #barbatos' room #anon ask #mod lee #headcanons

288 notes · View notes

rainandhotchocolate · 4 years

Text

Winter Ball

A/N HELLO it’s DAY 10 (even though it’s 11 oops), here is the first fic for the day! I thought I’d mix it up a bit and do a gxg one so here is a Narcissa x reader fic cause why the hell not, and also @malfoy has gotten me onto the Narcissa fic track and im a mess.

It is very smutty just an FYI (also sorry I have v little experience in the gxg area so feel free to give me some feedback!)

Enjoy xx

Y/N stared at herself in the mirror, fiddling with her hair. The dorm room was quiet around her, and she knew she should really be getting going before everything started, but she couldn’t help watching to see if there’s anything out of place.

She was wearing a long dark green gown, strapless with small sparkling stars on the sweetheart bust and the remaining silk falling down to her ankles in a soft silhouette. She’d picked it out months ago with her mum in Diagon Alley but now she was wearing it, hair and makeup done, she felt nervous.

Y/N took in a deep breath, steeling herself before turning away from the mirror and walking determinedly down towards the common room. It was nearly empty, Christmas decorations hanging across the fireplace and snowflakes hanging in the air around the green Slytherin common room, fake snow blanketing the windowsills. Y/N slipped out of the room quickly, not wanting anyone to comment on her slinky dress and twinkling black heels and make her even more nervous.

This wasn’t exactly Y/N’s element. She could normally be found in much more… casual clothes. She barely could be seen in anything but black or blue jeans when she wasn’t in her uniform, and baggy jumpers were a staple.

Her heels clicked loudly down the hallway as she moved quickly towards the staircase that led to the Great Hall which had been transformed into a dance floor for the evening. There had been an announcement a month previous regarding the introduction of a winter ball, where you could choose to bring someone and stay over Christmas to enjoy winter festivities and a live band. Only fourth years and above were permitted entry unless you were invited by an older student, and students had been talking about nothing else for weeks.

Y/N reached the top of the stairs and peered out into the hallway. There were still some other students milling around the corridors surrounding the Great Hall, the doors wide open. Y/N sighed in relief, thanking Merlin that she wasn’t going to make some grand entrance into the ball and pushing herself to move forward and towards the doorway.

Y/N felt herself let out a small gasp at the sight of the Great Hall, stepping into the side to avoid the main walkway into the dance floor. The four tables that normally took up the majority of the room had disappeared, replaced with hundreds of small round tables covered in gleaming white tablecloths and floral centrepieces that seemed to be covered in snow. In fact, the entire room looked like it had been coated with a layer of fresh snow, the dance floor looking like ice, gleaming brightly underneath large ornate chandeliers covering the ceiling. There were ice sculptures of each house mascot in different areas of the room, which seemed to move when a student walked passed.

“It’s amazing isn’t it,” someone had sidled up to Y/N as she stood in awe of the decorations. Y/N turned to see Narcissa Black, dressed in a silvery-white gown that matched her hair which was curled loosely down her back. She looked angelic, though Y/N knew she was usually quite the opposite.

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard you say that about anything,” Y/N smirked, turning to face her. Narcissa rolled her eyes.

“I’m allowed to be positive on occasion.”

“Apparently so.”

“So, who did you come with?” Narcissa gazed pointedly at the empty space beside Y/N and back to her.

“You know I said I was going stag.”

“You just couldn’t get the courage to ask anyone out,” Narcissa raised an eyebrow turning back towards the dancefloor. Y/N followed her gaze, spotting a small group of Slytherin’s dancing to the side of the room.

“You came with Lucius then?”

“Of course, we are the perfect couple, aren’t we?” Narcissa grinned at Y/N, “He’s actually here with some Ravenclaw girl and I’ve been stalking Oliver all night.”

“Well make sure you get some photos with Lucius this time, so you don’t get killed by your parents.”

“Duly noted.”

They fell into a comfortable silence, gazing across the crowd. Whilst the ball was to integrate the houses in a fun and safe environment, the standard cliques were definitely showing across the crowd. Y/N could see the more awkward Ravenclaws standing around the drinks table chatting animatedly, the Hufflepuff Quidditch team dancing the most intensely in the centre of the dancefloor, standing dangerously close to the Gryffindor ice sculpture. There was the self-proclaimed marauders watching a group of girls from a table right next to the dancefloor, smirking stupidly at each other every few minutes.

“Care for a dance?” Narcissa turned back to Y/N, expression calm, but one hand was sidling up to Y/N’s waist. Y/N couldn’t help but let a small smile curl onto her face.

“Only if it’s going to completely destroy hetero conceptions of the world.”

“But of course.” Narcissa took Y/N’s hand and led her through the tables and onto the dancefloor. Y/N had the momentary feeling that she would slip when she stepped onto the floor but it was solid and smooth and felt natural under the tip of her heel.

Narcissa pulled her close, a hand on her waist and another on her shoulder, the way one would dance at a proper pureblood evening with a male suitor, grinning as they fell into a waltz across the room.

“I’ve not seen you in a dress before,” Narcissa spoke softly as they moved across the ice, gaining more than a few turned heads.

“I like to confuse expectations.”

“I can tell.” She spun Y/N around suddenly, pulling her in close and whispering in her ear, “You look incredible.”

Y/N felt her stomach twist in a delightfully nervous way as Narcissa pulled back, keeping her expression plain but not hiding the twinkle in her eyes that she always got when she flirted with Y/N. They continued to dance slowly with the music, people beginning to ignore them as two friends dancing together. The hum of the speakers changed as the song ended and people began moving towards the stage.

“So there will be live music huh?” Y/N watched the crowd build around them, swarming towards the stage where a curtain was currently pulled over.

“Any bets it’s someone very terrible.”

Before Y/N could answer the curtain pulled back, revealing four boys in the same black velvet robes, looking very hyped.

“Are you ready to ROCK HOGWARTS!” The lead singer screaming into the microphone, resulting in a loud response from the crowd.

“And you are right,” Y/N laughed as the crowd pushed up against the stage and the band began to play aggressively.

“I think it might be time to casually slip out,” Narcissa had hold of Y/N’s wrist and slid her out of the crowd and towards the exit of the Great Hall.

Y/N looked quickly behind her to see if anyone had seen them leave before following Narcissa’s long strides across the corridor and down some stairs that lead to the Dungeons. Y/N couldn’t help but watch as Narcissa’s dress swished from side to side with her perfect feminine walk, the one Y/N was sure she had practised in the mirror for every event her parents held.

They passed the Slytherin common room quickly, moving towards the potions classroom and where Y/N knew there was a roomy broom cupboard hopefully sitting unused and out of the way…

Narcissa spun on her heels, the silver-white dress clinging to her hips as she turned to face Y/N as Y/N came to meet her.

“Care to join me?” Narcissa nodded towards the cupboard, looking innocent enough, the gaze Y/N had seen her use countless times to get boys to do what she wanted.

“If you insist,” Y/N stepped forward, standing directly in front of Narcissa now, slightly shorter than her even in heels, leaning forwards so that their bodies were touching as Y/N opened the door behind her.

Narcissa grabbed Y/N roughly, pushing her inside and closing the door with her foot. It was dark, a soft light coming through the gaps in the door which outlined Narcissa’s curves as she stalked towards Y/N. Y/N pulled out her wand and gave a flick, a ball of light coming from the end of it and hovering above the two of them so Y/N could see Narcissa’s grinning face.

And then suddenly she was pushing her up against the back wall, kissing Y/N roughly, hands pressed against her own, lifting them up above Y/N’s head and pinning them to the wall behind her. Y/N kissed her back with equal passion, parting her lips so that Narcissa could flick a tongue against Y/N’s, both smiling into the kiss. Narcissa pulled away, swishing her long hair across her right shoulder and leaning against Y/N’s left, biting her way down Y/N’s neck and clavicle as she groaned softly, arching her back into Narcissa’s chest.

“You like that?” She cooed into Y/N’s ear, chewing on it softly.

“Yes,” Y/N gasped, closing her eyes, wanting to feel Narcissa’s hands still pushing against the wooden back wall, the soft tulle of her dress swishing against Y/N’s legs. Narcissa placed a heeled foot between Y/N’s legs, using the gap to lean further forwards.

“What else would you like?” She whispered, her voice getting rougher, less controlled. Y/N loved it when she lost control.

“Make me scream so loud you need to cover my mouth,” Y/N whispered back, grinning when she heard Narcissa’s soft moan at her words.

“How much do you like this dress?”

“Not enough to keep it on.”

Narcissa smirked, letting go of Y/N’s wrists above her head and trailing them down towards the zipper of Y/N’s dress, her long fingers trailing against her spine. Narcissa kept her eyes on Y/N, biting her lip softly as her hands reached around the back of her dress and ripped it open in one smooth moment. Y/N gasped lightly as she felt the top of the dress slip, revealing her very naked breasts heaving in front of Narcissa.

“Fuck,” Narcissa groaned, looking at her almost primitively, moving her hands around to the front of Y/N’s chest and massaging each breast softly, almost painfully slowly edging her way to each nipple before pressing a thumb on each and pressing lightly inwards, continuing to massage as Y/N felt her eyes roll back into her head. Narcissa grinned, leaning forward and sucking on one of her nipples, hard, biting down slightly when Y/N bucked her hips into Narcissa’s.

“You know, it’s really not fair that you still have this on,” Y/N breathed, looking down and Narcissa’s gown that was still very much in tact.

“I think you’re right,” She gave her an innocent look, standing upright and holding Y/N’s gaze as she unzipped her dress slowly, letting it slip the whole way down her body and onto the ground, only wearing a pale white thong.

“Not fair,” Y/N growled, giving her body a once over, feeling everything inside her tingling slightly at the sight of her porcelain, perfect skin and stunning body. Y/N let out a soft breath, but before she could take in another Narcissa had pulled the up the skirt of Y/N’s dress and picked her up with surprising ease, Y/N’s heels kicking back onto Narcissa’s hips. She pulled the skirt up higher and higher, kissing her way up Y/N’s leg slowly as Y/N reached down and gripped a large number of her shining curls in her fist, pulling back in the way she knew Narcissa liked. She responded by moving closer to Y/N and kissing the top of her vulva, making Y/N squirm.

