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multi-fandom-imagines-stuff · 3 years

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Smaller Than This

Pairings: Natasha Romanoff/daughter!reader, Peter Parker/platonic!reader, Wanda Maximoff/reader

Description: The reader is Natasha Romanoff’s daughter, best friend of Peter Parker, and girlfriend of Wanda Maximoff. Growing up in the spotlight is hard enough, but things cross a line when people start commenting on the reader’s weight.

Warnings: eating disorder, swearing, threats of violence

Word count: 3,282

A/N: I know it’s not easy to deal with eating disorders, but please know that you are beautiful and amazing and you don’t deserve to have to suffer through that. Please, if you are struggling with this, reach out for help. <3

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Black Widow’s daughter spotted in Central Park with new best friend Scarlet Witch and Stark Industry intern Peter Parker! Could Parker be y/n’s new boyfriend?

You laughed and rolled your eyes as you clicked on the tweet. Stalking paparazzi twitter accounts had to be one of your favorite pastimes, simply because the so-called facts they were giving out were false 99% of the time. For instance, this situation? You had gone out for a picnic with Peter and Wanda when those photos were taken, and the paparazzi completely twisted things. Peter wasn’t your boyfriend, he was just your best friend. And Wanda wasn’t your best friend, she was your girlfriend. You chose to ignore the false headline as you went immediately for the replies.

‘Do you see the way y/n’s looking at Wanda? It seems more like there’s something going on between them than there is between y/n and Peter’

You smiled and liked that tweet. You liked messing with people just a bit. Whenever someone would tweet about there possibly being a relationship between you and Wanda, you liked the tweet. It wasn’t enough information to actually confirm the relationship as true, but it was enough to keep people speculating.

You scrolled through several more replies. Most of them were people using the heart eyes emoji or saying how much they loved your mom, but there were a few in there that stuck out more than the rest. That was because they were harsh and hurtful.

‘I don’t understand how someone can live with the Avengers and still look like that. Does she ever even exercise?’

‘She could stand to lose some weight. Instead of going out for a picnic, she should try to skip a few meals’

You read through replies for a few more minutes. Similar comments would pop up now and then, and while there wasn’t an overwhelming amount, there was still enough to make you close down the app and shut off your phone, averting all your attention toward not crying.

“Miss y/n, dinner has been called,” F.R.I.D.A.Y.’s voice rang through your room.

Pushing the thoughts to the back of your mind, you got off your bed and made your way to the dining room. There, Peter and Wanda were setting the table while Steve and Bucky carried out the food.

You walked up behind your girlfriend and wrapped your arms around her waist, resting your chin on her shoulder. You felt her jump slightly before she realized it was you and relaxed into your touch. You placed a kiss on her cheek.

“I love you,” You whispered in her ear.

“Hey! What did we talk about?” Tony directed at you, raising an eyebrow at you and causing you to roll your eyes.

“No lovey-dovey shit at the dinner table,” You mumbled.

“Language!” Steve scolded you as Clint joined the conversation.

“Oh, come on, Tony,” He said. “It’s young love. It’s harmless and adorable.”

“It makes me want to hurl,” Tony retorted.

To onlookers, it may have sounded like Tony was being a real dick, but you knew he was just teasing you. He’d never admit it, but secretly he loved how happy you and Wanda made each other.

“Watch it, Stark,” Your mom shot him a glare. “That’s my kid you’re talking about.”

Your head whipped up at your mom’s voice. She had been on a mission for the past week and wasn’t supposed to get home for another three days.

“Mom!” You yelled as you ran toward her, wrapping your arms around her as you squeezed her tight.

“Hey, kiddo! I’ve missed you!” She said, hugging you back and kissing you lightly on the forehead.

“I’ve missed you, too!”

“As much as I hate to break up this reunion,” Bucky said, causing you to pull away from your mom. “Steve and I slaved over dinner and it’s getting cold, so let’s eat.”

You took your seat at the table—in between Peter and Wanda—and filled your plate with the spaghetti and garlic bread Steve and Bucky made. Everyone was silent as you all dug into your food and, you had to admit, it tasted amazing.

When Steve and Bucky first moved in, neither of them were allowed near a stove without supervision. They had started too many accidental fires. But after lots and lots of practice, the two of them easily became the best cooks in the tower.

After dinner, you excused yourself to your room. Your phone was still lying face down on the bed, so you grabbed it and opened it up. Right away, you noticed several notifications from twitter. Upon further investigation, you found that the rude comments people were saying about you had extended to your messages. Now, you had complete strangers messaging you about how you needed to ‘lose weight’, or ‘eat less’, or ‘exercise more’. A few of the messages even called you a ‘disappointment to the Avengers’.

You deactivated your account and deleted the app from your phone, but the damage was already done and you knew it. So you came up with a plan and decided to set it into motion the next morning.

✩❀✩❀✩

You woke up in the morning to your alarm blaring. Checking the time, you saw it was 4:30, and you wondered why your alarm was going off so early before you remembered the plan you had made the night before.

You got out of bed and quickly dressed in athletic attire before running out of your room. You knew Steve liked to run in the mornings, so you sat in the kitchen waiting for him.

When he finally sauntered in at 5:00, he was more than surprised to see you sitting there.

“Y/n?” He asked. “What’re you doing up so early?”

“Can I run with you today, Uncle Steve?” You asked him, a pleading look on your face that you knew he couldn’t say no to.

“Yeah, sure,” He said. “Are you sure you wouldn’t rather be sleeping?”

You nodded.

“I want to start running. My mile time in P.E. class has been slacking lately and I don’t want to fail the class.”

You were surprised yet proud of how quickly you were able to come up with that lie, and you were happy to see that Steve believed every word of it.

So that’s how you spent your morning: running laps with Steve.

The two of you finally called it quits around 6:15 and parted ways. Steve went off to do whatever he did during the days, and you went off to squeeze in a quick shower before school.

By the time you were done with your shower, it was nearly 7:00, which meant you had to rush to get dressed. You finally made it to the kitchen, where Wanda was already waiting for you. The two of you yelled a quick ‘bye’ to whoever was listening before you started the quick walk to the bus stop.

You felt Wanda’s hand interlock with yours and a smile arose on your face as you squeezed her hand. You two didn’t want to publicly disclose your relationship yet, so you knew the minute you reached the bus stop you’d have to let go.

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At lunch, you sat at a table with Wanda, Peter, MJ, and Ned. You skipped the food line and instead opted to sip at a bottle of water.

“What’s wrong, y/n?” Peter asked you.

“What do you mean?” You shot back, not quite sure what he was getting at.

“You’re not eating.”

Shit. You had to think of a lie, and you had to be extra careful since your girlfriend could read minds. She promised you she’d never read your mind without your consent, but you were still wary.

“Uh...I’m just not feeling well,” You said. “My stomach is feeling a little flip-floppy and I don’t want to push it.”

To your luck, they nodded it off and changed the topic, not questioning you again for the rest of the day.

That night at dinner, you pushed the food around on your plate, eating a few bites here and there. It wasn’t hard to pretend you had eaten, especially since your family was so big. Everyone seemed to be so caught up in conversations with other people that they didn’t notice when you got up and scraped your food into the trash.

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These habits carried on for a few more weeks. You’d wake up every morning to run with Steve, make up some excuse for why you didn’t eat lunch, and you’d have a few bites of dinner before sneakily trashing it. On most weekends, you chose to spend your time training with your mom. You claimed it was so that you could stay sharp with your self-defense skills, and while that wasn’t necessarily a lie, it wasn’t the full truth, either. But your mom never questioned it, and you were glad.

You seemed to fly under the radar, until one Sunday afternoon.

You walked into your room after training with your mom to find Peter and Wanda waiting for you.

“Hey, guys,” You greeted, throwing yourself into a chair and downing half a bottle of water. “What’s up?”

“We know,” Wanda said, a stern yet concerned look on her face.

“Know what?” You asked her, although you could feel your heart rate rising. You knew what she was talking about.

“That you haven’t been eating,” Peter joined in.

“What’re you talking about? Of course I’ve been eating.”

That was a lie. Your stomach hadn’t been properly filled in weeks and you couldn’t remember the last time it wasn’t rumbling. But that wasn’t important. What was important was the fact that you were finally losing weight. There’s no way you could stop now.

“Cut the crap, y/n,” Peter said, catching you by surprise. “We’ve been watching you. I can’t even remember the last time you bought a school lunch.”

“And you pick at your food at dinner every night,” Wanda added. “I haven’t seen you eat more than three bites. You think no one notices, but you’re wrong. And I can feel you, love. You feel...empty.”

Wanda rested her hand on your knee as you tried to process what was happening. You had been so good at hiding this, how had they found out?

“You guys, I’m—” You started before Peter cut you off.

“Don’t say you’re fine, because you’re not. We know it, and you know it, so please stop lying to us, y/n. We just want to help.”

“I have it under control, I don’t need help,” You protested. “Just...please don’t tell my mom.”

“Y/n—”

“Wanda, please,” You begged. “My mom has enough to worry about as it is. I don’t need to add this to her stress as well. I promise, I have it under control. I’m alright.”

Wanda and Peter shared a look before turning back to you.

“We’ll keep this between us for now,” Peter said, and you felt like a weight was lifted off your shoulders.

“But, if things get any worse, we won’t hesitate to bring your mom into this,” Wanda warned.

You nodded and the two of them left, Wanda kissing you quickly before walking out of the room.

‘I just need to hide it better’ you thought to yourself. ‘This is all my fault for being too obvious about things. I need to do better.’

Wanda and Peter had dropped the topic for the time being, until a week later, things took a turn for the worse when your P.E. teacher announced that your class was running the mile that day.

Thanks to training with Steve, your mile time had improved and you were one of the fastest in the class. However, due to malnutrition, any sort of exercise made you extremely lightheaded.

You ignored the part of your brain that was telling you to make up some excuse to sit out. You convinced yourself you just weren’t drinking enough water so you drank an entire water bottle and went to class.

You were about halfway done with your mile when the corners of your vision turned black. You blinked a few times, trying to edge it away, but it was no use. By now, you heard a loud ringing in your ears and the world started spinning around you. You slowed down a bit, trying to regain your composure when you felt your knees buckle underneath you, and you were plunged into a world of darkness, not feeling it when you hit the ground.

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When you awoke, you were still laying on the field, your entire class swarming around you. You were trying to sit up when you felt something attached to your hand.

You looked to the right and saw Wanda sitting there, looking scared as hell.

“Miss Maximoff, Mr. Parker, please escort Miss Romanoff to the nurse’s office,” Your teacher ordered.

You felt Wanda help lift you to a standing position and once you were up, you felt the world start spinning again. You shut your eyes tight as two arms, you assumed they belonged to Wanda and Peter, wrapped around either side of your waist. Soon enough, the dizziness ceased and you opened your eyes, signaling for Peter and Wanda to start walking with you.

You made it to the nurse’s station where you saw your mom already waiting.

“Mom?” You asked, wondering how she had gotten to your school so quickly.

“Peter called me the second he saw you fall,” She explained.

You, Wanda, and Peter were dismissed from school early, and your mom led you all back to her car. You sat in the passenger seat while Peter and Wanda sat in the back.

“What happened?” Your mom demanded.

The tone of her voice scared you a little bit, but you knew it was filled more with concern than it was with anger.

“I must’ve just gotten overheated or something,” You lied, knowing exactly why you passed out. “I was doing fine one second, and then the next I was on the ground.”

“That’s not true, Ms. Romanoff,” Peter interjected.

You whipped your head around to him and shook your head, silently pleading him to not tell her.

“What do you mean?” She asked. “Do you know something I don’t?”

“Peter, stop,” You said, panicking at what was about to be said.

“Y/n hasn’t eaten a proper meal in a month,” Wanda admitted.

You shot your girlfriend a look of betrayal before turning back around to face forward.

“You, what?!” Your mom blared. “Y/n, is this true?”

Your silence was enough of an answer for her to understand that yes, it was true.

“Y/n, baby, why?” Your mom said.

You could tell she was trying to be strong, but her voice was cracking.

“Because I’m not like you guys, okay?!” You finally snapped, letting loose all of your pent-up emotions. “I don’t have a super-human metabolism like Peter, and I don’t have a perfectly in-shape body. I’m not an avenger and it sure as hell shows. Even people I don’t even know were making comments about it on twitter.”

“Is that why you disabled your account?” Peter asked, realization hitting him.

You nodded and looked down at your fingers, not wanting to make eye contact with any of them.

By now, you had reached the tower and your mom put the car into park, turning to face you.