Narcissa smiled against her leg, leaning in again and flicking a tongue across the edge of Y/N’s clitoris. Y/N moaned loudly, grabbing a hook that was sitting behind her and pushing her head against the wall as Narcissa began to flick her tongue back and forth softly but consistently over Y/N’s vulva. Every few flicks she would suck softly, making Y/N squeeze her thighs tightly around Narcissa’s head and neck and moan even louder.

“Fuck, Cissy, fuck,” Y/N gasped, squirming uncontrollably now as she felt her stomach begin to shake at Narcissa’s touch. Y/N could feel Narcissa grin but made no sign of slowing as she moved down suddenly and pushed her tongue into Y/N’s vagina.

“Merlin, I’m so close,” Y/N gasped, tightening her grip around Narcissa’s shoulders and pulling a hand through her soft, white hair. Narcissa looked up momentarily, wanting to see Y/N’s body wrapped around her own, breathing hitched, eyes wild.

She winked at Y/N before pushing Y/N closer to the wall, using her hands to push Y/N’s ass higher on her face and flicked her tongue faster against Y/N’s clitoris. Suddenly, her right hand moved away from Y/N’s body and moved up Y/N’s thigh as Narcissa licked faster and Y/N’s body shook. Narcissa pushed her index finger into Y/N’s vagina and Y/N had to stop herself from screaming Narcissa’s name loudly across the room.

“Fuck, Narcissa,” She managed, hissing into the air as her stomach shook harder, the orgasm building in her. “I want you so bad.”

Narcissa moaned into Y/N at her words and the vibration made Y/N slam her head against the wall and moan loudly, her orgasm washing over her in waves as Narcissa pulled her head away, continuing to move her finger in circles inside Y/N.

Narcissa clamped one hand against Y/N’s mouth, smirking mischievously, but the hand against her mouth just made her wetter, biting down against Narcissa’s fingers as she rode out her orgasm.

Narcissa pulled out her index finger after a moment, placing both hands around Y/N’s waist to hoist her down from the wall and around her shoulders.

They stood in silence for a moment, both breathing heavily and smiling. Y/N bit her lip as she saw Narcissa’s glistening skin, her breasts pressed against her own.

“We should probably get back before anyone wonders where we got to,” Narcissa breathed, trailing one finger along Y/N’s arm, making her shiver.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to finish you off?” Y/N placed her hand against Narcissa’s upper thigh, her lip curling as she watched Narcissa’s pristine manners disappear with a dark flash across her face.

“Later,” Narcissa grinned, pulling Y/N’s hand away and leaning in to kiss her softly. “I’ll see you after I kiss Lucius publicly goodnight.”

“Such a tease.”

“I do my best.” Narcissa pulled her dress back up, zipping it quickly before helping Y/N pull her own up and glued it back together with a flick of her wand.

“Give me five minutes,” Narcissa nodded towards the door, pulling it slightly open to check the coast was clear before slipping out silently. Y/N leaned against the door, still breathless, giving Narcissa the 5-minute gap she’d requested. Later, she’d see her again later.

Y/N smiled to herself and followed Narcissa’s steps out of the cupboard and out of sight.

Taglist: @maraudersandco @gollyderek

@northscorpio @seesaw-it @passionfruitt @depressedcoffeebean @supercuteasalily @palaisdecouture @blackpinkdolan @fashionlive15 @creepysweet @sour-patch-kid

#rainandhotchocolate #narcissa x reader #narcissa black x reader #narcissa imagine #narcissa malfoy x reader #narcissa malfoy imagine

275 notes · View notes

mkw-raider · 4 years

Text

Rescue

Pairing: Marinette/Chloé

AO3

One early spring evening, Chloé Bourgeois stood as far away from a party full of older, rich people she didn’t actually know, trying to remember why she had told her father she would be in attendance, especially since he had disappeared earlier in the night to attend to ‘business’. Of course, the Hotel De Ville was decorated beautifully for the charity ball her father was hosting, and the food was phenomenal as usual, but Chloé hadn’t attended an event here since Hawkmoth had started terrorizing Paris. She had too many memories of being attacked here, by akumas either trying to get to the mayor or she was just caught in the crosshairs, and there were too many memories of her father being the target and the Akumas that had come to get him while he had been working. She was definitely having a ball.

Glaring briefly at the wine glass she had been nursing the entire night, and downed the rest to shove the bad memories away. She had grown since then. If there was an Akuma, she could handle herself and Ladybug would make sure her father was safe.

Trying to avoid gaining the attention of groups of men vying for her time so she could give a good word to her father, Chloé began moving through the room, looking for anything to keep her interest. There were a lot of people that had decided to attend in what Chloé could only call their worst attempt at dressing themselves, and had any of her friends been here, Chloé might have been tempted to spend longer than a few seconds judging the worst offenses, but she was alone. Adrien had not been allowed to come to events held outside of the arrondissement where he lived since his mother had died, unless Gabriel or Nathalie came with him, and both adults had refused Chloé’s best persuading. Sabrina, unfortunately, was completing a physics assignment with her group and hadn’t let Chloé pay a professional to do it so she could skip the homework. Marinette had just laughed and told Chloé that rich and fancy charity events weren’t exactly her forte, and then kissed her and told her she also had some other business to attend to. Chloé knew that meant patrol and therefore she couldn’t be mad. It still sucked though, she had wanted to hold her girlfriend’s hand and sway to whatever music her father had selected as background noise for the event.

Lost in thought, Chloé nearly walked headfirst into a young man. Taking him in, he looked to be around her age, and if she took off her heels, she would only be a few centimetres taller than him at most. He seemed fit, with short cropped brown hair, green eyes, and an easygoing smile. If Chloé weren’t a lesbian, she might call him somewhat attractive, but as it stands she just saw him as an obstacle in her way.

“Excuse me.” Chloé said, beginning to move around him. Marinette’s voice flashing through Chloé’s mind as she began turning out of his arm, she internally grimaced and threw out a quick, “Sorry.”

Unnamed Stranger, slid his hand from her upper arm to grasp her wrist and pull her back towards him. “Don’t go yet, let’s get to know each other.”

There were many different ways Chloé was thinking of to tell him to unhand her and leave her alone, but before she could use any of her choice insults, he took the empty wine glass from her hand. Unnamed Stranger put her glass on the closest table before grabbing her wrist again to pull her towards a slightly more open area to lead Chloé in a slow dance. It was a step up from the awkward swaying of her youth, but his grip on her was too tight and his movements were not refined enough to really be considered a waltz. Opening her mouth to tear into him, Unnamed Stranger cut her off before she could even try.

“You looked lovely tonight, so different to the bland dresses the other girls were wearing and I knew I had to come offer a dance.”

At least Unnamed Stranger had eyes, but Chloé didn’t need his compliments. She was wearing a Dupain-Cheng original. It was a deep blue, almost black, but as it caught the light, Marinette’s handiwork was revealed as the constellations and stars she had sewn in glimmered.

“My father always taught me not to let pretty girls spend their nights alone.”

Chloé would prefer to be completely alone rather than swung clumsily around the floor.

“Now we’re definitely the best dressed couple here.”

Much-Too-Confident Stranger definitely was not the reason they were the best dressed couple. Not only were they not a couple, but his suit was not up to Chloé’s standards. At first glance, his suit could pass for something fitted, but with the up close view Chloé had been awarded, she could see his suit jacket hung slightly too large on his frame, and his jacket cuffs completely came down past his sleeves. The entire outfit seemed a few years older than she would expect from the kind of people that come to these charity balls.

“Maybe later, we can get out of here. We can talk business, or I can show you a good time. Your choice, of course.”

Gone-Too-Far Stranger was incredibly close to being hit. Instead of causing a dramatic scene, even though Chloé really wanted to, she just lifted her heel and stomped on Rude Stranger’s foot.

Maybe it was harder than she had intended, as her dance partner nearly leapt away from her. He thankfully released his death grip on Chloé’s hand and waist as he lowered both of his arms to cradle his foot. She tried to hide her grin behind a hand as she attempted to feign sincerity, “Oh gosh, I’m sorry. I’m just so clumsy when it comes to dancing.”

Walking quickly backwards, Chloé ignored Rude Stranger’s attempts to call her back and openly let herself smile. Marinette might consider her actions a little much, but Chloé definitely thought they were more than appropriate.

Snaking her way through groups of people, Chloé spied a waiter carrying another tray of wine and made her way to grab a glass. She would need more than the one glass her father allowed her after dealing with the stranger. Honestly, who just forces someone to dance without even telling them your name. It was ridiculous, utterly ridiculous. Chloé was beginning to wonder why she had let her father give her driver the night off so they could arrive and leave together.

Reaching into the pocket Marinette had sewed for her, Chloé pulled out her phone to quickly send a text to her girlfriend. ‘Wish you were here, Blueberry. You would have made this much more bearable.’ A response probably wasn’t coming anytime soon, Chloé knew Marinette took her patrol nights seriously and tried to be out for at least a few hours so the city knew she was there. That didn’t mean Chloé couldn’t keep sporadically sending her complaints until she gets a response. By the time the party winds down enough for her father to let her leave, Marinette would most likely be done with patrol and home meaning they could call and Chloé’s night would take a positive turn. The positive turn could definitely happen earlier if her father would let her leave without him though.

Speaking of her father, she could see the Mayor close to the entrance of the room. Chloé couldn’t tell from the crowd if her father was alone, but he wasn’t surrounded by the normal crowd trying to bargain for political favour, so she figured now was the best time to convince or beg her father to have an early night. As she got closer, Chloé could see that her father was not, in fact alone. Standing next to him, was a man Chloé was positive she had never seen before, but for some reason seemed familiar. Chloé almost turned around to go hide in the corner or a hallway away from the party for the rest of the night except, her father turned and noticed her before she could make her escape. A large smile spread across his face and he beckoned Chloé forward with a two finger wave, leaving her no choice but to finish making her way over.

“My darling angel! Allow me to introduce you to M. Durand, an old friend. Pierre, I’m sure you remember my beautiful daughter, Chloé.”

M. Durand offered his hand. “Of course, of course. Though last time I saw you, you were much younger. You’ve grown into a beautiful young woman.” The smile he offered Chloé did not make her feel more comfortable. Sliding her hand into his, she fought the feeling of unease that rose within her when he brought her hand to his lips and kissed it for longer than she felt was necessary.

Chloé had to actively fight down the part of her that wanted to cause a scene and escape the party, the mayor’s daughter could handle a little discomfort provided by strange men she barely knew, so she plastered on a fake smile and played her part of the beautiful politician’s daughter and thanked the man before standing by her father and saying nothing. Perhaps playing her part too well, Chloé spent the next few minutes fading in and out of the conversation until her father’s hand on her shoulder brought her back to the present.

M. Durand was looking towards the surrounding party, arm raised towards something Chloé couldn’t quite see, “-here he is now.” She tried to make sense of whatever sentence she hadn’t been paying attention to, but everything made more sense when she saw the ‘he’ that had been referred to.

Strolling towards their little group was Unnamed Stranger. Same easygoing smile in place, same shoddy suit, same uncomfortable feeling settling in the pit of Chloé’s stomach.

Unnamed Stranger stood next to M. Durand as the older man beamed and lowered his arm around the boy’s shoulder. “André, I’m sure you remember my pride and joy, Audric. He’s just finished with his schooling in England, and he’s come back to reacquaint himself with the politics in Paris.”

“I remember. He’s around Chloé’s age, isn’t he? I’m sure Chloé would be happy to help your son get reacquainted with everything here.” Her father’s hand tightened on her shoulder, and when she glanced at him, he waggled his eyebrows at her before glancing between Audric and herself.

Audric smirked at her, “We actually met earlier. Chloé allowed me the honour of sharing a dance with her.”

Chloé was going to scream. Audric kept looking at her and smiling, her father’s arm was preventing her from leaving, and it seemed like M. Durand was slowly nudging his son closer to her.

The two adults immediately started discussing increasing M. Durand’s involvement with her father’s political campaign, while Audric chimed in to mention how the two oldest children getting closer would be good press before smiling at Chloé again. Which, oh. Okay. Chloé knew where this was going now. Knew why her father was introducing her to M. Durand and his son. She knew why Audric had decided to dance with her, and why her father was trying to keep her here talking to him.

She knew her father hadn’t quite accepted her relationship with Mari so she wasn’t entirely surprised he was talking to his friends about matching her up with their sons. She would play his game, but she wouldn’t lie about the greatest thing that had ever happened to her. The smile on her face was sugar sweet as she said, “I’d love to get to know Audric further. My girlfriend and I could show you around the city and introduce you to some people we know.”

The Durand’s paused, both looked taken aback. Chloé took a moment to savour their surprise. Her father had a strained smile but his grip had loosened enough for Chloé to turn out of his grasp. “I’d love to stay and discuss further, but I have some business to attend to. If you’ll excuse me.”

Turning away from the men, Chloé wandered off into the crowd and pulled out her phone. Notifications from Adrien and Sabrina flashed on her screen, but nothing from Marinette. ‘My father still doesn’t accept that we’re together. His new plan seems to be setting me up with his influential friend’s sons. Really wishing I stayed home waiting for you to visit me.’ At least if Marinette were here Chloé wouldn’t feel so alone.

Putting her phone away, Chloé saw a young teen waving her over. It was a group that used to hang around Chloé when she was younger and came to these charity events more frequently. The conversation was more likely to be gossip and fake compliments, but at this point anything was better than standing alone in a corner waiting for this to be over and avoiding Audric. So Chloé resigned herself to joining the girls.

----

Twenty minutes later, Chloé was bored. She had been discreetly checking her phone and Marinette still hadn’t responded. She could see her father out of the corner in a group of men in the middle of the room so leaving still wasn’t an option. At this point she had been ignoring the girl’s conversation, focusing on how to excuse herself from them and make her way out of the rest of the party without drawing attention to herself. If no one noticed her leaving, she could probably go hide in her father’s office until everything started wrapping up. Or she could just walk home. Her father would be furious once he figures out she left, but she knows she’d be safe. If she decided to leave, she would just text Mari that she was walking home and Ladybug would get her before she even got halfway so long as there wasn’t an akuma.

In her focus on ignoring everything around her, Chloé missed her companions' conversation cease. The sudden lack of noise from the rest of the party though, definitely caught her attention. The group of girls she was standing with were looking behind Chloé, mouths agape.

Turning brought Chloé face to face with her girlfriend. Except instead of Marinette, Chloé was looking at Ladybug, with a very determined expression. Most of the partygoers had stopped to focus on the hero’s arrival, and even Chloé had to admit she was confused.

“Apologies Madame Bourgeois, there’s an akuma looking for you. I’ve come to take you somewhere safe.” Ladybug half-turned away from Chloé to address the crowd, “The akuma hasn’t expressed interest in anything else, you will all be safe here. Feel free to carry on, Chat Noir and I will handle this quickly.”

Confused, Chloé allowed Ladybug to place a hand on the small of her back and begin leading her out. While moving towards the entrance of the hall, Chloé managed to spot her father’s worried face and send him a reassuring smile. Ladybug led Chloé through groups of people out into the hallway, marching forward at a quick pace.

Usually, if Marinette ran into Chloé during an akuma attack, she would tell Chloé what was happening, telling her if there was anywhere she should avoid or anyone she should look out for. Ladybug tried to speak to people she knew outside of the mask as little as possible to prevent anyone else from discovering her identity, but Chloé was still normally an exception to that rule.

“Ladybug?” Chloé questioned.

Ladybug barely glanced down, just continued navigating through the hallway and between the few partygoers near them. “I’ve got to get you away from all these people and somewhere Chat and I can protect you.”

A serious Ladybug was something Chloé was used to. So Chloé would keep her relief and questions to herself, let her girlfriend do her job, and then when this was all over hopefully have Mari drop her off at home instead of bringing her back to the party.

Stepping outside, Ladybug slid her arm around Chloé’s waist, gave her a soft smile, and threw her yoyo to the nearest building. Once safely on the roof, Ladybug moved from holding Chloé around the waist, to looping her arm under Chloé’s legs to carry her bridal style as she started to run and leap across the rooftops.

Taking the time to wrap her arms around Marinette’s neck, Chloé sank deeper into her girlfriends hold, ignored the buildings passing by, and focused on the feeling of Marinette’s hold. Despite the exertion of jumping across the roofs of Paris, Marinette’s breathing never changed from the steady rise and fall Chloé was accustomed to.

Ladybug shifted her hold on Chloé, moving to maintain the bridal carry with one arm before the other shot out to pull the duo into a sudden weightlessness only achieved by swinging through Paris. Chloé peered around her girlfriend to watch the Eiffel Tower twinkle as they swung by.

A few minutes more of swinging through Paris led to Ladybug landing on Chloé’s balcony at Le Grand Paris. Placing Chloé down, Marinette looped their fingers together before tugging Chloé towards a small basket surrounded by candles.

The basket was resting on a few blankets closer to the edge of the balcony to give a better view of the surrounding area. The blankets and surrounding area were bathed in a soft orange light, and Chloé could hear soft music drifting from inside.

Turning towards her girlfriend, Chloé was at a loss for words. “Mar-Ladybug, what?” As sweet as the whole gesture was, Chloé didn’t know if a rooftop picnic date was the safest thing to be doing during an akuma attack.

Chloé watched Marinette as she released her hand and bent towards the basket. Opening the box, Marinette began pulling out Tom and Sabine pastries, including a few of the lemon squares Chloé adores. Marinette continued pulling out snacks, until she grabbed a small bag of chocolate chip cookies and transformed. Chloé averted her eyes from the bright pink light that engulfed her girlfriend only to turn back to watch Tikki dive into the cookies and see her girlfriend giving her a sheepish smile.

“I lied. There was no akuma.”

Plopping down beside her girlfriend, Chloé gave Marinette a once over, “You lied?”

“I finished patrol early and then I saw all of your texts. It seemed like you were having a pretty bad night and I thought maybe you could use a rescue.” Leaning forward, Marinette handed Chloé and lemon square and pressed a quick kiss to her cheek.

Chloé lifted her treat to her mouth to hide her blushing face. Her attempts to hide became unnecessary when Marinette lowered her head onto Chloé’s shoulder.

----

The two girls spent a while enjoying each other’s company, and slowly eating their way through the snacks Marinette had brought. Occasionally a quiet conversation would spark, but for most of their time together, Marinette and Chloé sat in quiet comfort, content to sit in the same space brushing fingers over hands and leaning into the other’s space.

Marinette had just finished another cookie when she saw the time on her phone. Shortly past midnight, but later than either had intended to be out. Jumping up, Marinette transformed. Heading towards the railing, Marinette stopped, paused, and turned around before leaning down to kiss Chloé softly on the lips. Leaning back, a gentle smile spread across Marinette’s face and she began heading towards the balcony again.

Chloé jumped up to follow her girlfriend before she could leave. Grabbing Marinette’s wrist, Chloé pulled the shorter girl into a deeper kiss. Face aflame, Chloé pulled back and rested her forehead against the other girl’s, “I love you.”

What can only be described as a dopey smile took over Marinette’s face, “I love you, too.” With that, Marinette threw herself backwards off the balcony, catching her yoyo on the closest building and swinging herself up releasing a ridiculous ‘whoop’ as she did so. Chloé leant on the railing watching her girlfriend swing away into the night, thankful she was with someone thoughtful, and willing to rescue her from parties she didn’t want to attend.

#chlobug #chloe bourgeois #marinette dupain cheng #mlb #miraculous ladybug #chlonette

20 notes · View notes

calmlftv · 4 years

Text

burlesque!sos - chapter 2

description: your first rehearsal, and the introduction of everybody’s favorite roommates!

word count: 2.8k

warnings: a bit of yelling/chastising from sierra!

taglist: @spicycal @castaway-cashton @irwinkitten

***

The next morning came much too quickly, your first alarm ringing bright and early and startling you awake. You groaned, reaching over to turn off the alarm, your eyes cracked open just enough to see your phone screen as you did so. You were just about to snuggle back into bed when Sierra’s warning against being late played in your mind, your blankets immediately being pushed off of you while you jumped to your feet.

Seeing as you were up earlier than you anticipated you took your time getting ready, even taking a moment to hang up some clothes and put together a rehearsal bag before you checked the time again. With half an hour left you grabbed your water bottle from the fridge and left, your room key secured to the same ring as your car keys as you made your way to the stage.