“Y/n, I know it’s been hard for you to grow up in the spotlight, constantly being compared to us but this isn’t healthy,” She said, cupping your chin and lightly pulling your head up to meet her gaze. “If I had known all of this, I never would have let you do all those extra training sessions with me. It’s not safe for you to keep exercising like this when you’re not giving your body proper nourishment.”

“I can’t—” You sniffed. “I can’t stop. I need help.”

You felt a tear roll down your cheek as your mom brushed it away, pulling you in for a hug before the four of you got out of the car.

Once inside, your mom told you to sit down in the living room while she left for a few minutes. When she returned, she had the rest of the team with her and you could only assume she had given them the run-down on your situation.

You were slightly hurt that she had shared your personal life like that, but you knew it was for the best.

“Here’s what’s going to happen,” Your mom said once everyone was settled. “Y/n, you’re going to help with dinner every night. I know it can be hard once you’ve developed a food phobia, but when you’re in control of what we eat every night it makes things a little easier. No more throwing your food in the trash, okay? As for school, I’ll be making you a homemade lunch each day, and Peter and Wanda will be keeping an eye on you and will be reporting back to me. First thing tomorrow, I’ll call and set you up an appointment with a therapist. Bottling up your emotions will only make things worse, trust me. You need to talk to someone, and a therapist will help to give you healthier coping mechanisms.”

You listened as your mom laid out these new rules before telling you to go lie down. As you got up to leave, you were bombarded with your family hugging you and telling you they were there for you. You honestly had never felt more loved and supported in your life.

You finally made your way to your room, lying down in bed. A few minutes later, you heard a knock at your door.

“Come in,” You said weakly.

The handle turned and Wanda walked in, using her powers to levitate a tray behind her. You sat up and she put the tray down in your lap. On the tray, you saw there was a plate of cheese and crackers.

You looked down at the tray before looking up at your girlfriend. You forced yourself to pick up one of the crackers and take a bite, your mind screaming at you the entire time. But you were sick. You knew this. You wanted to get better.

“I’m sorry for telling your mother,” Wanda spoke. “You were slowly killing yourself and I couldn’t stand by and watch it happen. I’m so sorry, y/n. Can you forgive me?”

“I don’t blame you, Wan,” You told her. “I’m the one who should be sorry. I never should have forced you and Peter to keep this a secret.”

Wanda wrapped you into her arms, squeezing tightly. The two of you stayed like that for a long time before you pulled away and, bite by bite, finished the snack she had brought you.

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You had been in recovery for about a month now, and while things were far from easy, you knew you could do it. Your family was your support system and they were right there by your side every step of the way.

You were sitting on the couch with Peter and Wanda, you and your girlfriend tangled in each other’s arms as you watched your mom on tv. She was finishing up a press conference.

“Oh, and one last thing before I go,” She spoke toward the camera and the audience. “Whoever decided to make awful comments about my daughter online, I am a trained assassin and I will find you.”

#oneshot #natasha romanoff #natasha romanoff x daughter reader #wanda maximoff #mcu #mcu x reader #mcu oneshot #wanda maximoff oneshot #wanda maximoff x reader #tw ed talk #tw ed stuff #eating disoder mention

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itsclydebitches · 3 years

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The Bad Batch: A Crosshair Analysis

Hello, Star Wars fandom! I have just completed watching—and loving—The Bad Batch, which you know means I now need to dump all my thoughts about the first season into the tumblr void. Specifically, thoughts on the complicated drama that is Crosshair. I have no doubt that the majority of what I’m about to say will be old news to anyone who watched the show when it came out (I’m slow...), but I’m writing it all out anyway. Largely for my own sanity enjoyment :D

I want to preface all of this by saying that the above is not an exaggeration. I love the show and I love the entire cast. My enjoyment in each of the characters is directly connected to my enjoyment of the season as a whole, which I say because I’m about to get pretty critical towards some of the characters’ choices and, to a lesser extent, the writing choices that surround those. Does this mean I secretly hate The Bad Batch? Quite the opposite. I’m invested, which is presumably just what Filoni wants. I’m just hoping that investment pays off.

But enough of the disclaimers. Let’s start with the matter of the inhibitor chip. I’ve seen fans take some pretty hard stances on both sides: Crosshair is completely innocent because he’s definitely been under the chip’s control this whole time, no matter what he might say. Crosshair is completely guilty because he said the chip was removed a long time ago and he chose to do all this, no moral wiggle room allowed. However, the reality is that we don’t know enough to make a clear call either way. The audience, simply put, does not have all the necessary information. What we have instead is a couple of facts combined with claims that may or may not be reliable. Let’s lay them out:

Crosshair was definitely under the chip’s control at the start of the series.

He was able to resist it to a certain extent, resulting in a pressure to obey orders coupled with a primary loyalty to his squad. See: telling Hunter to follow the Empire’s commands—which includes killing kid Padawans—but not turning his team in as traitors when they did not. It’s an in-between space.

Crosshair’s chip was then amplified to an unknown extent. I’m never going to claim I’m a Star Wars aficionado—I’m a casual fan, friends. Please don’t yell at me over obscure lore lol—but within TBB’s canon, no one else is undergoing that experimentation. The effects of this are entirely unknown, which includes Crosshair’s free will, or lack thereof.

Crosshair then becomes a clear tool of the Empire, hunting down innocents, killing on a whim, the whole, evil shebang.

In “Reunion” he’s caught by the engine and suffers severe burns to his face. One leaves a scar that covers precisely the place where the chip would have been extracted.

Removing the chip leaves its own scar behind. If Crosshair’s was removed, we can’t see that scar due to the burn.

After these events Crosshair seems to mellow a bit. He does horrible things under the Empire’s orders—like shooting the senator—but is still loyal to his squad—killing his non-clone teammates to give TBB a chance, saving AZ and Omega, etc.

Crosshair claims that his chip has already been removed. However, Crosshair is arguably an unreliable source if he’s been lied to or if the chip is still there, encouraging him to manipulate the team.

Crosshair claims it was removed a long time ago, which is incredibly imprecise. As we can see from just some of the events listed above, precisely when the chip came out—if it came out—makes a huge difference.

Hunter realizes this and presses for clarification, but Crosshair dodges giving it. Again, a legitimate belief that it doesn’t matter, or evidence that he can’t say because something else is going on? We don’t know.

Hunter checks Crosshair’s head and finds the burn scar which proves… nothing. As stated above, they wouldn’t be able to see the surgery scar one way or another: its existence or its absence. It’s useless data, as Tech might say. I’ve seen a few fans claim that Hunter was also feeling for the chip with his enhanced senses, but 1. I didn’t catch any evidence of that in the scene and 2. Even if we assume Hunter did that anyway, the chips are notoriously hard to spot. Fives and AZ couldn’t find the chip at first when examining Tup. Ahsoka had to use the force to find it in Rex. TBB themselves couldn’t find it at first in Wrecker. If machinery consistently fails to find the chip on the first couple of tries—it’s meant to be a hidden implant, after all—why would we believe Hunter’s senses could pick it up instantly? Maybe he missed it, or maybe it wasn’t there at all.

Crosshair appears to be struggling with a headache in the finale, just as he was at the beginning of the season and just like Wrecker was for the first half.

The point of listing all this out is to emphasize how ambiguous this whole situation is. I don’t want to use this post to argue one way or another about whether Crosshair’s chip is really out. I have my preferred theory (the chip’s still in, but only partially functional), but at the end of the day none of this is conclusive. The writing takes us in what I hope is deliberate circles. Crosshair says the chip is out? Crosshair is not a reliable source of information until we know if the chip is out. What other evidence is there that the chip is gone? A scar? We can’t see if there’s a scar. Hunter’s abilities? He only checked once for a canonically hard to find implant—if he actually checked at all. And why would the Empire want the chip out? Well, maybe it has to do with that push towards willing soldiers, but if that were the case, why leave Crosshair behind and have the “clones die together”? By that point he was one of the most willing, chip or not. Did they have to take it out because of the engine accident? Pure speculation. We just don’t know and THAT is the point I want to make.

Because it means the rest of the Bad Batch didn’t know either.

The core issue I have here is not whether the chip is in or out, or even how long it may have been in if it is out now. The issue is that TBB spent 99% of the first season believing that Crosshair was under the chip’s influence… and they didn’t try to do anything about that. They abandoned him. They left a man behind. Does this make them all horrible monsters? Of course not! This shit is complicated as hell, but I do think they made a very large mistake and that Crosshair has every right to be furious about it.

“But, Clyde, they couldn’t have gone back. It was too dangerous! Hunter had a duty to his whole team, not just Crosshair.” True enough and I’d buy this argument 100% if Hunter hadn’t spent the entire season throwing his team into dangerous, seemingly impossible situations to save other people. Crosshair became the exception, not a hard rule of something they had to avoid. They went back to Kamino for Omega, a kid they’d only had one lunch with, despite knowing how dangerous the Empire was. They went into the heart of an occupied planet to rescue not just a stranger, but one belonging to the Separatist government. They helped Sid when she asked and there was plenty of compassion for the criminal trying to take her place. Most significantly, there wasn’t the slightest hesitation to go rescue Hunter when he was under the Empire’s control, in precisely the same place. Every explanation I’ve seen fans come up with—Kamino is too fortified, they don’t know where Crosshair is, they can’t risk Omega being captured, etc.—also holds true for Hunter, yet there wasn’t a second of doubt about needing to at least try to help him. And his rescue was arguably far more dangerous given that TBB knew they were walking into a trap. Going after Crosshair would have at least had some element of surprise.

I think the problem with these justifications is most easily seen in “Rescue on Ryloth” and, later, “War-Mantle.” In the former, we do watch Hunter decide that going on a rescue mission is too much of a risk, only for Omega to talk him into considering it.

Hunter: “It’s a big galaxy. We can’t put ourselves on the line every time someone’s in trouble.”

Omega: “Why not? Isn’t that what soldiers do?”

Hunter: “It’s not worth the risk.”

Omega: “She’s trying to save her family, Hunter. I’d do the same for you.”

The arguments that sway him are ‘Soldiers should help people’ and ‘Soldiers should specifically help their family.’ So… what does that say about their feelings for Crosshair? They’re willing to put themselves on the line for the parents of a girl they met once at a drop site, but not their own brother? That’s the message the writing sends. “But, Clyde, the difference is that they had an advantage here. Hera’s knowledge of her home planet tipped the odds in their favor.” Yeah… and Crosshair is stationed on TBB’s home planet. Even more than them collectively having the same knowledge that Hera does, “Return to Kamino” reveals that Omega always had additional, insider knowledge of the base: she has access to a secret landing pad and the tunnels leading up into the city. That knowledge was given and used the second Hunter’s freedom was on the line, but it never once came up to use for Crosshair’s benefit.

“War-Mantle’s” mission puts this problem in even sharper relief. Another claim I’ve seen a lot is that TBB only took risky rescue missions because they needed to be paid. The guys have got to eat after all. Yet Tech makes it clear that going after Gregor will lose them money. They’re meant to be on a mission for Sid and deviating for that won’t result in a payment. He explicitly says that if they decide to do this, they won’t eat. They do it anyway. No money, no intel, a huge risk “on a clone we don’t even know.” But that’s not what’s important, the show says. All that matters is that a brother is in trouble. This time it’s Echo pushing that message instead of Omega. When Hunter realizes that they’re about to try and infiltrate an entire facility and they don’t even know if this clone is still alive, Echo points out that they took that risk once before: for him. “If there’s a chance that trooper is being held against his will, we have to try and get him out.”

Yes! Exactly right! So why doesn’t that apply to Crosshair?

“Because he tried to kill them, Clyde!” No, that’s the easy, dismissive answer. A chipped Crosshair tried to kill them. AKA, a Crosshair entirely under the Empire’s control. The only difference between his enslavement and Gregor’s is that Gregor’s chains were physical while Crosshair’s were mental. And again, the point of everything at the start of this post is to show that no one knows when or even if that chip was removed. TBB definitely didn’t have any reason to suspect that Crosshair was working under his own power until Crosshair himself said as much. We might have been able to make that case at the start of the season, but “Battle Scars” removes any possible confusion. The entire team watched Rex reach for his blaster when he learned their chips were still in. The entire team watched Wrecker become a totally different person and attack them, just like Crosshair did. The entire team forgave him instantly and had their own chips removed. So why in the world didn’t anyone go, “Wow, Crosshair has a chip too. He was no more responsible for attacking us than Wrecker was. We need to try to get him out, no matter how hard that might be, just like we had to try for all these other people we’ve helped.”