The sound of your heels clicking on the floors was incredibly satisfying, an almost euphoric chill running down your spine when you stepped out on the stage. You took a deep breath and looked around, the entirely empty club as eerie as it could be as you climbed down and set your bag in a corner. Popping in a pair of earbuds, you turned on your favorite high-energy playlist and started stretching, using the edge of the stage to focus on your legs.

With your music blasting loudly in your ears, you didn’t hear Michael at the bar, a dolly full of alcohol cases rolling by before he saw you. He paused, staring at you as you worked on your stretches and warm-ups. He smiled, eyes wandering over your figure as he took in your outfit - a pair of high waisted black athletic shorts and a loose tank top. He went back to his work, wheeling the alcohol into the stockroom while you wrapped up your exercises. Clicking heels echoed as Sierra walked in.

“Someone’s early.”

You startled, jumping and ripping your earbuds out as you twirled around. Sierra stood near the bar, smiling at you as she started to walk over.

“Sorry for scaring you, petal, thought you heard me,” she said, smiling as she set her bag down next to yours. “Did you stretch already?”

“Yes I did,” you answered, shoving your earbuds back into your bag. “I wasn’t too sure if we would do it together.”

Sierra waved you off. “No no, it’s better you do it on your own. We do a warm up and dive into routines so stretch away.”

You smiled and nodded, the loud chatter of other girls moving closer to the two of you as they stepped into the club. A grin quickly grew when you saw the other girls, all of them giggling as they tossed their bags down. Once all the girls had arrived Sierra called you all to attention, each of you moving into positions as you ran through the entire night's performance. As you were wrapping up the opening number, the blonde from last night strutted in, sunglasses still on her face and her eyes on her cell phone.

The music faded out, the girls all staring at the woman as she set her bag in the pile, tossing her sunglasses down with it as Sierra and everyone just stared at her.

“Crystal,” Sierra snapped, the blonde suddenly looking up from her phone. She seemed unfazed by the woman’s tone. “You’re late. Give me a good reason why or you’re out of the opening number.”

The blonde - Crystal, you now knew - rolled her eyes, setting her phone down on a table. “Sisi, traffic was a nightmare-”

Before she continued Sierra held up a hand, effectively stopping the blonde from speaking any further. “Not a good reason,” she stated simply, turning and pointing at you. “Rory, you’re taking over Crystal’s lead in the opening.”

“Alright hang on-”

“No, you hang on,” Sierra snapped, the blonde shutting up immediately. “You are one of my oldest and best dancers and you should be holding yourself to a higher standard than this. Walk in late to another rehearsal and I’ll replace you for your spotlight number.”

Crystal’s eyes were wide, the woman blushing deeply. She simply nodded, silently climbing on the stage as Sierra called for everyone to start from the top. You adjusted to your new role in the opening rather quickly, catching Crystal staring daggers at you whenever she had the chance.

The rest of the rehearsal passed without incident, everyone quickly adjusting to having you around and even becoming friendly; everyone except for Crystal, of course. She seems to have a vendetta against you already, something that made you anxious to think about but was quickly forgotten as you received notes.

At the end of rehearsal Sierra dismissed you all, all of the girls falling into chatter immediately as they all gathered their things.

“Rory!” One girl called as you began to walk back to your room, bag in hand. You spun around, a smile on your face as she recognized the curly red-head bouncing towards you.

“Hey!” You greeted, keeping your smile. “You’re...Georgia, right?”

The woman smiled, a giggle escaping her. “You got it! I’m very impressed that you remembered,” she teased, causing you to chuckle a bit. A thick Southern drawl coated her voice, something that made you all the more interested in what she was saying. “Some of us are gonna go out for lunch, do you want to join us?” A look of anxiety must have crossed your face, because Georgia gave you a kind smile and rested a hand on your shoulder. “I can cover you.”

You let out a breath of relief and nodded. “I’d love to, then. But I’m definitely paying you back once we get paid.”

Georgia laughed, linking her arm with hers as she guided you back to a group of girls that were waiting. “You’re sweet, Rory. I am the only person in this ensemble that would never ask you to pay her back.”

You smiled, the girls ahead of you waving you and Georgia on to hurry up. “Who said you had a choice in the matter?”

Georgia laughed. “Girls, we got ourselves a funny one!”

The other girls all burst into giggles, all of you walking out together and carpooling to the nearest favorite.

Luke sighed in frustration, his teeth gripping a pen cap as he drew a black ‘x’ through another help wanted listing in the newspaper in his hand. His back slammed against the concrete building behind him, his hand lifting to pull the pen cap from between his lips as his eyes closed. The 5th rejection definitely still stung more than the first 4 did, his pride and ego taking blow after blow as every job he walked into turned him around and kicked him out.

Another sigh escaped the man, his fingers plucking at the olive green v-neck he had on. The sunlight hitting his black jeans was warming his legs to the point of it being uncomfortable, his legs starting to move as he joined the flow of foot traffic.

Walking out of his last job really sounded like a good idea when Luke did it; the shitty management at the restaurant he had worked at for two years had finally agitated him enough to take off his apron and drop it on the floor, leaving a good portion of the floor without waitstaff when he walked through the doors. The constant lack of communication and misogynistic attitudes towards the female employees - who always did a better job than Luke did, he’d admit - had broken him. When his best friend and coworker Lucy had come to him crying for the upteenth time about what the management had said to her, Luke lost it; storming into the office and letting the managers there have an earful before he dropped his apron and collected his tips.

Now, though, Luke was struggling. His final paycheck wasn’t nearly enough to help him afford expenses, and even with his years of experience, places kept showing him the door. With his spirit broken and head hung low, he walked down the street, his free hand in his pocket as his blue eyes counted the cracks in the sidewalk. When he passed a garbage can he shoved the newspaper in it, the pen finding a home in his back pocket next to his cell phone.

He wandered for what seemed like hours, walking a great distance until he finally ducked into an alley to collect his thoughts. He leaned against a corner of the nearest building, not entirely paying any mind to the red letters spelling the name of the establishment while he pulled out his phone and answered some texts. The sound of a door scraping open jolted him, the loud laughter and chatter of a gaggle of girls spilling out from them as they waltz right past the man. His eyes were glued to them, the man finally stepping on to the sidewalk and noticing the name of the lounge he was leaning against. His eyes lowered to the Help Wanted sign in the front window, a smile appearing on his face as he caught the door and walked inside.

The blonde ran a hand through his hair, following the clattering sound of bottles as he walked into the main lounge. A woman with dark hair and ripped jeans stood talking to a tall man with slicked dark hair at a table, neither of them paying Luke any mind as they looked over a stack of papers.

Luke tore his eyes away from them as another blonde walked out from a side door, a rag in his pocket and a clipboard in his hands. He looks like someone important, Luke thought, putting both of his hands in his pockets as he walked up to the stranger.

“Excuse me?” He asked, swallowing hard as the man turned to him. “I saw the help wanted sign in your window. Are you guys looking to hire waiters, by any chance?”

The stranger grinned, setting the clipboard down on the bar top. “As a matter of fact, we are,” he said, his voice coated in excitement. He paused, pulling the rag out of his pocket and wiping his hands on it. “Oh, sorry, I’m Michael, the lead bartend here. What’s your name?”

“Luke. Luke Hemmings,” he greeted, holding out a hand and shaking Michael’s. “Are you the hiring manager too? Could I possibly get an interview now?”

Michael chuckled a bit, gesturing to the couple standing at the table. “You just aced your interview with me. Go over to Sierra, the tall woman there, and tell her I sent you over. You got a resume on you?”

Luke shook his head. “I uh, I don’t. I could write everything down though?”

Michael laughed a bit, grabbing the clipboard and flipping over the sheet of paper he had on it. “Just your name, phone number, and work experience. I’ll walk you over after.”

Luke nodded, giddy at the idea of another interview. He quickly scribbled everything down and handed it back to Michael, the man looking it over as he led Luke over to the couple.

“Hey Sisi,” Michael greeted, the woman spinning at the sound of her name. “Got a lad here with...5 years of waiting experience. Got time for an interview?”

The woman - Sisi - grinned as her eyes took Luke in, the two brown circles traveling over his body before meeting his eyes. She held a hand out as she spoke. “Of course I do, for such an adorable specimen,” she said, a blush appearing on Luke’s cheeks. “What’s your name, cutie?”

“Luke Hemmings.”

“Luke Hemmings,” she repeated, her smile sweet on her lips. Michael handed her the clipboard and she took it in one hand, her eyes quickly taking in the information. “You worked at Chateau de Paris?”

Luke nodded. “Yeah, I started as a host there and moved up to waiter.”

Sisi took in the information and handed the board back to Michael, her smile returning to Luke. “Well, you’re certainly qualified for the position. How soon can you start?”

Luke’s eyes got wide, a smile slowly spreading across his lips. “Really?” When Sisi nodded he grinned. “Uh, I can start right now if you want.”

Sisi laughed lightly, one hand leaning against the table beside her. The man that was with her didn’t seem to be paying attention to this conversation, his eyes glued to a phone in his hand. “Well, follow Ashton and I to my office and let’s get some paperwork going.”

Luke nodded enthusiastically, Michael grinned as he met Luke’s eyes. “Welcome to the team, Luke. When you’re done with Sisi come find me, alright?”

Luke nodded again, shaking Michael’s hand and thanking him profusely as he followed Sisi and the man with the phone.

As they left Michael chuckled, sending a thank you to whatever god was listening before returning to his work.

After his quick round of training from Michael, Luke jumped in an Uber and went home, practically dancing into his apartment and tossing his keys in the dish by the door as he walked in.

His roommate Calum was laying on the couch, a book in his hands and his eyes glued to the page as he read.

“Calum,” Luke stated, the man on the couch grunting in response. Luke rolled his eyes, his foot nudging his roommate's leg. Calum groaned and marked his page, the book closing as he looked at his blonde friend.

“Luke,” he stated back, sitting up on the couch.

“What are you doing tonight? Hopefully nothing.”

Calum rolled his eyes. “As much as I hate admitting it, I have nothing going on tonight. Why? How are we going to get arrested this time?”

Luke sat beside Calum, shoving his shoulder. “We’re not getting arrested again,” he stated, laying back against the couch as his arm extended along the back of it. “Just thought you might want to come see me at my new job tonight.”

Calum paused at Luke’s words, his eyes going wide as he grinned. “You got a job?” When Luke nodded Calum laughed, standing and opening his arms as Luke did the same,the two enveloping each other in a hug. “Congrats, man! Are we celebrating tonight too? Maybe find some cute girls at a bar?” Cal wiggled his eyebrows as he pulled away, Luke laughing and grinning.

“Well, I’m glad you said that,” Luke said, his hands going back into his pockets. “My job is waiting on people at Express.”

Calum raised an eyebrow, his hands hiding in the pocket of his green hoodie. “The burlesque lounge on Vine? You’re serious?”

Luke nodded. “Sat with the owners and was trained by the lead bartender. I was told I’d meet the girls tonight.”

“The girls. You mean the dancers?”

“Yup. Apparently I just missed them when I walked in.”

Calum looked at his roommate, trying to figure out if this was a prank before he decided Luke was telling the truth. “You know, burlesque isn’t really my thing.”

Luke rolled his eyes and groaned, walking to the kitchen as he spoke. “You also said commitment wasn’t your thing until you met Nia,” he said, opening the fridge and pulling out a beer. He twisted the cap off and tossed it in the trash before leaning against the entrance and taking a swig. Calum was glaring at him and Luke rolled his eyes again. “I’m just saying, dude, you’ve got to get over her at some point. Maybe seeing some dancing girls will help.”

“No way,” Calum said, shaking his head. “I don’t think dancing girls will help me get over my ex-fiancee.”

Luke groaned, walking back to Calum as he plopped back down on the couch. Luke set his beer on the end table and pulled up the coffee table, sitting on it as he rested his elbows on his knees as Calum dragged his hands down his face. “C’mon, man, you’ve got to move on. You always say that life doesn’t stop for anybody.”

Calum groaned, falling back against the couch. “Yeah, but that was before a pretty girl cheated on me. Multiple times.”

Luke laced his hands together and sighed. “Just...humor me, then. Come to Express with me tonight, you can sit at the bar the whole time and wallow in self pity if you want to. But I need my best friends' support.”

“You’re a big boy, you can do this on your own.”

“I know I can, but having you there would help.” Luke met Calum’s eyes. “Please?”

Calum groaned and squeezed his eyes shut, his hands covering them a moment later. “God, fine, but only because you’re being so annoying.”

Luke grinned, standing and letting out a ‘woo.’ “Thanks, brother. C’mon, I need to pick out my uniform for tonight.”

Luke grabbed his beer and launched himself over the couch, Calum standing and following him. The man sighed, pulling his phone out of his pocket as he did so. It was going to be a long night for both of them.

#5 seconds of summer #5sos #calum hood #luke hemmings #ashton irwin #michael clifford #5sos au #5 seconds of summer au #burlesque!sos

40 notes · View notes

thevampirediariesdiary · 4 years

Text

I was pretty out of sorts with Stefan this episode. he’s been nervously aware of the fact of his being positioned in a love triangle before, of course; he’s been jealous and insecure and resentful, but I’ve never been quite so angry at the way he handled it as I was during “Dangerous Liaisons”.

so, naturally, I did a casual scroll through some old episode recaps, which turned into a not-so-casual scan of a handful of episode transcripts, and what I ended up with was a non-exhaustive collection of conversations demonstrating the development of the Salvatore brothers’ relationship, especially as regards their mutual love of specifically Elena. the emphasis is strongly on Stefan’s side of the triangle, because if you wanted to read about Damon pining longingly for Elena while she was clinging to Stefan, you could just read *waves hand vaguely and expansively* the entire rest of my blog.

the first real sparks of jealousy begin to appear after Damon and Elena’s trip to Atlanta in “Bloodlines”.

we get various exchanges in “Unpleasantville” as Damon’s presence in Stefan’s life, near Stefan’s girlfriend grates on Stefan:

S: Putting Elena in harm’s way, that is my concern. D: What are you talking about? S: I’m talking about Atlanta. D: Oh yeah. Elena and I had a blast. S: I get it, you’re just bitter that one of us gets to be with the person they love, and poor Katherine’s just out of reach.

D: Why should I trust you? S: Because I’m your brother. D: No, that’s not gonna cut it. S: Because I want you gone.

S: It was a lie. I let him believe he could trust me. E: Why would you be worried about telling me? S: Because he can be persuasive, and you two have…bonded…lately. E: That doesn’t mean I trust him. It’s gonna take a lot more than just a road trip and a rescue for me to forget who Damon is and everything he’s done.

which leads to the infamous-to-me “you and I will have a vampire girlfriend” exchange one episode later in “Children of the Damned”:

D: Course I was gonna do it by myself, because the only one I can count on is me. You made sure of that years ago, Stefan. But you [Elena]...you had me fooled. So what are you gonna do now? Because if you try to destroy that I’ll rip her heart out. S: You won’t kill her. D: I can do one better. Give me the book, Stefan, or I’m snapping her neck, and you and I will have a vampire girlfriend. S: Let her go first. D: The book. S: I’m not gonna give this to you until she’s standing next to me. D: The problem is I no longer trust that you’ll give it back! S: You just did the one thing that ensures that I will.

then Elena crosses the picket line to help Damon in “Fool Me Once”, Damon again calls her “our girlfriend” in “A Few Good Men”, and subsequently ends up back in the doghouse for killing Isobel and then gloating about it.

so for this whole first era of the show, the tension between these three characters is pretty straightforward. Stefan doesn’t like Damon hanging around Elena - but that’s (at least ostensibly) because he’s dangerous, because he’s unpredictable, because he puts her in bad situations. he tries to compel her. he tries to kill her friends. he grabs her and threatens to turn her vampiric. Damon might already love Elena, on some level, at this point - but it’s still not exactly a love triangle, because neither Stefan nor Elena seems to suspect - or, even if they suspect there’s something, they’d never call it love. there is no way in which Elena’s torn, no way in which she has to make a choice. her connection with both brothers is an asset.

this starts to change in the second era of the show, after the watershed moment of “Miss Mystic Falls”. Stefan falls from grace, Damon’s perspective on vampirism and on Stefan’s relationship with it is validated, and Damon and Elena waltz and then shack up together. when Stefan comes back to himself, it’s to a brave new world, and to Isobel’s bombshell, “because he’s in love with you”, which gives us the first real jealous boyfriend speech in “Isobel”:

S: Well, I know that you and Elena have bonded, and I know that she cares about you. And, uh, I know that you care about her. D: Well, this is going in an interesting direction. S: I’m just concerned about Elena getting hurt. She considers you a friend. D: Same here, Elena’s a very good friend. Actually, she might qualify as my only friend. Is that a problem? S: So, at the risk of sounding like a jealous boyfriend... D: Oh there’s no risk. You do. S: History will not be repeating itself where Elena is concerned.

Stefan lays it down like a proclamation, like an order - as if by telling Damon what he wants he can control the whole picture, because if history were to repeat itself, it would invariably be Damon’s fault. so much so, in fact, that he doesn’t approach Elena with his worries at all. Elena has to bring them up herself in “Founders Day”:

S: I try so hard to hate him. I guess it’s just pointless. E: You care about him. So do it. But I love you Stefan. And I know that you’re worried about that. S: Nah, I just, I know my brother. E: But I love you, Stefan. S: I know the trouble he can cause. E: I love you, Stefan, you. You have nothing to worry about.

and that may be true, on Elena’s side, but we find it absolutely isn’t on Damon’s. he tries to kiss Elena, and now we get a whole new flavor of jealousy from Stefan - one which Stefan is, to his credit, actively trying to fight against. he knows that he and Damon have to present a unified front against all the forces of evil if they’re ever going to be able to protect Elena.

S: Katherine’s gonna try to play us against each other, you know that right? So yes, as much as I would like to kill you, I’m not gonna fight you. D: I kissed Elena. S: Because you feel something for her. Because you actually care. And I’m not going to let Katherine come in here and destroy that part of you that after all this time is finally willing to feel something.

Stefan chooses to allow Damon’s love for his girlfriend in the hopes that it will have positive effects: Elena’s safety, brotherly agreement, Damon’s regained humanity. this attitude persists through "The Return” into the latter half of the season when the non-Katherine threat is looming, though the choice is perhaps made a little simpler by Damon having screwed things up so spectacularly with Elena. what does it matter if Damon loves Elena, when Elena hates him? there is no threat there. thus, Stefan’s much more casual approach to the subject in “Rose”:

S: We both know you being in this car has absolutely nothing to do with me anyway. D: And the elephant in the room lets out a mighty roar. S: Well, it doesn’t have to be an elephant! You know, let’s talk about it! D: Nothing to talk about. S: That’s not true, sure there is. Let’s get it out: are you in this car because you want to help your little brother save the girl he loves, or is it…is it because you love her too? Come on, express yourself! I happen to like road trip bonding. D: Keep it up, Stefan. I could step out of helping as easily as I stepped in. S: Nope, that's the beauty of it. You can't.

even when Stefan is trapped with Katherine in “The Sacrifice”, he gracefully hands over Elena’s protection to Damon:

S: Promise me whatever happens you'll protect her. D: Promise.

Katherine’s response to this, of course, is to tell Stefan, “That right there was the biggest mistake you’ve ever made.” and yet, it’s a choice he keeps making. Damon is on Elena duty. there’s that excellent moment in “The Last Dance” wherein Stefan, dancing with Elena, signals to Damon and then twirls Elena into his brother’s arms, and leaves. he places Elena into Damon’s care, again and again, and he never seems to regret it - until after the dance Damon verbalizes for him what that means:

S: Don’t you understand what you put her through? D: See, that’s why I didn’t tell you. Because you’d never have been able to do it. Don’t get me wrong, Stefan, I don’t mind being the bad guy. I’ll make all the life and death decisions, while you’re busy worrying about collateral damage. I’ll even let her hate me for it. But at the end of the day, I’ll be the one to keep her alive.