But they didn’t. No one even considered rescuing Crosshair. They only went back for Hunter and, when they realized Crosshair was there too, they didn’t change their plans to try and rescue him as well. He’s treated as a particularly threatening inconvenience, not another team member in need of their help.

The problem I have with how this all went down is that the team treated Crosshair like an enemy despite all evidence to the contrary. Despite Omega outright saying that this isn’t his fault, it’s the chip, the group seems to decide that he’s gone crazy or something and that there’s nothing they can do. “It’s fine,” I thought. “They don’t really get what the chip is like yet. They don’t understand how thoroughly it controls someone.” But then “Battle Scars” arrives and Wrecker is treated with such compassion (which he deserves!) only for the group to continue acting like Crosshair is somehow different. It’s easy to say, “But Crosshair shot Wrecker” and ignore the easy pushback of, “and Wrecker nearly shot Omega.” Up until Crosshair’s own accusations and Omega’s ignored comments, TBB’s understanding of the chip’s influence and the lack of responsibility that accompanies mysteriously disappears when the show’s antagonist becomes the subject of conversation. This is seen most clearly in how Hunter tries to frame things during his talk with Crosshair:

“You tried to kill us. We didn’t have a choice.”

“Can’t you see that they’re using you? It’s that inhibitor chip in your head.”

“You really don’t get who we are, do you?”

Hunter mentions the chip, but he acts as if it’s Crosshair’s responsibility to overcome it: “Can’t you see…” Of course he can’t see, that’s the entire point of the chip, the thing he currently believes Crosshair still has stuck in his head. But Hunter and the others—with Omega as a wonderful exception—never seem to have accepted this like they did for Wrecker. When Crosshair “tried to kill us” it’s seen as a deliberate act that he chose, not something forced on him like with Wrecker. When Hunter talks about their ethics, he subconsciously separates the team from Crosshair: “You really don’t get who we are, do you?”, revealing a pretty ingrained divide between them. Even Wrecker gets in on the action, the one brother who truly understands how much the chip controls someone: “All that time, you didn’t even try to come back.” What part of he couldn’t try is not hitting home here? Again, for the purposes of this conversation it doesn’t matter whether Crosshair was chipped this whole time or not. The point is that TBB believed he was chipped… and yet still expected him to somehow, magically overcome that programming, writing him off when he failed to do that. He’s consistently held responsible for actions that they were told (and, through Wrecker, saw) were completely outside of his control. Even when we factor in his claim that the chip was removed, TBB has ignored all the evidence I listed at the start. No one, not even Omega, challenges this super vague and strange claim, or seeks out proof because they don’t want to believe that their brother could willingly do this. There’s just this... acceptance that of course Crosshair went bad. Why? Because he was an asshole sometimes? Taking it all as written, it doesn’t feel like the batch considered him a true part of the team. Certainly not like Wrecker or Hunter. As shown, the batch will go out of their way, risk anything, forgive anything, for them. They have a level of faith that was never shown to Crosshair.

“Severe and unyielding,” Tech says and he’s absolutely right, but I’d seriously challenge this idea that any of the others would have automatically done better if the situations were reversed. It stood out to me that each batch member has a moment of doubt throughout the series, a brief glimpse into how they think the Empire isn’t that bad, at least when it comes to this particular thing. Basically, a moment that could lead to a very dangerous line of thinking without others to stomp it down. Wrecker announces that he’s happy working for whoever, provided they give him food and let him blow things up. Tech finds the chain codes to be an ingenious strategy and is clearly fascinated with their development. Hunter initially wants Omega to stay on Kamino, despite knowing that this Empire has already, systematically killed an entire group of people: the Jedi. Doesn’t matter. She’s still (supposedly) safer there than she would be running with the likes of them.

There’s absolutely no doubt that those three made the correct choice in defying the Empire, but I believe that their ability to make that choice is largely dependent on them having each other. They survive together, not apart, and it’s their unity that allows them to make the really hard calls, like setting out on their own and opposing such a formidable force. But if Tech’s chip had activated and he’d been left behind, would he have muscled through to escape somehow...or would he have gotten caught up in all the new technology the Empire offered him, succumbing to both his chip and the inevitability that if his squad no longer wanted him, why not stay? Would Wrecker have escaped, or been easily manipulated into a new life of exploding things? Would Hunter have been able to push through without his brothers, or would he have become devoted to a new team to lead? Obviously there’s no way to ever know, but it’s always easier to make the right decisions when you have support in doing so. Crosshair had no support. His team left him and yes, they had to in that specific moment, but the point is that they never came back. As far as we saw throughout the season, they never planned to come back. They all talk about loving the Crosshair who existed when life was easier, but they weren’t willing to fight for the Crosshair that most needed their help. When he says “You weren’t loyal to me,” he’s absolutely right. The same episode, “Return to Kamino,” gives Omega two powerful lines that the group rallies behind:

Omega: “[The danger] doesn’t matter. Saving Hunter is what matters.”

AZ: “You must leave.”

Omega: “Not without Hunter.”

The key word there is “Hunter.” Danger, stakes, risk, probability… none of that matters when Hunter needs help. Crosshair did not receive that same level of devotion.

Which creates a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy. The group is upset that Crosshair isn’t rejoining them, but they fail to realize that he has no reason to trust them anymore. He’s not joining the Empire because he’s inherently evil and that’s that, end of discussion. He’s joining it because above all Crosshair wants a place to belong… and TBB has made it clear—unintentionally—that he does not belong with them. The horrible actions that Crosshair took under his own free will (theoretically) came after he realized that doing bad things while under the Empire’s control was, apparently, unforgivable. If it wasn’t, his team would have come back to rescue him. They could have at least tried. But they didn’t, so Crosshair is left with the conclusion that either what he did under the Empire’s control is something the group can’t forgive him for, or they can forgive that (like with Wrecker) and he’s the problem here. He’s the one not worth that effort.

“The Empire will be fazing out clones next,” Hunter says. To which Crosshair responds, “Not the ones that matter.”

He wants to matter to someone and events show he no longer matters to his brothers. So why not stay with the Empire? I mean, we as the audience ABSOLUTELY know why not. Self-doubt and feelings of isolation aren’t excuses for joining the Super Evil Organization. Crosshair, if he is under his own control, is still 100% in the wrong for supporting them, no matter his reasons. So it’s not an excuse, but rather an explanation of that very human, flawed, fallible thinking. He needs to be useful. He needs to be wanted. Crosshair is an absolute dick to the regs and I have no doubt that a lot of that stems from the harassment TBB has experienced from them (with a side of his inflated ego), but I’d bet it’s also due to Crosshair’s intense desire to be valuable to someone. He keeps pointing out the regs’ supposed deficiencies because it highlights his own usefulness. When Crosshair fails to find Hera, the Admiral says that soon he’ll get someone who can, looking straight at Howzer at the door. It makes Crosshair seethe because his entire identity is based on being useful, yet no one seems to need him anymore. TBB seems to no longer want him. The Empire no longer wants clones. Now even regs are considered a better option than him, the “superior” soldier. Everywhere Crosshair turns he’s getting the message that he’s not wanted, but he’ll keep fighting to at least be needed in some capacity, no matter how small. Even if that means overlooking all the horrors the Empire commits.

“All you’ll ever be to [the Empire] is a number,” Hunter says and he’s absolutely right. But to TBB recently, Crosshair hasn’t even been that. He’s been nothing. Nobody worth coming back for. To his mind, at least being a number is something.

I hope that all of this resolves itself into a conclusion that is kind to each side (preferably without a Vader-style death redemption), especially given the still ambiguous state of the chip, but from a writing standpoint I’m admittedly a bit wary. We’re obviously meant to believe that the batch all love each other, but as established throughout this entirely too long post, this season did a terrible job imo of proving that they love Crosshair. Or, at least, proving that they love him as much as the others. If this was really meant to be just a matter of miscommunication, with Crosshair making terrible life choices because he only thinks he was abandoned, then we as the audience would have seen the batch trying and failing to get him out. Or at least establishing a very good reason why they couldn’t take that risk, hopefully with entirely different side-missions so the audience isn’t constantly going, “So you can risk everything for Gregor... but not Crosshair?” I’m VERY glad that Crosshair was allowed to air his grievances to the extent he did, but the end result of that—Hunter continually denying this, Omega walking away from him in their rooms, neither Tech nor Wrecker actually sticking up for him and acknowledging the chip’s influence during at least some of all this—is making things feel rather one-sided. It’s like we’re meant to take Crosshair at his word and accept that he’s this garden-variety antagonist who joins the Empire because yay being on the winning side… despite all these complications that clearly have a huge impact on how we read the situation. It doesn’t help that the show has already embraced an inconsistent manner of portraying chipped-clones. We know every clone has one, we know only a couple clones are aware of the chip’s existence (and can thus try to get it out), we know they enter a “Good soldiers follow orders” mindlessness once activated… yet towards the end we see a lot of side character clones thinking for themselves. Howzer decides that he’s no longer loyal to the Empire, giving a speech where a couple other clones throw down their weapons too. Gregor was arrested because he likewise realized how wrong this all was. But how is that possible? Do the chips completely control the clones, or not? Are these clones somehow exceptions? Are the chips beginning to fail? All of that has a bearing on how we read Crosshair—what were his own decisions, how much he was capable of overcoming the chip, whether that changed at all during certain points—but right now that remains really unclear.

It’s details like that which make me wonder if all these other questions will be answered. Will the story resolve all those ambiguous moments surrounding the chip, or brush them off with the belief that we should have just taken Crosshair at his equally ambiguous word? Will the story acknowledge Crosshair’s points through someone other than Crosshair, allowing it to exist as a legitimate criticism, rather than the presumed excuses of an antagonist? I’m… not sure. On the whole I’m very happy with TBB’s writing—despite what all this might imply lol. Until my brain picks over the season and discovers something else, my only other gripe is not allowing Omega to form a solid bond with Tech and Echo, instead putting all the focus on big brother!Wrecker and dad!Hunter. I think it’s a solid show that does a lot right, but I’m worried that, unless there’s a brilliant answer to all these questions and an intent to unpack both sides of the Hunter vs. Crosshair debate with respect—not just falling back on, “Well, Crosshair is with the Empire so everything he says is automatically bad and wrong” take—we’ve just gotten the setup for a somewhat messy, ethical story. For anyone here who also reads my RWBY metas, I’m pretty sure you’re not at all surprised that I’m invested in going, “Hey, you had one of the heroes suddenly become/join a dictatorship and do a lot of horrific things, but within a pretty complicated context. Can we please work through that carefully and with an acknowledgement of the nuance here, rather than throwing the ‘evil’ character to the proverbial wolves?”

God knows TBB is leagues ahead of RWBY, but I hope things continue on in not just a good direction, but one that tackles the aspects of this situation that many fans—and Crosshair—have already pointed out. As much as I adore the cast—and I really, really do—it was discomforting to watch a found family show where 4/5th of that family so completely wrote off one of the members and crucially have, at least so far, refused to acknowledge that. I want complicated, flawed characters, but that’s only compelling when the storytelling admits to and grapples with those flaws. We have quite firmly established Crosshair’s flaws in Season One. I hope Season Two delves into the rest of the team’s too.

Aaaand with that meta-dump out of my system, I’m off to write TBB fic. Thanks for reading! :D

#The Bad Batch #TBB #Crosshair #Star Wars #SW #mymetas #do I take my life in my hands #by posting SW meta?#probably lol

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greaterawarness · 3 years

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Brothers ch. 1 The Farm Life For Me

(This is a story based on if the Clone Wars ended on Geonosis during the first battle. There is no age acceleration so each clone ages normally. This follows Fives and his brothers as they try to find their place in the galaxy.)

It seemed like the war ended as quickly as it began. At first glance the Clone Wars appeared to be set up to be fought over the span of years. Instead, it died with Count Dooku on Geonosis. Before being beheaded by the Chosen One and his Jedi Master, he revealed the true Sith Lord to be Chancellor Palpatine. The Jedi lost many of their own in the battle against the Sith but in the end the Jedi were triumphant. The galaxy shared a collective sigh knowing there could be peace once more. That is until a question was asked by the Senator from Naboo. What will become of the clones now that the war has ended? Everyone looked to the Jedi for the answer. Afterall it was a Jedi who requested for the clone army. That question would divide the Jedi Temple and shake it to its very core.

Half of the Jedi believed that having a clone army to begin with was wrong and that they should take responsibility for the clones. The other half claim the Jedi should have no further dealings with the clone army. Even with the war ending so quickly they could sense the attachments the Jedi had with their clone commanders. They suggested the Senate take responsibility instead. A civil war broke out between both the Jedi and the clone army. Most clones went along with their own Jedi General when deciding on which side to fight in. Some clones defected all together and disappeared deciding that no one will ever have power over their lives again.

In the aftermath of the civil war the Jedi that fought for the clones left the Temple for good. With the Jedi numbers dwindled down so low it felt like a shadow was cast over the Temple. The people lost faith in the Jedi after that. With the Jedi seen as incompetent this left the Senate to decide the fate of the clones. Most clones who fought in the war were given a small payment to start a life. Most went on the become bounty hunters or mercenaries. Others who were unable to adapt to civilian life became homeless and forgotten. And then there were the clones that hadn’t yet grown from adolescence. The Senate chose to put the young clones in foster care and in orphanages in hopes they would live a normal life.

***

Fives trips over a rock and manages to land in what he hoped was just mud. After a groan and whiff of the sludge he gags. Definitely not mud. A laugh pulls his attention to his brother.

“Should’ve named you clutz!” Hevy snorts with his laughs shaking the bundle of wheat above his shoulder. Fives climbs to his feat while trying to shake the manure off. Hevy grabs another bundle of wheat and starts walking back towards the barn. Fives carefully picks up two bundles for himself and follows after his brother, being more careful where he stepped this time. When he reaches the barn, his other brothers are already done with their chores.

“Oof!” Cutup winces while pinching his nose. “Someone go rolling around in shit again?”

“Shut up Cutup.” Fives throws his bundles on the pile they’ve created from working all day. Echo hands him a towel.

“I’d hose off before coming back inside if I were you.” Echo says after taking a few steps away from him. Fives starts for the hose before leaning over and rubbing his shoulder against Cutup making sure to spread the manure on his shirt. Fives dashes for the hose before Cutup can catch him. While Fives tries to wash to filth off, he notices a ship leaving the planets atmosphere. He stares after the ship even when it’s out of sight. Fives still remembers life on Kamino. He and his batchmates were young when the war ended but he still remembered what it was like to be trained as a soldier. You live and die for the Republic! Is what they told them. He remembers staying up late to clean the training blasters with his brothers.

“I’m going to be an ARC Trooper one day!” Hevy had said so eagerly.

“Oh yeah? After what I saw today, I don’t think you’ll be fit enough to mop the training rooms floor!” Cutup had laughed.

“I just want to see all the different planets out there.” Echo had added. “Worlds not just made of water and clean pristine buildings. Can you imagine?”

It may be odd, but they were excited for battle. Battle meant leaving Kamino. It meant doing something worth doing. Now look at them. They’ve been working on this farm ever since the war ended. Fives can’t complain though. They had it good compared to what some clones got stuck with. Not everyone was happy about military trained soldiers being let loose into civilization.

“Fives, dinner!” Droidbait calls from the kitchen window. Fives finishes up and heads inside. The smell of stew and the soft glow of candles made the small house feel warm. Cutup and Hevy set the table while Droidbait and Echo finished preparing dinner. Fives starts for the table when a frail hand lands on his shoulder.

“Go on and wash up. I’ll make them wait for ya.” 99 says with a soft smile. 99 is a clone just like them. Except he didn’t come out normal. His back is hunched, and he walks with a limp. Unfit for battle the Kaminoans put 99 to work in sanitation. But he always looked after the younger cadets. Their batch especially. When the war ended 99 was the only who had any real talents that could move on to civilian work. He decided to take their batch in and has raised them since they were boys.

“Thanks, 99.” Fives says before heading for the one bathroom. He showered quickly but scrubbed at his skin being sure to wash all the manure off. When he’s dried off and dressed, he walks back to the main room to find everyone waiting on him. He takes his seat beside Echo.

“Alright everyone, dig in!” 99 says. The house is filled with the sounds of slurping and chewing.

“I got word that the seeds for next harvest came in. Do you want us to pick it up tonight?” Hevy asks. Cutup reaches for the bread on Droidbait’s plate before Droidbait stabs his fork at Cutup’s hand.

“No, that can wait till tomorrow.” 99 says before eating a spoonful.

“We can’t pick it up tomorrow. The post office will be closed and won’t open again for another week.” Echo says while getting another bowl of stew. 99 leans back in his chair thinking.

“I suppose you should go tonight. One of you has to stay here and help do the dishes though.” 99 says while waving his spoon at them.

“Rancor, Jedi, blaster for it?” Hevy asks. Droidbait ends up losing to all four of them and gets stuck with the dishes.

“You have the worst luck, mate.” Cutup nudges him once everyone’s done eating. They pull on their coats and boots preparing for the long walk to town. 99 hands Hevy a pouch of credits.

“Now, don’t forget to tip the postman.” 99 says as they begin walking out the door. “And don’t go down into the canyon!”

“Don’t worry 99!” Fives calls back while they walk down their long drive. Hevy leads the group while Echo messes with his datapad and Cutup hums a song to himself. Fives can’t keep his eyes from looking up at the stars. The sun is setting and it’s easier to make out the starships. While watching one ship go lightspeed he walks right into Hevy’s back.

“Looks like we’re going the long way boys.” Hevy says while staring at the destroyed bridge. They start for the path leading down into the canyon.

“99 specifically said not…” Echo starts before Cutup gives him a shove.

“We know what 99 said. Don’t worry. I’ll hold your hand if you’re scared.” Cutup grins. Echo only walks ahead of him. “You think they did that just because of us?”

“We’re not the only ones living on this side of the bridge, Cutup.” Fives says as they walk deeper into the canyon.

“True but we are the only ones who can’t afford a speeder. Most people can just fly over the canyon.” Echo says not bothering to look up from his datapad.

“Hey, cut the chatter! I thought I heard something.” Hevy says stopping again. They look out at the dark canyon. The sound of air whooshing echoes around them.

“What is that?” Fives asks.

“Don’t forget about those giant eels.” Hevy warns. Fives rolls his eyes.

“Yeah, I’ve never seen one…” Fives starts but stops when a loud growl turns his blood cold. Cutup screams as a giant blur knocks him off the ledge.

“Cutup!” Fives yells. Cutup lands on what he hopes is soft dirt.

“What the hell was that?” Hevy yells.

“Uh, that was an eel.” Echo says plainly. “Now that’s why 99 has the rule not to go down in the canyon.”

“We have to get Cutup!” Fives says before they start running down the path. When they reach Cutup, Fives lowers his ear to his chest. “He’s alive!”

“Good, we have to get him back home.” Hevy starts while helping Fives pull the unconscious Cutup off the canyon floor.

“Great,” Fives grumbles. “Can’t wait to explain this to 99.”

Fives carries Cutup on his back with Hevy in the front and Echo keeping watch at the rear. Cutup gives a groan.

“Hevy, I think Cutup needs a doctor.” Fives says. Hevy stops and stares at him worriedly.

“I think you’re right.” He says after a pause. Hevy starts walking towards the path leading out of the canyon towards town. While walking Fives begins to get an uneasy feeling. He glances over at Echo who seems to feel the same. He starts to say something to Hevy when movement ahead stops them. A group of trandoshans walk out from behind the large boulders scattered about the canyon floor. A short yellow trandoshan walks out appearing to be the leader.

“You thought you could get away from us huh?” he asks as his goons surround them.

“What are you talking about?” Hevy asks. They stand closer together.

“You can’t think I’m that stupid?” The trandoshan snorts. “You think you can take your helmets and armor off and think I’ll fall for this act?”

“Again, what are you talking about?” Fives yells. He stares at the blasters pointed at them. His heart rings in his ears. He struggles to remember what little training he had from Kamino.

“You’ve got the wrong clones!” Hevy yells with his arms outstretched to try and shield Fives and Echo as much as possible.

“Oh, I think we do.” The trandoshan laughs to himself. Fives feels his legs go limp when they raise their blasters. They were going to die.

“Ready, aim, fi—” the trandoshan starts before a canister falls on his head. He winces making his men hesitate. They watch the leader bend down to examine the silver cylinder. “Huh?”

Electricity bursts from one end stunning the leader just as a Mandalorian swings from a wire taking out one of the goons pointing a blaster at Fives and his brothers. Three more Mandalorians drop from the sky firing at the trandoshans. One lands in front of Fives and his brothers shooting with two blaster pistols.

“Take cover!” he yells over his shoulder. Hevy shoves Fives and the Echo towards a boulder. Fives carefully puts Cutup down before popping his head out from the side along with Hevy and Echo to watch the Mandalorians kick the trandoshan asses.

Blaster fire lights up the dark canyon. The first Mando is a solid hitter. His shots hit their mark and when two trandoshans charge at him he’s able to subdue them with ease. The second is quick on his feet and is hard to keep up with. He moves so fast that one trandoshan didn’t even notice the Mando tying a wire around his wrist before it was to late. The Mando shoots into the air with his jetpack stringing the trandoshan with him. He knocks him into the side of the canyon before cutting him loose when he is above the canyon mouth. The third Mando is loud and liked a fight. He throws grenades and fires relentlessly before ultimately getting bored and charging right into a trandoshan and throwing him at one of his buddies. They were all impressive, but nothing compared to the last one. The last one stood calm and confident in front of a group of five trandoshans. He drew his two blasters and hit each of their weapons but leaving the trandoshans unscathed. He moved his left foot back before motioning for them to come at him.

Fives leaned forward completely entranced by the Mando’s fighting skills. The trandoshans let out loud roars before charging. The Mando dodged each of their attacks with small simple movements. He was making taking down five trandoshans at once look easy. When he did start to hit back, he hit back hard. Hevy, Fives, and Echo all winced and went “Ooo!” in sync while watching the Mando break limbs and give punches so hard teeth flew. While he was occupied with his five, Fives notices a stray trandoshan creeping up behind him from the dark. Fives feels his body freeze. A blaster that one of the trandoshans dropped wasn’t to far from him. He stares from the blaster to the sneaking trandoshan.

Move Fives!

He swallows, mustering his courage before starting to step towards the dropped blaster, but not before Hevy runs past him making him freeze again. Hevy grabs the blaster and fires at the trandoshan. The Mando looks back at him before delivering the final blow to the last trandoshan left.

“Report.” He says. The three other Mandalorians walk up to him.

“Hardcase may have lost a few of his last remaining braincells but other then that we’re unscathed.” One says making another Mando start walking towards him before the last one grabs his collar keeping him still.

“Good.” The one that seems to be the leader says. He starts to turn towards Hevy when rumbling shakes the ground. A giant eel shoots out from one of their holes. Fives feels his body freeze up again. In a split second the Mando leader draws one of his blasters and fires a single shot taking the eel down.

“Nice shot.” Hevy says while watching the Mando kneel down to inspect the beast. Fives and Echo slowly walk out from their hiding place. The other Mandos lift their helmets up showing their faces for the first time.

“You’re all clones!” Echo says shocked. The Mando clones grin at each other while the leader stands rubbing the blue blood of the eel between his fingers.

“The names Rex,” The leader Mando says as he takes his helmet off. He has short blonde dyed hair. He was an older clone. Probably actually fought in the war. He walks over and places the hand covered in blue eel blood on Echo’s chest leaving a blue handprint. “Sorry to get you boys mixed up in all this.”

“Are you kidding? This was the most action we’ve ever seen!” Hevy says gesturing to the bodies of the trandoshans.

“That’s a good thing.” The clone with the Republic symbol tattooed on the side of his head says.

“Speak for yourself.” The one next to him chuckles making the last clone with detailed tattoos around his head roll his eyes.

“Are you boys alright?” Rex asks. Fives dashes to Cutup’s side remembering his wounded brother.

“Cutup!” He says checking to make sure he was still alive. One of the Mando clones walks over and sets a bag down next to him.

“Easy, kid. I was a medic in the war.” The clone says. Fives gets out of his way so he can treat Cutup.

“So, what are your names?” Rex asks while they wait.

“I’m Hevy. We call him Fives, and this is Echo.” Hevy says gesturing to each of them. Rex gives a small smile.

“I’m surprised to see a whole batch of you this far out in the system.” He says.

“We got lucky.” Echo shrugs. “We have another brother, Droidbait. But he’s back at the house.”

“Droidbait? You must really hate him.” The clone with the Republic tattoo snorts.

“This is Jesse and Hardcase. Our medic is Kix.” Rex says moving the subject right along. When Kix stands Fives, Echo, and Hevy hold their breath.

“He’ll be fine. No serious injuries. Just needs so rest but he’ll be sore for a couple of days.” Kix explains. Fives and his brothers share a sigh of relief.