Damon puts words to their roles: Stefan wrings his hands and keeps his hands clean, so that he can stay in Elena’s good graces, and Damon protects her, whether she likes him for it or not. Stefan’s role is largely passive, Damon’s is active. the only thing he’s wrong about is that actually, Elena doesn’t hate him for it. they’re maybe closer than ever.

for the rest of the season, Stefan resists Damon’s interpretation of their triangular dynamic as hard as he can. in “Klaus” Stefan tries to pretend control by reminding Damon that he’s the one benevolently granting permission for Damon to protect Elena:

D: You should be thankful [Andi]'s here, it keeps me from going for what I really want. S: You’re right, thank you…for being in love with my girlfriend. D: And there it is. S: There it is. You know, you can be in love with Elena all you want, if it means that you’ll protect her. But I have the one thing that you never will. D: Oh yeah? What’s that? S: Her respect.

the “respect” comment is a bit of a non sequitur - as if Elena’s undeniable fondness for Damon is like the affection you feel for a pet who’s too stupid to listen to you. it misses the mark - Damon knows, by now, that Elena thinks he’s capable of being the better man. she holds him to a standard, and that is more respect than anyone has ever shown him. she respects Damon and she gratefully accepts his protection. the only thing Damon doesn’t have is her romantic love.

this is briefly easier for Stefan to bear once Damon digs himself into another hole. Stefan is able to admit to Elena in “The Last Day” that Damon’s horrible actions were motivated by love: Damon’s trying to keep her alive, the only way he knows how, even if he forgot for a moment that vampirism isn’t really life. Elena is too angry to see this, but Stefan, who’s thought about it before, is a big enough person to tell her.

and then in “The Sun Also Rises”, Stefan tries to switch their roles: he sends Damon to carry Elena away to wring his hands over collateral damage, so Stefan can keep watch over the life and death choices:

S: I need you to get her out of here. D: What about you? S: I'm not leaving until he's dead.

Damon’s still protecting her, of course, but he also gets to cup her face in his hands and ask how she feels - which would normally be Stefan’s job.

and then, after this last switch, there’s no place for jealousy anymore. because Damon is dying:

S: He told me not to tell you [that he's dying], but I figured if you wanted to talk to him...I wouldn't wait. ....Go talk to him. Just tell him that there's still hope.

I do wonder if Stefan knew what he was doing when he left with Klaus - if he thought about Elena at all, and what would happen with her, or if he could only think about his brother’s life. but at least by the time season three opens, Stefan seems to be trying to set aside any possessiveness of Elena. while Stefan is still in possession of his humanity, we see something like a repeat of the same brotherly dynamic from when Stefan was trapped in the tomb with Katherine. when he sees Damon, all he says is to keep Elena away, so she’ll be safe. he figuratively spins Elena away from him and lets Damon pull her into his arms, and when he walks away he tries very very hard not to look back, he tries not to think about the fact that he left them both behind, together. note that when we do see Stefan and Elena encounter each other - in the closet in Chicago, in the school on senior prank night - Damon isn’t there. Stefan doesn’t see the dynamic they’ve developed without him until his humanity is gone.

and Stefan-sans-humanity has a very different reaction than he would under different circumstances. he walks in on Damon knelt in front of a weeping Elena, promising that he’ll never leave her, and Stefan says “Well, isn’t this cozy...by all means, carry on.” he notices that Elena’s staring at Damon hitting on Rebekah, and says, “My brother’s got his flirt on, and you’re jealous...It’s alright, be jealous, by all means. I’m sure Damon will be thrilled.”

so we don’t start to see Stefan really react to how much closer Damon and Elena have grown in his absence until his humanity is creeping closer to the surface. you could argue that’s what he’s referring to in “Our Town” when he says, “I lost you the minute I left town with [Klaus], you just haven’t let yourself admit that yet,” as if he was saying “I lost you to Damon.” but I think the more interesting interpretation there is that Stefan’s talking about his own actions, “I lost you the minute I left town and started killing.” so that makes Stefan’s first reaction to Damon and Elena’s season 3 relationship “The Ties That Bind” and Elena’s confession:

E: There's something I need to tell you, and it's not because I feel guilty that it happened, it's because I feel guilty you don't know. I kissed Damon.

Stefan is laid bare, and we see for the first time how much of his apathy is now a mask he puts on consciously and purposefully. as much as he’s talked a big game about pushing her away, and despite all the moments of casual intimacy he saw while his switch was flipped, he didn’t see this coming. either because he didn’t think this new relatively-responsible Damon would actually make a move on his brother’s girl, or because he didn’t think Elena would allow it. but Elena doesn’t even give him the dubious comfort of saying that Damon kissed her and she just kissed him back. all she says is she didn’t plan it. it was a surprise for her, just like it was for Stefan, but it did happen and she doesn’t feel guilty about it. when Stefan finally responds, all he says is:

S: You're better than him, Elena. You're better than both of us.

the words go along with what Stefan’s been saying and doing all season long: pushing Elena away, letting her go, so she can be free and happy somewhere without him - but now also without Damon. she’s better than both of them, she should let them both go. but later that night Damon asks if Elena is okay, and Stefan punches him - kissing Elena was an offense against Stefan, because Elena’s still off-limits for Damon, she’s still Stefan’s. and so he retaliates.

Stefan’s feeling of vengeful possessiveness starts to shift into something else in "Bringing Out The Dead”:

S: I love her, Damon. D: So do I.

this is Stefan letting Damon know that Damon’s not going to “take” Elena without a fight. Damon responds in kind, because he’s not going to cede to Stefan’s prior claim. they both love her. neither of them currently “has” her. may the best man win.

which brings us, at long last, to "Dangerous Liaisons”. both brothers have declared their love for Elena - but both of them aren’t completely all-in on showing it. for Damon, “it is right, but not right now”; for Stefan, his humanity is still only partially on, and, we soon discover, when he lets himself care, all he feels is pain.

the episode begins with this exchange:

D: Can we go back in time where the old Stefan cared if Elena lived or died? S: What for? It's your job now.

this is neither brother at his best, a definite dick move on both of their parts. but the real meat of their conflict in this episode is here:

S: You know, maybe you should stop being such a controlling dick, Damon. D: Wait, hang on, I’m the problem here? S: You’re a liability, brother. D: I’m trying to keep her alive, Stefan. S: Yeah, well, your emotions are getting in the way of our plan. D: Wh - my emotions? How is this even happening right now? S: Maybe because you care too damn much.

the crazy thing is, “you may be trying to keep her alive but your emotions are getting in the way of our plan because you care too damn much” is, in essentials, almost exactly the same as “you can be in love with Elena all you want, if it means you’ll protect her.” Stefan takes the very thing that Damon has always had going for him - “at the end of the day, I’ll be the one to keep her alive” - and turns it into a weakness, a fault. and it’s not explicitly because Damon will keep Elena safe without consulting her wishes, i.e. feed her vampire blood rather than risk losing her. it’s not about his not respecting Elena’s freedom enough to let her be protected the way she wants. it’s not about some harm or injustice to Elena at all. it’s about the big picture, the big picture that Damon is incapable of seeing because all he sees is Elena. Damon will never care more about defeating Klaus than he cares about Elena. and somehow, Stefan twists words around, hints and implies and accuses, and makes that look like a bad thing, and Elena buys it, and then Damon does too.

but there’s something just absolutely nonsensical and a little insidious about that framing of things. if Damon didn’t care more about Elena than the big picture battle between the good guys and the bad guys, then he might as well have let her hand herself over to Klaus in “The Sacrifice”. but he didn’t - he stepped in, and saved her against her own wishes, risking himself in the process. and he was right to do so - his actions weren’t motivated by nebulous “emotions”, code for “selfishness”, but love, real love, which looks out for the true good of the beloved. the fact that Damon’s love for Elena is a preferential love, a love that has always put her first, is exactly what makes it a romantic love. he doesn’t care too much, he’s not crazy impulsive, being driven by blind feelings. he’s doing what love does: prefer the good of the other. and Stefan understood that, before - he was the one who told Elena, in “The Last Day”, “he did it because he loves you”. but now that Damon hasn’t done anything truly heinous in a while, now that he’s holding himself together so well that he’s starting to be a romantic threat, Stefan suddenly isn’t so gracious with him anymore.

so yeah, I think Stefan's not playing fair. rather than facing Damon honorably on the field of love-triangle-battle, his strengths and love against Damon’s strengths and love, he tries to paint Damon’s strength as a weakness so that maybe Damon will forsake it. if Damon doesn’t have “I’ll be the one to keep her alive”, if he has to be ashamed of that, what does he have? it’s underhanded and manipulative, and I do not like it.

#salvatore brothers #index #whoops i thought i already posted this #sorry #it is EXCESSIVELY long #and I basically just wrote it for myself #but here it is anyway

11 notes · View notes

kuratoki · 4 years

Text

Distance 03

~If you wanted to be added to the taglist for future parts, kindly send me an ask :D~

I would like to note that future parts will have Instagram/Text messages posted as a separate post but it’s still considered in the same time frame (and will be posted in order)

Shoutout to my mutual @jenoleeaesthetic for giving me the idea for the first part of this chapter :) She’s so precious guys and she’s been a big help with the path of Distance :) (Also tysm for putting up with my fan girling while I look for inspo pics T=T)

There wasn’t a day Jeno didn’t regret not making things official with you sooner. What he also didn’t expect was his soon to be ex best friend to act on his feelings towards you either. Now a whole continent away with a ten hour time difference, will the two of you survive the distance and all the obstacles that come with?

Genre: Fluff, Angst

Pairing: Ballerina OC x Dancer Jeno

Words: 1929

Warnings: Swearing

~Updates Ever/other day at 8AM PST~

Tag List: @mikachu-28 @peachykrystal @jenoleeaesthetic

“What do you think you’re doing?” Yeeun whispered, grabbing Tzuyus arm and pulled her away from the door, “You know it’s rude to eavesdrop.”

“It’s not my fault the door was open.” Tzuyu argued, she didn’t get why Yeeun was so annoyed with her lately, “I just wanted to get to know him better.”

“Maybe if you stopped trying to flirt with him everytime he came to hang out he’d open up more.” Yeeun said and sighed, “We told you that he was off limits.”

“But you also said that they weren’t official.” Tzuyu said with a smile, “I still think I can change his mind.”