“You boys need help getting home?” Rex asks while crossing his arms.

“We got it from here.” Hevy says. Fives starts to pull Cutup on his back again. Hardcase and Jesse walk towards the stunned trandoshan leader.

“Then we’ll be off.” Rex says before putting his helmet back on. This close Fives can make out jaig eyes drawn on the helmet. Once Hardcase and Jesse have a hold of the stunned trandoshan they shoot up out of the canyon on their jetpacks.

They stare after them for a long time before finally starting home. Adrenaline was running through their veins. They couldn’t believe what they just witnessed. When they get back to the farm, they burst through the door startling 99 and Droidbait.

“What’s going on? What happened to Cutup?” 99 asks as Fives sets his brother down on the couch. They tell them everything.

By the time their done talking about the clone Mandos they watch 99 stare at the floor in deep thought. Fives exchanges a look with Echo.

“Are you boys… happy here?” 99 asks throwing them off guard.

“Of course, 99!” Echo says but even as he says it, they all knew it was a lie. It wasn’t that they weren’t grateful for 99 taking them in, it was more of a longing to see more. Do more. 99 looks over at the unconscious Cutup and pats his leg.

“You were bred for war after all. I can’t expect you to be happy with a life of farming.” He sighs. Fives felt a weird pang of guilt. 99 stands and shuffles towards his room. They all exchange looks with each other before 99 returns with a large pouch.

“What’s this?” Hevy asks when 99 hands it to him.

“Credits.” 99 grunts when he takes his seat on the couch across from them.

“99, this is a lot of credits! How did you…?” Fives trails off.

“Call it a trust fund. I knew one day you would all want to leave the farm to start a life for yourself. Like all kids when they grow up. I can see it in each of your eyes. It’s time to go and find what type of life you want to live.” 99 starts. “Seeing those clones in action… it called to you. I know it did because it did to me too all those years ago. Except… well I wasn’t really cut out to be a fighter. You boys are lucky enough to have a choice. I want to make sure you have a chance to make that choice.”

“99…” Hevy starts but stops when 99 holds up a hand.

“Go to Coruscant. A lot of clones chose to stay there after the war. There you might be able to find a clan of your own.” He says giving them smiles. “And if you ever decide that that’s not the life for you then I’ll be here with open arms!”

“99, how can we repay you?” Hevy asks.

“You already have.” 99 says. All at once Fives, Hevy, Echo, and Droidbait leap forward to wrap their arms around 99. 99 lets out a laugh and pats their back. “Go on and get some sleep. You’ll have a lot to tell Cutup when he wakes up in the morning.”

Fives, Echo, Droidbait, and Hevy wouldn’t sleep that night. Each would lie awake staring out their window up at the stars imagining what their life would be like. In a way it was like their life was just starting.

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halothenthehorns · 3 years

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All in the Family

Chapter 99: Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place

The dust hadn't even settled, nor the pain of landing flat on his back, when an ear-piercing, yet almost familiar shriek began in earnest. Regulus felt his heart slam into his throat as he sat up to see what once would have been the most welcoming sight in what felt like a very long time now. Mum was telling off Sirius.

He was just sitting there, gaping up at her, Regulus really would have thought he'd know better than anyone now that was only going to make it worse. Regulus was still fighting back a smile as he got unsteadily to his feet, stumbling towards his mother to distract her away from whatever she was mad about him now to explain, finally, to someone what had been going on! Surely she could help, she could see this future and know, like him, how things needed a change- he slowed though when he really looked into her face, and then fell back to the floor in shock at registering her portrait.

In a slow, almost nightmarish daze, he began turning slowly on the spot to take in the fact that they were home once more...but not exactly as he remembered it. They were in the portrait gallery, the door right off to the side where it should be, but there were several more portraits in here besides mum's that shouldn't be. Dad's was directly across from hers, his aunts and uncles all varying across the walls to draw attention and add to their retribution. The noise all piled up on each other, had him covering his ears, though they weren't doing a good job as badly as they were shaking.

"Shut up, you-" Sirius finally found his voice, but there was barely a hint of air, it was so lost in the mess that when finally the shout of 'Stupefy' rung, it was only the red sparks that gave away something new was happening.

Several more voices took up the spell, and then blessed silence fell.

"Sirius," the voice was gentle, calm now, but Regulus still flinched even as his eyes finally fluttered open, he didn't even remember closing them. Adrenaline was hitting so hard though it wasn't until Lupin had grabbed his brother's arms and was guiding him out of the room, and the troll leg got knocked over on the way up the stairs that it even occurred to him he could move as well.

Peter and Potter were already trying to go after them, but Frank's soft yet startling words stopped them. "Shit kid, are you okay?"

Regulus didn't need to look up to know he was being spoken to. He swallowed several times and didn't have an answer. He wasn't even sure how he did it, but he got to his feet and took off up the stairs as well, racing past so fast he wouldn't have seen Fluffy standing in his way until he made it to the very top floor. Only mum and dad's room stood on his left, but that wasn't his goal. He tapped the wall impatiently with his wand, but the stairs to the attic didn't descend as they should have. He was trapped.

He'd never felt trapped in his own home before, was this how Sirius always felt? Surrounded by those portraits, nothing but an echo of his parents, he'd swear the walls were closing in on him and he'd tried running to his favorite spot where nobody but Kreacher ever found him. He could hide up there for days until Mum and Dads fights subsided, just because he was used to them yelling at Sirius, or each other, or anything on their mind at all hours didn't always mean he wanted to be here listening to it. At least during Mum and Dad's lessons they spoke with calm dignity, he'd happily listened to them talk like that for days.

He heard soft footsteps behind him and cringed at the idea of Sirius following just to keep yelling at him and tell him to grow up.

James watched as Peter took off after Regulus without hesitation. Regulus, he knew that for a fact, not Sirius. The only reason Remus had beat him to get Sirius out of here had been because James had been watching everyone to make sure those portraits weren't going to jump clean out and slit their throats, they were that kind of horrifying.

Now he simply stood there and watched the empty staircase. To go after any of them would just feel redundant at this point. He hadn't exactly missed it was Remus Sirius kept turning to ever since that fight had been mended, and it's not like he had to dig deep to see why. James had been the one to insist Sirius keep his distance until Remus made his decision, and he had been the one to tell Peter the same thing. Now it seems they'd collectively decided to do the same to him, but he had no clue what he was being punished for.

"Come on girls, let's find somewhere else to read this, I don't know how long those portraits are going to stay frozen," Longbottom walked cautiously past him, even as dark as their surroundings were he couldn't have missed the uneasy look given his way as he put his first foot on the stairs James hadn't touched. Evans was even doing the same thing as she followed him on the same step. He didn't care why.

She was the one to crack open the book and read in a soft whisper where he knew them to be though, and Frank was practically reading over her shoulder, almost quivering with anticipation to hear about all of this. James hardly took in a word of Harry's arrival, his eyes zeroing in on Alice Smith. She was trailing a couple of steps behind the two, stumbled slightly, and reached out on instinct to grab the banister before pulling her hand back away with a look of fear that she quickly tried to correct.

He made a snap decision as he finally put his own cautious foot on the first step and called back, "hey, Alice, can I talk to you?"

She stopped and turned to him at once, an understandably confused look on her face. The other two were so engrossed with Harry seeing all this in only slightly better light than they were, that they were several more stairs up before his words sank in and they turned back as well. "Just Alice," he added pointedly.

Alice was already descending the stairs, but now she stopped beside him with an even more confused, but at least friendly enough smile in place before she too turned. "It's alright, I don't think he's going to feed me to the other half of that troll," she gestured vaguely over her shoulder at the crude umbrella stand.

Frank gave an uneasy laugh, but nodded and started up once more. Evans's eyes were the brightest green he'd ever seen, they stuck out even here in this dark place, and she tried to take a step backwards before stumbling and not trying further. He waited until the book resumed though before asking plainly, "well, I told you I wouldn't be shy when I wanted your opinion."

She watched as he stopped there and crossed his arms, like he thought that was all the explanation needed. It wasn't for her. "My opinion on, what exactly?"

"I know you've been talking to my friends," he said like she was daft, and she frowned at the tone. "I want to know what about."

She smoothed down her hair as she realized it from his point of view for the first time, but it really hadn't been like that at all. Her chat with Remus had been brief and cordial in that sea of tents, and she'd talked more at Black than to him, and it had been very involuntary given the circumstances of that maze. He didn't seem to have taken in a word regardless. The only one she had sought out was Peter at the museum, and she wasn't just going to repeat all that. She chose her words carefully, "well, I'd say, you lot need to be talking to each other."

"Wow, thanks, I never thought about that," he rolled his eyes and tapped his foot, getting downright belligerent. "Anything more vague? Should we start with hello to each other?"

"I, decided to stay out of it," she admitted, or at least, she'd been trying to not butt in where she wasn't wanted, Sirius had asked her something rather similar after all, so she'd tell Potter the same thing. "I want to help, I just think you should try looking at it from their point of view. Ask them what they think more."

He just looked at her. It took a few moments for Alice to realize he was waiting for the rest. She merely shrugged though, she had nothing else to offer that hadn't been said in confidence.

Sirius may have followed along blindly as Remus guided him away, but he still knew exactly where they were, even if Remus himself didn't, when he stepped off the stairs onto the floor that housed some guest rooms. Sirius tried the door first, but when it didn't open, Sirius didn't care and pressed Remus up against it regardless, kissing him fiercely.

"Here?" Remus gasped, trying to jerk himself away. "Sirius, this is not why I-"

"Shh," Sirius giggled in his ear, still feeling more giddy than he had even after their first prank. "James is probably still trying to talk to Evans about whatever, and Peter's lost his mind, nobody's going to notice."

"That's still not what I-" Remus meant to protest, he even grabbed his hips to at least keep him at arm's length, but Sirius leaned in again and damn if Remus wasn't the most easily distracted person on the planet as his eyes began to roll into the back of his head, his hands betraying him and pulling Sirius closer instead until there was a clatter on the stairs and they sprung guiltily apart.

Someone certainly went rushing past in a hurry, but it was too dark to tell, and they stayed uneasily where they were pretending they weren't breathing heavily when moments later another more hurried footsteps followed.

Remus rubbed at his forehead, self-guilt and even more self-anger reminding himself to take a step even farther back before Sirius could distract him again.

"Padfoot, I mean it, I want to talk. Merlin, have you actually talked to anyone since..." his voice died when Evans began reading, and the answer sunk into him regardless. Sirius hadn't talked in almost a month now, and it hadn't started with Peter, he'd refused to talk to Remus the night he'd told Snape where to find him that full moon. Maybe even longer before that. Oh sure, he'd opened his mouth, words had come out, but there had been a distance in him that Remus was genuinely starting to worry about, and the look on his face as he'd looked upon his mother's portrait was the best chance he'd had to start that conversation in all this mess. He was half surprised James wasn't up here as well by now to double team him, that would have been sure to work.

The two of them flinched and jumped even farther apart when they realized someone was certainly venting their feelings around here, and it was Harry, at his friends. James's son was certainly holding nothing back.

The two listened in avid silence to the whole thing until the twins interrupted, and Remus only felt his worry grow. If Sirius kept whatever it was bottled up, well, he was a lot more boisterous than Harry. When he exploded, there was a good chance it would involve more than shouting.

"Sirius," he tried again, but Sirius seemed determined to brush him off, again.

"I did it Remus, did you see! Well, maybe not as well as that," he acknowledged his future self storming up the stairs to tell off those portraits in even more style than he and James had managed. "I've never told her to shut it before though! I bet I really can next time I see her."

"That's, great Sirius," Remus said in exasperation, but was stopped from saying anything else as they were tugged away once more.

#Harry Potter #fanfiction #reading the books #HP #OotP #Marauders #wolfstar #Jilly #James Potter #Remus Lupin #Sirius Black #Regulus Black #Peter Pettigrew #Alice Smith #Frank Longbottom #Lily Evans

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taesthetes · 4 years

Text

let’s unfall in love.

what if it began with the epilogue?

pairing: jeon jungkook x reader genre: angst, fluff type: college au word count: 3,291 words warnings: none playlist: 13 (lany) ⋆ 7up (boy in space) ⋆ pancakes (lany) ⋆ i.l.y. (the rose) ⋆ a poem titled you (taeyeon) ⋆ so, soo pretty (lany) author’s note: based on my college shenanigans and a few relationships i’ve witnessed my friends have

⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆

It doesn’t end with a bang.

It ends with a quiet click of the lock and him sliding the key under the front door, instead of letting it hang from the bunny keychain you bought him three years ago. The apartment meant for two now only houses one, and the furniture that two chose together is now only owned by one. His last whispered goodbye echoes softly in the corners of the room before the silence settles around you in a stifling manner.

He had picked up the final box of his remaining items that you painstakingly packed away. The bigger items had been moved in the past two weeks, but you carefully gathered the last of his belongings and trinkets hidden within your once shared home earlier today. Three years of memories have all been reduced to one cardboard box filled with knick knacks. Will he throw away the ticket stub from your first movie date together? Will the small teddy bear be donated? You hope he won’t.

Sitting on the bed that now seemed too big, you reach over to your nightstand, tugging open the bottom drawer. You pull out the oversized, worn out black sweater with a small hole near the right sleeve. With a quiet smile, you register the faint smell of his cologne, balling up the soft fabric and pressing your nose to its collar. You hope he doesn’t mind that you kept one thing of his.

The break up is no surprise.

It’s been making its home in the back of your mind and his until it became so cluttered and prominent that the two of you were forced to address it. Perhaps it was your fault, maybe it was his, or it very well may be the culmination of both your faults. But the last grains of sand have slowly trickled down the hourglass, and your love for one another has reached its end. This isn’t where you and Jungkook envisioned your relationship would end, but what couple would ever predict their downfall? You hope he never did.

You neatly fold his sweater and tuck it away in a shoebox, pushing it into the farthest crevice of your closet: your final reminder of him resting on the empty side that was once his.

⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆

You are exhausted, rubbing your temples, and your throat is hoarse from yelling. Jungkook stands on the opposite side of the room, arms crossed over his chest, unable to look at you anymore. Since when were you no longer on the same team, but fighting against each other in the same war?

The small argument had only escalated into something bigger until all the feelings that the two of you have been pushing down bubbles up into an ugly eruption.

“Where were you? I thought you’d be back by seven.”

“I got dinner with the boys.” he shrugged, dumping his bag on the ground next to the door.

“I told you to hang up your bag because someone can trip over it. And I made dinner.”

He swipes his backpack off the floor and tosses it onto the couch, much to your irritation. “I forget my things if I don’t leave it near the door. If you watch where you’re walking, you wouldn’t be faceplanting over a bag leaning against the wall.”

You take a deep breath, ignoring his sniping response. “I made dinner for us.”

“I’m not hungry. I can wrap it up and eat it tomorrow.”

“You’re never here anymore.” (I miss you.)

“It’s not my fault you haven’t been here for dinner for the past month, so I just assumed you’d be out tonight, too.” (You never spend time with me anymore.)

“I have work and classes, and we never made any plans! If you told me we had dinner plans, I would have gotten someone else to take my shift.” (Life keeps getting in the way of us. Why is it getting so hard for us?)

“It’s one time. I’ve been fine with you missing dinner all this time, so why can’t you be understanding of this one time?” (Why are we arguing like this?)

“I always texted you that I won’t be home! You couldn’t even send me one text?” (What happened to trusting each other?)

“I’m sorry, okay? It’s not that big of a deal. God, you’re suffocating me! You’re always acting like my mother.” (You’re not the person I fell in love with anymore.)

“Maybe if you stopped being so immature, I wouldn’t have to!” (You’re not the person I fell in love with anymore.)

“I can’t do this anymore.” (Maybe we should break up.)

Where did the two of you go wrong?

⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆

The moonlight filters through the gauzy curtains, casting soft shadows onto the empty side of the bed. It’s nearly midnight, and his place remains empty and cold. You lie in bed, scrolling aimlessly through your phone, as your laptop is abandoned next to you, the Netflix page to Brooklyn 99 already pulled up and open to the next episode for your shared nights together.

Looking at the bright Instagram photos of your friends on what seemed like an extremely fun club outing you had declined earlier in the day, you wish you had accepted their invitation. You close the app before reaching over and picking up your laptop, opening up the document for your upcoming research paper. You might as well work on it until he comes home for your tv marathon Friday night tradition.

[12:54 a.m.] golden bf: hey i took an extra shift and forgot to tell you. sorry

With a sigh, you save your document and close your laptop. Moving off the bed, you place your laptop onto your nightstand before picking up the untouched bowl of popcorn. You make your way to the kitchen, leaving the snack on the counter, before going back to bed alone.

When you wake up, his side of the bed is slightly messy, any traces of warmth barely lingering behind. You groggily pull yourself out of bed, pulling the blanket around your shoulders, as you stumble out into the joint living room and kitchen area. Jungkook stands behind the counter, downing a cup of coffee.

“Hey,” he tiredly greets you before placing his mug in the sink and moving towards the door. “I’m going to class early to ask some questions before the midterm.”

“Oh, okay.” You make your way to the kitchen before pausing. “Good luck on your midterm.”

“Thanks.” He quickly slides on his shoes and then twists the doorknob and walks out. Halfway through the door, he hesitates before saying halfheartedly, “Love you.”

And then he disappears. You stare at the coffee machine whirring before you, the drip drip of the liquid following soon after. “Love you, too.”

Since when did I love you’s become shortened to love you’s? And when did they start to feel like habitual obligations, instead of heart racing confessions?

⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆

You are pacing back and forth in the kitchen, palms feeling clammy, as you await for the phone call with bated breath. Jungkook is by the stove, glancing at you worriedly, as he pours the last of the pancake batter onto the pan. He makes a mental note to go to the grocery store after his last class tomorrow. Besides the five pack of ramen in the cupboard, all he could find was pancake mix. So pancakes it is for dinner.

“What if they don’t call?” you mumble, clenching your hands into fists and anxiously staring at your cellphone laying innocently on top of the counter.

“They will. You’ll get the internship,” Jungkook quietly assures you. Sliding the last one onto the tower of pancakes, he turns off the stove and places the pan in the sink. He reaches out to grasp your hands, gently unfurling them and intertwines his fingers with yours. “You’re smart and amazing and kind, and they’d be lucky to have you.”

“But, what if—”

The phone rings, interrupting you, and you freeze. Jungkook squeezes your hands reassuringly. One squeeze. Four squeezes. Three squeezes. You take a deep breath, he lets go of your right hand, and you pick up your phone.

“Hello? ... Yes, that’s me. ... Yes, yes, I understand. .... Yes, thank you so much. ... Thank you, bye.”

You place the phone back onto the counter, and Jungkook looks at you expectantly. Heart rapidly pounding in your chest, you manage to finally get the words out, “I got the internship.”

A full blown grin blooms across his face as he wraps his arms around you, tugging you in and spinning you around. Laughing, you bury your face in the space between his neck and shoulder, throwing your arms around him as well. When you pull away, he presses kisses all over your face as you giggle, swatting at him to stop.

“I knew it.” He smirks at you triumphantly, still hugging you tightly to his chest. “I knew you’d get it. I even bought this on my way home to celebrate.”

Walking over to the fridge, he proudly pulls out a bottle of champagne, setting it on the counter. “Pancakes and champagne. I can’t think of a better way to celebrate. Can you?”

Shaking your head, you grin as he places the corkscrew and two mismatching mugs on the countertop. With a resounding pop, he pours out a drink for the two of you. Keeping the frog patterned mug for himself, Jungkook hands the holiday themed cup to you. He presses a kiss to your cheek and positively beams when you return the gesture.

“I love you, babe. I’m so proud of you.”

⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆

“What about Spike?”

You frown at him. “That sounds like a generic dog name a small child would give to a Rottweiler.”

“Hey, I’ll have you know Spike is a very good boy. Our plant should be honored that it’s named after a canine icon in the Jeon household.” Jungkook stands next to the three plants you had placed in the windowsill of your shared new apartment. “Besides, you already named our first two plant children.”

“I only named one!” you protest, pointing to the tiny budding succulent on the far right. “The other one was a housewarming gift from Namjoon, and he said he already named it Blossom. So I thought we could do a Power Puff Girls theme and named this one Bubbles. And that one can be Buttercup.”

“But I want a Spike the Second.” Jungkook sulks before reaching out and longingly touching one of the prickles on the cactus. “He looks like a Spike.”

Blossom, Bubbles... and Spike.

Your boyfriend stares at you, widening his doe eyes and pouting, and you sigh, relenting. “Okay, we’ll name it Spike.”

He brightens up immediately, leaning down to be face level with the cactus. “You’re the best plant ever, Spike. I’ll be a better plant dad than Namjoon.”

Three weeks later, you notice the dead plant on the windowsill. You don’t know how Jungkook managed to kill a cactus, but you do know that he will be absolutely devastated if he finds out. You quickly run out to buy a new one and replace it before he gets home. Jungkook is none the wiser, ever the doting plant parent.

Luckily, Spike the Third continues to live on.

⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆

You sit on the wooden bench, tugging off your shoes before pulling on the ice skates. You lace them up easily, tying the ends into double-knotted bows. Jungkook takes a seat next to you, slowly removing his timberlands before somewhat reluctantly sliding his feet into the ice skates he rented at the counter earlier.

“Jungkook.”

“Hmm?” He looks up towards you, and you tilt your head slightly. “Is this your first time ice skating?”

“... How did you know?”

You smile softly. “You look a little nervous. Here.”

You kneel down next to him, reaching over to tighten his laces. “These need to be a little tighter. Can’t have you flopping all over the ice.”

He huffs a little, crimson blossoming on his cheeks. He is bundled up in a semi-puffy jacket with a maroon beanie pulled over his head, and you’re reminded of how similar he looks to one of those cute little puffed up robins.

“Around the tree and down the rabbit hole... There!” You finish tying his skates, oblivious to the soft gaze he has on you the entire time, and shove both your pair of shoes and his into the locket below the bench. “You’re ready to skate.”

“W-wait! How do I get over there?” Jungkook desperately clutches onto your arm, legs shaking. You grab his hand, lacing your fingers with his tightly. “Just take one step at a time slowly.”

Leaning heavily on you, he stumbles his way towards the rink, finally reaching the edge of it. He clings onto the wall and your hand before taking one baby step onto the ice. You skate next to him with interlocking hands as he makes a careful circle around the rink next to the wall, precariously wobbling like Bambi on ice.

“This is so embarrassing,” he mumbles, turning pink when some children zip past him.

“You’re doing good! Everyone has to start somewhere.” You gently tug him away from the wall, and he teeters slightly before tightly grabbing onto your arm. The two of you start to move, skating slowly but surely. “See? You’re skating!”

“I’m skating!” A gleeful expression spreads across his face as he pushes one foot in front of the other more enthusiastically. He lets go of your arm, gliding forward. The amount of pure, unadulterated joy emitting from him makes you grin as you skate behind him. “I’m doing it! I’m actually—”

Thump.

Bewildered, he stares up at you from the floor in shock, doe eyes widened and bottom planted firmly on the ice. You can’t help it as laughter bubbles up from your throat, and you quickly skate over to him. “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry for laughing, are you okay?”

His shoulders relax as he starts to chuckle, eyes twinkling. “I’m good. I think I just fell for you though.”

Your shoulders shake as you laugh even more, reaching down to pull him up. “Let me help yo—”

Thump.

You find yourself sitting on the cold surface next to him, slightly dazed. Jungkook laughs freely, eyes forming perfect moon crescents, and while the coldness may be seeping through the fabric of your jeans, you have never felt warmer than ever, grinning back at the boy next to you. The two of you carefully help each other up. You slip your hand into his, squeezing it tightly, and he smiles at you, eyes sparkling. You bravely lean up and place a soft kiss to his cheek, making him beam.

"I guess I fell for you, too.”

⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆

“Shoot, I’m so sorry!”

The bright red substance more affectionately known as jungle juice has now decorated the front of your shirt, the fabric clinging to your figure more than ever. You look up to see a doe eyed boy nervously standing in front of you, the telltale red solo cup in his hand.

“I didn’t mean to, someone pushed into me from behind, and it just spilled over,” he rambles, placing his cup on the table and scrambling around to find some napkins or towels or just something to help the cute person that he just made a complete fool of himself in front of. “God, do they even have napkins at parties like these?”

“Hey, hey, it’s okay,” you place your hand on his arm, stopping him in his tracks like a deer in the headlights. “Maybe help me find a bathroom to wash this out?”

“Yeah, yeah, okay, there’s one upstairs.” You follow behind him as he pushes his way through everyone until you reach the stairs. “God, I’m really sorry, I don’t even go to parties. Yugyeom said there was gonna be free pizza, so I came, and then all they had were drinks and he insisted I have one, and I just— Sorry, anyway, here’s the bathroom.”