Yeeun felt bad for Tzuyu because up until recently, she was in her position. She had entered SMAA around the same time the others had. The moment she saw Jeno dance at his first NCT showcase, she was interested. She would observe him during their shared classes and noticed how cold he was to everyone but his inner circle which only consisted of Jaemin at the time.

Eventually, she tried talking to him and the way he treated her was the exact same way he was treating Tzuyu. She had overheard him telling Jaemin one day that if he won Nationals he would let go and finally be at peace. She didn’t know what he was talking about at the time but only knew now that he was referring to his feelings for you. After he won, she was set to make her move but then you showed up and it was as if Jeno was a different person.

She tried so hard to hate you but she couldn’t. You were so nice to her all the time even though Jeno still acted cold and eventually she found solace in her first love Wong Yukhei and after everything thats happened, she was glad they worked things out.

Now, she was determined to set it straight with Tzuyu to avoid any unnecessary drama within the group. Things were tense right now as is and it wasn’t worth it.

“Listen, I was in your position only months ago. It’s not worth it Tzuyu.” Yeeun started, “I thought I could change his mind too but he only ever had eyes for one person. It never changed, even after four years.”

“Maybe you just weren’t his type.” Tzuyu said dismissively, “He seems like he needs someone who can support him.”

“Believe me, he gets a lot of support from Y/N. That girls probably chewing him out right now for overworking himself.” Yeeun said knowing it was a topic in your last phone call, “I’m trying to tell you so you won’t get hurt. He’s not and will never see you the way he sees her. They grew up together, travelled together, they have so many memories with each other that their hearts naturally belong together. For fuck sakes, she’s all he ever talks about. He’s waiting Tzuyu, he’s waiting for the right time and when they become official, nothing and I mean NOTHING will be able to break them up.” Yeeun let out a breath, “Think carefully. Whatever your actions, there will be repercussions and it’s not a threat nor from me.”

Looking down at her phone, she saw a text from Yukhei asking where she was. Quickly replying, she decided to make her way back to the practice room where Jeno was to see if he was done with his video call. That left Tzuyu frozen from Yeeuns rant, fist clenched as she felt anger rush inside her. Who was she to tell her that she had no chance. She would show Yeeun, she would show that she would be able to change Jeno’s mind and by the end of it, it would be Y/N who?

Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, you were in your bedroom getting ready for bed. You and Renjun had accomplished a lot during the day and it was time for you to rest. You were doing your nighttime stretches, dressed in a simple tank top and shorts combo, listening to your favorite classical playlist. You took a deep breath in and slowly released as you lifted leg slightly, jumping when you felt two arms wrap around your waist.

“Gosh Jisung, make some noise next time.” you said pulling away from said person but was quickly pulled back into his arms so you were resting under his chin. You had forgotten how big the height difference was between the two of you and you heard his deep voice that he usually had when he came home from practice exhausted.

“Dance with me.” he said, resting his chin on your head, eyes closed as he lead you through the waltz, “I feel like it’s been so long since I’ve seen you and I don’t remember the last time we had any alone time together.”

“Well you are here for training camp.” you said, swaying with him to the music, holding his hand as he twirled you out before bringing you back in, “Is it better now that Chan’s there? I heard you’re one of the top candidates.”

“That’s the hard part. It’s like public knowledge on how I got into training camp so I feel like I have to beat the standard. It’s so stressful sometimes because I know a lot of the kids there are judging me since my dance style is different.” he said with a small pout.

“Your dance style is what got you into training camp in the first place.” you said pulling away to look your best friend in the eyes, you could see the look of exhaustion on his face and his eye bags were so deep. You wondered when the last time he got a good night sleep was knowing he would stay late in the practice rooms to go through the routines with Chan. “Everyone here and back home believe in you.”: you ruffled his hair giggling, “I believe in you.”

Jisung didn’t know what possessed him to do it, he could’ve blamed his exhaustion since his confidence levels went up during that time but he would later realize it wasn’t an excuse when he leaned down and claimed your lips in his, only to be pushed away a second later.

You both stood there, eyes wide.

“I-I’m so sorry Y/N.” he whispered, “I shouldn’t have…”

You didn’t know what to say, your best friend of four years, someone you considered a brother just kissed you. It was the one thing you promised wouldn’t happen and your heart suddenly filled with guilt.

“Y/N…” Jisung whispered, he was afraid. Afraid that he just ruined your friendship. The way you pushed him away was an obvious sign.

Hearing the vulnerability in his voice made you look up at him and he could see ushed tears brimming his eyes. You weren’t mad, you knew you should have validated his feelings eons ago but you didn’t want to ruin the friendship between you or make anything awkward. But here he was worried he’d messed everything.

Wrapping your arms around his waist, you gave him a brief hug. You had to get out of there, you needed to clear your mind, you needed to rid the guilt in your heart. “I’m sorry.” you whispered and grabbed the hoodie you had stolen from Jeno before you left along with your phone and keys and ran out of your room, passed a shocked Renjun and Mia who were just coming back from a night out.

“What the fuck just happened?” Renjun asked, seeing a frozen Jisung in your bedroom. He looked at Mia and she was quick to call Chan who was on his way over. You had just run out and it was the middle of the night, it wasn’t safe for you especially in a foreign place like this. He quickly ran out after you, chasing you down the streets as you continued to run. To run to a place you knew all too well.

Just like back home, you had your own spot in London too. It was situated not far from your apartment and you were able to see some of the best sights just from sitting on the hill alone. Looking over the lights, a part of you wished you were home. For the first time in a long time you were actually feeling home sick.

Looking down at your phone, you realized that classes were about to start back home but the guilt eating at your heart was so strong that you needed to let it out. Pressing a familiar name in your favorites, you could only hope he wasn’t in class yet.

Jeno was literally seconds from walking into class when he heard the ringtone he had reserved for you. Taking a step back, he quickly answered it.

“Hey, I’m just about to head to class right now. Can I call you back later?” he asked but froze when he heard a sob.

“I’m sorry.” you whispered over the line and he began to worry. Making eye contact with Jaemin from the door, he motioned that he wouldn’t be in class today, pointing to his phone and Jaemin raised his eyebrows but nodded his head.

“Hey are you okay?” he asked gently leaning against the lockers, class had already started so the hallways were practically empty.

“I feel so bad..” you whispered and Jeno frowned, what were you going on about.

“What are you going on about? Where are you? Are you alone?” he asked, he was the middle of the night where you were and from the background noises, it sounded like you were outside.

“Jisung kissed me.” you whispered and Jeno completely froze and swore he stopped breathing.

“Jeno..?” your small voice went through the line but all he could hear was his blood pounding in his ears. He could not believe Jisung had the audacity.

“I’m here.” he let out a breath, there was no use in overreacting right now, you had called him meaning that you wanted to tell him. It was a step. “H-how? When?”

“About fifteen minutes ago…” you muttered, “I was getting ready for bed and he came home exhausted. He were talking, dancing and the next thing you know…” you sucked in a breath, “I am so sorry…”

“Did you push him away?” Jeno asked, clenching and unclenching his fist, but his voice remained calm.

“Of course!” you gasped, “I feel guilty enough as is...I promised you that something like this wouldn’t happen and yet…”

“It’s not your fault…” Jeno said letting out a big breath, “I just...I need to process things for a while okay? I’m not mad at you but...I’m just frustrated with everything and then this…But it’s not you. I’m gonna go and I’ll call you again later tonight okay? Please, wherever you are get home safe. Even if you have to call Renjun or Jongin or someone...I don’t want anything happening to you.”

“I think Renjuns right behind me..” you whispered, you had felt his presence and you could hear him yelling your name from blocks away, “Promise we’ll talk tonight?”

“I promise, Princess.” he whispered, “Take care.”

After ending the call, Jeno clenched his fists, instinctively punching a locker out of anger. There was no way he was going to class today. He had way too much pent up energy to even think about it. Picking up his bag, he made his way out the school doors. He had a long overdue appointment with his punching bag.

17 notes · View notes

stella-monstrum · 3 years

Text

Rob Zombie; "Why it's time to step outside the confinements of his own box."

For close to four decades,

Rob Zombie has brought nonstop psychedelic grooves and a rockstar presence while gracing his own music and the silver screen with gut-churning, drug-tripping visuals. He not only commands quite the presence in films (whether his own successes or others’), but also makes appearances within many other horror soundtracks. There’s no denying that Zombie is a bloodied savant who has stayed incredibly consistent.

[ᴿᵒᵇ ᶻᵒᵐᵇᶦᵉ. ⁽ˢᵒᵘʳᶜᵉ: ᴳᵒᵒᵍˡᵉ ᴵᵐᵃᵍᵉˢ⁾]

(Written by Stella, edited by Jacob J.)

(Side note; tumblr’s photo formatting is a pain)

Let’s take a dive into his music before getting into his film library. From 1985-1997, White Zombie released six albums (between studio and compilations). La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Volume One didn’t break into the Billboard 200 chart until a year after its 1992 release. Shortly thereafter, it became the hot and groovy bong success of the band, going on to sell two million copies. Astro Creep 2000, their final and fourth studio release, was their first and only album to chart within the Top 10 of the Billboard 200 in 1995. Up to this day in 2020, “White Zombie” has been featured in 47 TV, film, and video game soundtracks, from Beavis & Butthead to Pen15 to Bride Of Chucky (which includes a personal favorite moment of mine), amongst many others.

After the disbandment and separation, Zombie continued on his solo journey. He has gone on to release six studio albums, with a seventh on the way in March 2021, titled The Lunar Injection Kool Aid Eclipse Conspiracy. A multitude of hits—eight to be exact—sat within the Top 10 of the Billboard 200 records.

══════════════════

Zombie’s extensive film career is a “Super Beast” on its own.

He has been very vocal about gaining inspiration from 1920s-1980s horror culture. In many interviews, he’s cited Stan Lee, Bella Lugosi, Alice Cooper, and Steven Speilberg as being responsible for molding the brain that we know today.

Some of his influences include:

George A. Romero’s Dawn of the Dead (1978)

A Clockwork Orange (1971)

Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)

The Shining (1980)

Zombie’s upbringing in the carnival industry alongside his family is another key influence.

[[I’ll only be focusing on Zombie’s live-action films here.]]

══════════════════

In 2000, Rob made his directorial and (very memorable) screen debut with House Of 1000 Corpses.