“First off,” you say, dabbing at your shirt with some wet towels, as he anxiously sits on top of the closed toilet. “You should never trust Yugyeom about those things. He told me the same thing before and when I showed up, all he had was an expired frozen Digiorno’s pizza left thawing on the counter.”

He snorts at that, reaching over to wet some more paper towels for you before handing them over. “I was desperate, sue me. I’m down to my last packet of ramen. I would do anything for a slice of pizza at this point.”

You thank him, using the new towels to wipe at your shirt futilely. Sighing, you toss them into the trashcan, accepting the fact that your shirt is past the point of no return. Wine stains are the worst.

“Well, pizza boy, looks like you poured your drink on the right person. I know a great place that opens late and sells whole pizzas for five dollars. You in?”

“Wait, really?”

“Well, I can’t finish a whole pizza myself, and it’s gonna be hard trying to find my friends now.” You wave your hand around vaguely. “So you up for pizza?”

“Heck yes, but wait.” He hurriedly tugs off his jean jacket and pulls off his black sweater, leaving him in a white v-neck t-shirt. He shyly holds out the sweater to you. “Here, put this on. It’s gonna be cold out.”

You grin, accepting his sweater and slipping it on with ease, reveling in its warmth. He puts on his jean jacket again and secretly hides a smile when he notices how the sweater envelopes you, the sleeves covering your hands and giving you sweater paws.

“Thanks...?”

“Jungkook,” he supplies, smiling widely at you. “I’m Jungkook.”

“Nice to meet you, Jungkook. I’m _______.”

⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆

"I’m here, I’m here!”

Standing next to the business building, you look up from your phone to see Eunha running towards you, hair flying. She quickly smoothes down any stray strands when she skids to a stop in front of you. “Sorry, I’m a little late.”

“No worries, how was your class?” You slip your phone into your backpocket, walking side by side with your friend towards the dining hall.

“Ten minutes in, he already assigns us a group project. Like c’mon, we just got out of summer break and he hits us with this thing that’s worth 30% of our grade!” she complains, waving her hands around in frustration. “You know what’s even worse? He assigned us random group partners. Do you know Myoui Mina, Kim Mingyu, or Jeon Jungkook?”

You purse your lips, thinking back to your previous classes. “Mina is really nice. She let me borrow her notes when I was sick. Mingyu was in my business law class, I think maybe? It was an eight a.m. lecture, so I didn’t pay attention to whatever was going on. I don’t know any Jungkook though.”

“Well, at least I know one member of my group is reliable.”

“Did you swap numbers and set up a group meeting at least?”

“Yeah,” she grumbles, “We’re all meeting Thursday night in the library.”

You shoot her a reassuring smile. “See? I’m sure it’ll all be fine. Now let’s hurry before they run out of the good whipped cream for waffles.”

“Oh my god, you’re right, we gotta run.”

⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆

“If I read our story backwards, it's about how I un-broke your heart, and then we were happy until one day, you forgot about me forever.” — The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories: Volume 1.

#networkbangtan #bts scenarios #bts fanfic #jungkook scenarios #bts fluff #bts angst #jungkook #bts #bts scenario #bts imagines #bts fic #jungkook fanfic #jungkook fluff #jungkook angst #jungkook scenario #bts one shot #jungkook one shot #bts fanfiction #jungkook x reader

557 notes · View notes

adenei · 3 years

Text

Auror 99 - Epilogue

I hope you’re all ready for this! It’s heist time!

AO3 || FFN

a/n: I based this off of the season 3 heist, and some of the plot points and a few lines are taken directly from the show. I do not own the rights to Harry Potter or Brooklyn 99. Thanks for following this crazy story!

Epilogue: The Heist

“Captain Holt,” Kingsley said after apparating directly into his office.

“Ah, King, you made it,” Holt said, looking at his watch. “Right on time, too.”

“Yes, well, it wasn’t easy transporting a large portrait under a disillusionment charm from England to the United States,” Kingsley commented. “Care to fill me in now that we’re in person? Your correspondence gave away very little.”

“I can, but I don’t have much time before the squad arrives for their shift,” Holt said. “You may place the portrait on that easel over there. It is an honor to make your acquaintance,” he nodded to the portrait.

“And yours as well. While I don’t wish to speak poorly of my permanent residence, it is nice to leave the wall of the Headmistress’ office.” The voice of Albus Dumbledore could be heard through the Disillusionment charm Kingsley had placed on the frame.

“What about your other portraits, Albus?” Kingsley asked in confusion of his statement.

“Ah, yes, I do travel to those occasionally as well, but this may be my only opportunity to ever travel outside England. Though, I believe Captain Holt is pressed for time and would like to have a word before you must take your leave,” Dumbledore observed.

“Thank you, Albus,” Holt said before turning to Kingsley. “For the last two years, Detective Peralta and I have engaged in a ridiculous Halloween bet, now known as the Halloween Heist. Normally, I don’t engage in such frivolous antics. However, we are currently tied 1-1, and I intend on winning the tiebreaker and putting an end to this, once and for all.”

“I see, but what does this have to do with Albus’ portrait?” Kingsley asked.

“Ah, yes. Ever since your team left following the closing of Gerteso’s case, I planted the seed in Peralta’s mind for him to contact Nolan about returning to help him win.”

“So you think Nolan is going to be here today?” Kingsley said. “Now that I think about it, he and Jason did take the day off…”

A wicked grin spread across Holt’s face. “Just as I predicted. Now, I’ve positioned the easel for Albus’ portrait so that he can observe everything that’s happening in the precinct, unbeknownst to anyone.”

“I will do my best, but I must say my lip reading skills are not up to snuff,” Albus admitted with a chuckle.

“There will be no need for lip reading,” Holt said as he made his way back over to his desk and pointed to a contraption that looked like a radio. “I planted a bug on Peralta’s desk, so you should be able to hear the conversations without any issue.”

Albus nodded as Kingsley interjected. “Well, good luck to you. I’ll be taking my leave now, and will be back in the morning to retrieve the portrait.”

Holt nodded, as Kingsley disapparated.

~o~

“It’s the best day of the year!” Peralta said excitedly as the squad gathered in the briefing room for their meeting. “The day we can finally determine once and for all who is the amazingest ‘amazing detective/genius!’”

“Yes, which we both know will be me,” Holt retorted. “This year, we will both be attempting to steal the same item. This—” he held up a briefcase and opened it to reveal a gold crown, “will be locked away in the interrogation room. The case itself cuffed to the table. We decided to use a neutral object this year instead of Peralta trying to steal something of mine.”

“Yeah, and whoever is in possession of the crown at midnight will be crowned the amazing detective/genius. Which will be me,” he added with a fake cough.

Holt shook his head in mock annoyance. “We will see about that. Now, as for teams: we each can choose who we want to work with, and as I was the victor last year, I’ll choose first.”

“I guess that’s only fair,” Jake said, rolling his eyes, and pretending to be affronted.

“I choose Terry,” Holt said swiftly.

“Alright, alright, brawns over brains. I get it,” Jake commented.

“What?” Terry asked, but Jake ignored him as he made his own pick.

“Charles,” he said.

He didn’t notice that Amy almost stood up with a smug look on her face, only for it to fall slightly as he chose his best friend over his girlfriend. Amy looked to Holt in anticipation next. Maybe he’d choose her instead.

“Yes! The dream team rides again!” Charles said, pumping his fist in the air.

“Gina,” Holt said automatically, as Gina stood up and joined the captain.

“Rosa!” Jake said.

“Dope,” Rosa said as Amy exclaimed,

“What?!”

“Sorry, Ames, I can’t trust you. You’ll do anything to please Captain Holt,” Jake explained his reasoning.

“Well, fine, maybe I wanted to be on Captain Holt’s team anyway,” Amy said, trying to hide the look of hurt on her face.

Holt held up his hand. “Sorry Santiago, I can’t trust you either, given your current relations with Detective Peralta.

“Wait, so nobody wants me?” Amy asked. Both Jake and Holt looked at each other awkwardly and shook their heads.

“You can be with us!” Hitchcock said happily. Everyone forgot he and Scully were still sitting in the back.

“Um, I’m good,” Amy said.

“Uh, yeah no,” Jake added. “Let the heist begin!” he said as he ran out of the room quickly to meet with his team.

“Charles, you guard the case from the viewing room. I guarantee that Holt will send Gina in there. Rosa, you know what you have to do,” Jake said as Rosa nodded and Charles took off.

Jake pulled out his phone and sent a quick text. Heist has begun. You know the drill. He pressed send and looked up to find Amy standing in front of him.

“Oh! Hey Ames, what’s up?” he asked.

She looked at him suspiciously. “Who were you just texting?”

“Me? Texting? Oh, just Charles. You know, making sure he made it to his post alright.” Jake shoved his phone in his pocket.

Amy squinted her eyes at him in question, but didn’t argue. “Listen, Jake, you really hurt my feelings back there.”

“I didn’t mean to, Ames. You know how important this is to me.”

“So you know I want to help, then! Let me help, Jake, we’ll be unstoppable! Just give me a chance.”

“Sorry Ames, but I can’t,” Jake said. His eyes shifted down. “Nice try, Captain, but I’m not going to fall for your games this time. Your little spy is not getting any information out of me.”

“Jake, why are you talking to my breasts?” Amy asked with a disgusted look on her face.

“Because you’re obviously wearing a wire,” he said in the most ridiculous way. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got paperwork to do,” Jake said as he turned around and sat down at his desk.

Meanwhile, Amy walked over to Captain Holt’s office and knocked on the door.

“Come in, Santiago,” Holt called. Sergeant Jeffords and I were just finishing up here.” He nodded to Terry who gave him an unsure look, but walked out of the room, having been dismissed.

Amy hovered in the doorway. She wanted Jake to hear how Holt would gladly use her help for the heist to stick it to him. “Captain Holt, I really want to make Jake pay for not choosing to have me on his team. I’m yours, do with me what you please,” she pleaded to Holt.

“—Title of your sex tape!” she heard Jake call from his desk.

“I’m sorry, Santiago, but I have no use for you this year. You’re too much of a risk, and I can’t have a late addition ruin everything. I will reign supreme,” Holt said.

“But Captain—” Amy tried to interject.

“You’re dismissed, Santiago,” Holt said with finality. He shut his door and walked over to his desk as Amy sulked to hers.

“She’s telling the truth, you know,” Albus said from his perch from the corner.

“Maybe that’s the case, but I’ve already planned every step precisely and nothing will go wrong,” Holt said.

“Be that as it may, Captain Holt. I know I am only a portrait of my former self, but I assure you I can sense when shenanigans are afoot.”

“What does Peralta have planned? Did you see anything while I was speaking with Jeffords?”

“No, no. I only sensed there may be an additional person in the precinct,” Albus said as his eyes looked above him.

“HA! I knew he’d enlist Cooper and Brown. He’s falling right into my trap.”

~o~

“Charles, you can keep trying to distract me, but you’ll never win. How’s it feel to be on the losing team,” Gina taunted him.

“Come on, Gina, I promise you won’t be disappointed this time!” Charles argued.

“No, Charles! I will not be set up on another blind date with a Boyle cousin. I respect myself too much,” Gina argued. “This body is a shrine and I have standards to uphold.”

Charles looked up and saw Rosa’s face appear in the window for a split second. That was his cue. “It’s not a Boyle cousin! It’s a recommendation from Genevieve. Here, Gina, look! I have a picture of him. Just let me find it,” he said as he dug into his pockets. He pulled the picture out and let it slip out of his hands, falling to the floor.

“Could you be any clumsier, Charles? GOD!” Gina exclaimed.

She looked down and saw that the picture was of a very attractive looking man. She bent over to pick the photograph up, and Charles used that moment to give the thumbs up. A split second later, decoy detonators were running rampant around the floor. This caused Gina to scream and jump up on the table as the figures were scurrying around making loud noises.

“Charles, do something! What are those things! They’re going to kill us! Charles!” Gina yelled dramatically.

While this diversion was taking place, Rosa was working swiftly to unlock the door to the interrogation room. When it didn’t work, she broke the glass on the window, and then somersaulted through, meeting Ron, who had apparated into the room. Rosa moved over to the briefcase and began cutting into the leather as Ron reached into his pocket and grabbed Peruvian Darkness Powder. He tossed it toward the window and it immediately exploded, covering the area in complete darkness. He used his wand to control the spread of the powder so it isolated itself in front of the window.

“We’ve got two minutes before this starts to weaken,” Ron told her.