It took three years to be released because of quarrels with major production companies regarding the film’s majorly aggressive themes of torture, blood, violence, sex—not to mention his arrogance with MGM, fighting to get rights back from Universal. Eventually, Lionsgate bit the bullet, albeit with the major stipulation of having Rob edit it down much further so House could pass with a “tame” R rating.

[[House of 1000 Corpses: Rainn Wilson as taxidermy merman (Source: Tumblr—and if you’re brave, you can view the scene here.)]]

══════════════════

In 2005 and 2019, the franchise’s next two installments—Devil’s Rejects and 3 From Hell—were released. The franchise is heavily influenced by the shocking, sickening, and unforgettable ’70s classic Texas Chainsaw Massacre. It follows a family of psychotic, sadistic, and bloodthirsty (if I’m being honest) necrophiliacs. They kidnap, kill, torture and brutalize anyone who gets in their way. At the end of Devil’s Rejects, they somehow manage to survive a police shootout, escape prison, and waltz on into Mexico (as seen in the franchise finale 3 from Hell).

Look, it’s all complicated.

Main Characters from the franchise:

Captain Spaulding—Sid Haig

Baby Firefly—Sheri Moon Zombie

Otis B. Driftwood—Bill Moseley

Momma Firefly—Karen Black (recast as Leslie Easterbrook after Karen’s passing)

(Other notable appearances throughout: Chris Hardwick, Rainn Wilson, Danny Trejo, Dee Wallace, Ken Foree, and Diamond Dallas Page.)

⁽“ʰᵒᵘˢᵉˢ ᵗʳⁱˡᵒᵍʸ”, ᵈᵛᵈ ˢᵉᵗ﹔ ˢᵒᵘʳᶜᵉ﹔ ᵗᵃʳᵍᵉᵗ.ᶜᵒᵐ⁾

══════════════════

The notorious/controversial Halloween (John Carpenter, 1978) remakes from 2007 and 2009.

(ᵃ ᵛⁱᵉʷ ᵒᶠ ᵗʰᵉ ᵇᵒˣ ᵃʳᵗ ᶠᵒʳ ᵗʰᵉ ʰᵃˡˡᵒʷᵉᵉⁿ ʳᵉᵐᵃᵏᵉˢ ⁽ˢᵒᵘʳᶜᵉ﹕ ᵃᵐᵃᶻᵒⁿ⁾)

Look, this is a remake that you either adore or hate with a burning passion. If you’re a horror fanatic, you know what’s up with the original.

I personally adore Zombie’s take. The fact alone that he gave us an entire background story as to why Michael became the psychotic slasher that we’ve come to know and love. Plus, with an increased suspense and gore factor? Worked incredibly well and did justice (in my opinion).

The film made me feel bad for Michael, with moments of child Myers in therapy, particularly his love for making masks to pass the time while he was locked up and the touching family moments between him and his mother Deborah (Sheri Moon).

ᵈᵉᵇᵒʳᵃʰ ᵃⁿᵈ ᵐⁱᶜʰᵃᵉˡ ᵐᵉʸᵉʳˢ ⁱⁿ ʲᵃⁱˡ ᵗʰᵉʳᵃᵖʸ. ⁽ˢᶜʳᵉᵉⁿᶜᵃᵖ, ʰᵃˡˡᵒʷᵉᵉⁿ. ˢᵒᵘʳᶜᵉ﹕ ᵍᵒᵒᵍˡᵉ⁾

[Michael’s cell in the 2007 Halloween remake. (Source: Google)]

Add in the supporting cast of Michael McDowell (Loomis), Brad Douriff (Sheriff Leigh), Scout Taylor-Compton (Laurie Strode), etc., and I honestly think that it came together very well as a remake.

The films rated relatively low, but they did gross higher than the budgets that they originally had to film on. Again, I’m not going to give much attention to the higher-ups of critical perception—it all comes down to personal taste.

══════════════════

“Lords of Salem” (2013)

[[Promotional art for Lords of Salem. (Souce: Google Images)]]

A film that’s centered within Salem, Massachusetts,

this film—you guessed it—tackles witches, occultism, possession, Satan, and all the usual topics. Heidi (Sherri Moon) is a radio DJ who gets sent a mysterious record that’s labeled as being from “The Lords.” From then on out, shit gets a little dicey and admittedly, very disjointed. You can’t fault the cast here, and I loved the visuals that they were going for. However, with set schedule conflicts and multiple rewrites, which led to essentially running out of time to film? As a whole, what looked great on paper just couldn’t be done justice.

My FAVORITE sequence within the film (SPOILERS):

youtube

I can forgive the disjointedness solely because of how mind-boggling and brilliant the film’s history and proper visuals were. Also, we got to see Dee Wallace, Judy Geeson, and Patricia Quinn as creepy and badass witches who moonlight as Heidi’s landlords. Also Meg Foster who leads their coven? Can we talk about what a femme-fueled power cast that is?!

[[Left to right: Patricia Quinn as Megan, Dee Wallace as Sonny, and Judy Geeson as Lacy Doyle. (Screencap, Lords of Salem. Source: Google) ]]

[[Meg Foster as coven leader Margaret Morgan. (Screencap, Lords of Salem. Source; google)]]

Like I said prior, the film gets a little wild. If you’re...well, buzzed prior to watching, it may make a little more sense.

══════════════════

“31” (2016)

[[Film poster for 31 (Source: Google)]]

[Synopsis from IMDB; “Five carnival workers are kidnapped and held hostage in an abandoned, hellish compound where they are forced to participate in a violent game, the goal of which is to survive twelve hours against a gang of sadistic clowns.”]

Here, we clearly see that Zombie is invoking his childhood growing up within carnivals. In a 2013 interview with LA Weekly, Zombie divulged more about it:

“When we were kids, my parents would [work at the carnivals], and me and my brother would get dragged along to these things all the time and have to work.”

He went further on to say;

“Yeah, and it's not the nicest world. As a kid, you get exposed to the crazier underworld of the carnival. Me and my brother, when we were very little, we'd be inside the haunted house playing all day. So, already, what people are paying money to be scared [of], we're just playing in because it's fun. We saw the inner workings behind the machines.”

youtube

(”31″ trailer, source; Youtube)

Once again in this film, Zombie brings a powerhouse cast:

Jeff Daniel Phillips as Roscoe Pepper

Meg Foster as Venus Virgo

Malcom McDowell as Father Murder

Judy Geeson as Sister Dragon

Richard Brake as Doom Head

You can view the entire cast at IMDB here.

Set in 1976, Zombie stays true to his nods. Again, depending on taste, this is a huge hit or a wild miss with mindless homicidal violence, campiness, and climbs across the monkey bar of standards that we’re used to seeing from him.

══════════════════

So at this point, you’re probably wondering why I think that it’s time for Rob Zombie to step out of the confinements of his own box...

══════════════════

It’s no secret that Zombie sticks to only a small group of tropes:

Slashers, families or groups of homicidals that lack remorse, the occult, etc. There’s no shame in sticking to what you know. Hell, Zombie has seemingly cracked the code over the past two decades that he’s been in the film industry that so many directors still don’t seem to get.

IMO, despite whatever you personally feel about the films mentioned above- I feel like we’re living a freaky groundhog day repeat within Zombie’s filmography.

══════════════════

Now, if it ain’t broke, why fix it? Look, I’m not saying that Zombie has to change anything. However, I would love to see him tackle some other nuances that we’ve already seen from him in small doses.

- Children: We haven’t seen Zombie exactly take on what horror films depict kids as. Sure, he made a breakout and impeccable choice with young Michael Myers (Daeg Faerch) back in 2007. I personally would adore to see a reimagined (NOT remade) Children of the Corn on acid, one we all know Zombie can tackle and turn every existing view on its head.

- Witchcraft, The Occult, Satan, Voodoo: Zombie genuinely had a phenomenal concept (on paper) for 2012’s Lords of Salem. It was unfortunate that they ran out of resources and ran into unfortunate circumstances on set while filming.

The film wasn’t a total tank, though, given how inspiring and insane all the visuals were throughout the 1 hr, 41min film. I am absolutely positive that, given a full-force opportunity, Rob could rectify the mess that was out of his control. We completely saw that he provided visuals that left quite the impression, and he could take those taboo subjects by the goat horns.

- Animals (not the human form): It’s no secret that Rob and his wife Sherri are ethical vegetarians. It would be so tongue and cheek to see them take on such topics as animals getting their revenge, or even vegetarians torturing carnivores. This twist on the formula would make for an interesting viewing.

══════════════════

2.) In regard to time periods,

Zombie stays within—and pays homage to—the 1970s and 1980s quite a bit. Obviously, those are the eras that Zombie personally loves the most when it comes to filmmaking. However, it would be very interesting to see him take on current day settings.

Zombie has such a unique viewpoint. Given changing climates in politics, human decline/growth, the economy, etc., he would do work that could easily put Ryan Murphy to shame.

══════════════════

3.) He could also do with some different casting every now and then.

Let me preface this by saying that I adore every repeat casting choice that Zombie has made for his films.

Of course chemistry is a huge thing, and sticking to his friends is a very smart choice. However, he also has the potential to make new stars, boosting the power of those that may be under the radar. He can support those new stars with cameos from classic actors that we haven’t seen in awhile. I can’t begin to even fictionally cast those who fit the bill, but I do believe that with the “Zombie Touch,” he can bring so much more fresh air to the usual casting.

══════════════════

There’s no doubting what Rob Zombie is clearly very good at. Despite mixed reviews from the horror world and critics, it’s time that his fans open their eyes to new possibilities. Of course, there are die-hards, but digging your feet in further doesn’t allow the growth of horror and its ever evolving themes.

[[ʳᵒᵇ ᶻᵒᵐᵇⁱᵉ, ˢᵒᵘʳᶜᵉ﹔ ᵍᵒᵒᵍˡᵉ ⁱᵐᵃᵍᵉˢ]]

This theory has been on my mind for a very long time—since 3 from Hell came out. I’m sure, in his usual fashion, we won’t be seeing any new films from Rob anytime soon (what with his new album set to release in March 2021, not to mention the toll that the pandemic has had on Hollywood.)

Still, it never hurts to challenge the set standards and ways.

5 notes · View notes