“Got it,” Rosa said, the crown in her hands. She flipped over the briefcase and zipped her jacket, stuffing the crown inside. “We’re good,” she said gruffly. “Wait for phase two in the evidence room.”

Ron nodded as Rosa slipped out of the door. He waved his wand to repair the shattered glass, and flipped the briefcase over, repairing the hole Rosa cut as well. He noticed the powder starting to fade and apparated back to the evidence room.

~o~

Holt remained in his office, pretending to be nonplussed by the ongoing heist, and attempted to focus on his paperwork. Terry knocked on his door and came in.

“Hey, Captain, do you have any idea when I should tell Sharon to come in. The twins are almost done trick or treating, and I’m not sure she can hold them off much—” Holt cut Terry off with a raise of his hand.

“Shhh,” he said as he turned his radio up slightly to better hear Jake’s voice.

“Great! Now, all I have to do is sit here and guard this filing cabinet until midnight. Hello, victory!”

“Yeah, sure, whatever,” Rosa said indifferently as she walked away.

“Now, Terry, call her now. It is time,” Holt said.

“Uh, okay,” Terry said as he left Holt’s office.

Holt watched Terry go, and waited for his wife and kids to enter through the elevator to take his leave from the office.

“Hey, girls!” Holt heard Jake said happily as he slipped out onto the terrace.

He picked up his drill from the hiding spot and waited for Jake to be appropriately distracted. Stealthily, he moved towards the filing cabinet and unscrewed the back. Holt slipped the crown out, replaced the back and stood up to photobomb one of the shots before escaping into the breakroom.

Pretending to be interested in the snack table, he noticed Amy nod to the breakroom and Jake looked over and saw him alone. He quickly disposed of the crown in the garbage can, and grabbed a handful of cheese puffs. I knew I couldn’t trust Santiago, he thought to himself.

“Since when do you eat cheese puffs?” Jake asked as he strolled in.

“If you must know, Peralta, they are one of my—” Holt paused briefly, “guilty pleasures.”

“Maybe I’m rubbing off on you after all,” Jake said with a laugh. “Quick, let’s see how many we can fit in our mouths at one time!” he said.

“I’ll...pass,” Holt said.

“Wait a minute, if they’re your guilty pleasure, why aren’t you eating any?” Jake crossed his arms over his chest.

“I was going to enjoy them in my office,” Holt said quickly.

“A-huh, well after you, then,” Jake said, gesturing to the door.

Holt had no choice but to follow him out and return to his office as Jake returned to his desk, petting the filing cabinet as he sat down. Jake pretended to get back to work, but pulled out his phone and typed out a message. Pretty sure Holt took crown. In breakroom. Initiate phase two.

After he returned his phone to his pocket, he noticed Charles walking over to his desk. “Charles! What are you doing? You’re supposed to be guarding the crown!”

“I’m sorry, Jake! You know I’d never betray you,” Charles said quickly.

“Why do I sense there’s a but?” Jake asked suspiciously.

“Because there is one! Come on, Jake, I thought you were smarter than that,” Gina chimed in with a guffawed voice.

“Gina? Where’d you come from? Nevermind. Charles, why aren’t you watching the briefcase?” Jake asked again.

“Well, Jakey, Gina agreed to go on a date with Nadia! But I had to leave the briefcase unattended…”

“Charles!” Jake said as his hands reached up to pull his hair.

“Jake, you can stop the act. I know the crown was obviously taken from the briefcase.” Gina told him.

“What?” Jake tried to play it off like he had no idea what Gina was talking about, but his facial expression was traitorous. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I haven’t been to the interrogation room at all!”

“Drop the act, Jake. I’m Gina Linetti and I know everything. Did you really think that distraction worked? I knew exactly what you were doing. Don’t insult my intelligence.”

“What’s all this?” Captain Holt asked as he walked out of his office. “Last time I checked this is a precinct, not daytime television drama!”

“Sir, Gina is wrongfully accusing me of taking the crown!” Jake defended.

“I don’t see how that’s a problem, Peralta. Where’s the lie?” Holt asked, cocking an eyebrow.

Jake’s mouth gaped like a fish out of water before he dropped the act. “Okay, fine, we have it, but you’ll never find it!” he admitted with an air of superiority. His hand immediately went to lean on the filing cabinet, pretending it was still there.

Captain Holt let out an abrupt laugh. “In the top drawer of your filing cabinet? Please, Peralta, you’re playing like an amateur.”

“Would I really put the most beloved object of this life changing event in such a normal place?” Jake retorted.

“Why don’t you open the top drawer and let us all see.”

“Well, fine, if you must check…” Jake opened the top drawer, revealing an empty spot. Feigning shock, he looked up at Holt, then at everyone who was standing around. “Rosa! It’s gone. Where did it go? Tell me you borrowed it!”

Rosa had joined the circle now. “Why would I take it? That wasn’t part of the plan.”

“But then where did it go?” Jake looked at Holt. “There’s no way you could have stolen it. I’ve been at my desk the entire time.”

“Ah, yes, you’ve been here, but you allow yourself to be distracted far too easily, Peralta,” Holt said as he pulled out his phone.

After a few clicks of the touchscreen he held out the phone for Jake to see. Sharon had sent him the picture she’d taken of Jake and the kids, with Holt photobombing with the crown in the background.

“Dammit! I should have known you’d use Terry’s girls to distract me. Not cool, Captain, not cool.” Jake shook his head, before looking up. “But wait, you were in the breakroom right after that!” He looked at Charles and Rosa before continuing, “Holt stashed the crown in the breakroom!”

The group made their way over quickly, each team trying to beat the other in an attempt to regain possession of the crown. Jake stopped abruptly at the head of the pack, causing everyone to run into him and each other. “Wait!” he turned to Holt. “That means you lied to me about the cheese puffs! That hurts, Da—I mean, Captain. I thought we were bonding over junk food.”

“Peralta, do you really think I would consume that cancerous trash?” Holt asked loftily.

“Well, that sounds a bit harsh,” Jake said, but then shook his head. “Where is it?”

Holt walked over to the garbage can. “I had to stash it somewhere quickly so you wouldn’t see. So naturally, I placed it here,” he said, gesturing to the trash. “And now, I can retrieve it and keep it in my possession for the last hour. Looks like I have outsmarted you once more, Peral—” Holt cut off because as he lifted the lid off of the garbage can, he realized the crown was missing.

“What’s wrong?” Charles asked.

“It’s not there. It’s not there! Peralta, what’d you do with the crown? I know you took it!”

“How could I have taken it? I was at my desk the entire time after we both left. It’s not like I can use magic or anything,” Jake said with a laugh. He didn’t realize what had slipped out of his mouth until he saw the look on Charles’ face. “I mean, obviously, magic doesn’t exist, duh…”

“Peralta, you’re not fooling anyone! I know you’ve got Cooper and Brown lurking around the precinct somewhere, helping with your plan. Did you really think you could hide that from me?”

“What?! I don’t know what you’re talking a—”

“Peralta! Get them out here. Now.”

Jake let out a sigh. “Fine. How’d you know?”

He pulled out his phone and sent a quick message. Jig is up. Holt knows. Come back to the breakroom.

“How did I know? I practically gave you the idea to call them back! ‘You must miss your British friends. It’s a shame you can’t collaborate with them on anything else,’” Holt mimicked the words Jake remembered hearing more than once since the Gerteso case closed.

“Aw, man! You and your reverse psychology. Come on, Captain! Why do you always have to play the weird mind games?”

“Maybe you should put your detective skills to better use, and pick up on it, then,” Holt clapped back. “Ah, Brown! Cooper! So nice of you to join our heist. Though I’m sorry to say you’ve found yourself on the losing team.”

Harry and Ron both walked through the door and began exchanging greetings with everyone. “Wait, losing team? You just said yourself you didn’t know where the crown went!” Jake interrupted.

“And you seemed just as shocked as I was,” Holt commented.

“Wait, wait, wait,” Charles interjected. “Where is the crown? Who’s telling the truth?”

“Sergeant Jeffords?” Holt said, looking at Terry.

“Uh, sorry Captain, I got tied up with Sharon and the girls.” Terry shrugged.

“WHAT?!” Captain Holt shouted.

“Ha ha!” Jake pumped his fist in the air. “Looks like you’re going to lose after all, Captain! Nolan and Jason here did what Terry couldn’t. Better choose wiselier next time!”

“Er, Jake, we don’t have it either,” Ron admitted.

Jake’s premature celebrations were cut short. “What?”

“I snuck in to get it, but it was already gone,” Harry explained.

Jake’s furrowed brow quickly turned up and a smile plastered on his face. “Ah, I see what you’re doing. Very clever! Make them think we don’t have it. Don’t worry, Cooper, it’s hidden well enough so Holt we’ll never find it!”

“No, really, Jake. We don’t have it,” Ron’s face was completely serious.

“But then—” Jake looked at Holt. “Who took it?”

“Check the security tapes!” Rosa said.

“Yes, quickly, we don’t have a lot of time!” Holt said.

The group moved around to the computers that had the security footage on it while Holt slipped into his office quickly. He pretended to shuffle papers on his desk, his back to the door as he asked, “Did you see anyone enter the breakroom?”

Albus spoke slowly. “I did see someone enter, but the scuffle of your squad blocked most of my view.”

Holt shook his head. “I should have anticipated the layout of the precinct.”

“I am sorry I couldn’t be of more assistance. I did see Harry and Ronald try and retrieve the crown, and their look of concern when it wasn’t there, however.”

“Harry and—oh, you mean Jason and Nolan. My apologies, I do try to forget their true identities. I must pretend I do not know of their existence, or I risk getting Kingsley into a deal of trouble.”

“Captain Holt, they found some—” Harry walked into the room followed closely by Ron. “Who are you talking to?”

“No one. Didn’t your superiors teach you to knock when entering a room?” Holt said quickly.

“The door was open,” Ron said quickly. “What’s in the corner over there, Jason?”

“Nothing that pertains to you,” Holt said.

“It’s a disillusionment charm. Is someone there? Kingsley? Jake said you might enlist his help,” Ron said suspiciously.

“Now, now, boys, I can assure you I am not Minister Shacklebolt, but he did answer Captain Holt’s request for assistance,” came Dumbledore’s voice from the invisible spot in the corner.

“Professor Dumbledore?!” both boys gasped.

“Only in portrait form. You’ll never believe the lengths Kingsley had to go to in order to get Minerva to oblige. It’s been a nice vacation.”

Ron broke out into laughter. “Well played, Captain Holt. It’s a shame Jake can’t know.”

“Yes, well, I’m sure your reunion can continue later, but did you not say evidence has been uncovered?”

“Oh, yeah, let’s go,” Ron said as Harry and Holt followed.

“What janitor was on tonight?” Rosa asked.

“Should we check the dumpsters?” Charles suggested.

“What is this?” Captain Holt cut in.

“A janitor emptied the trash shortly after you put the crown there! Look, there’s a name tag.” Jake pointed to the screen.

“It says ‘Al’,” Harry pointed out.

“Does anyone know an Al?” Captain Holt asked to a sea of shaking heads.

“Someone has to know..” Charles thought out loud.

“The late night cleaner shift would have ended fifteen minutes ago,” Terry reminded them. “So Al’s not even here.”

“How are we supposed to find him, then?” Gina asked.

“Where’s the directory?” Holt said, looking at Gina.

“That? I threw it out.” Gina said unapologetically.

“Gina—” Terry was about to scold her for not holding onto important documents.

“Wait a minute,” Rosa cut in, “Who sends Christmas cards to everyone in the office?”

“Amy!” Jake said, immediately moving over to her desk. “A ha!” His finger skimmed the list of names and addresses. He secretly loved her organizational skills and knack for keeping things orderly. “Here it is!”

“How much time do we have?” Holt asked.

“Thirty minutes,” Charles said, checking his watch.

“His apartment’s only seven blocks away, we can make it!” Jake said.

He froze briefly as he and Captain Holt both stared at each other. In a split second, they were both running for the elevator, followed by the other members of their teams. The group of eight ran the entire distance to the janitor’s apartment and quickly entered the building.

“The elevator’s broken!” Charles exclaimed as Jake was gasping for air, incredibly out of breath.

“How many...floors?” he asked between breaths.

“Seventeen,” Rosa said with an eye roll.

Holt and Jake shared another brief look before the race continued up seventeen flights of stairs. The rest of the teams followed closely behind. By the time they reached the seventeenth floor, Jake checked his watch.

“Ha! Ten minutes to spare. My lungs are on fire.” Jake said as he knocked on Al’s apartment door.

A woman answered, looking rather annoyed.

“Hello, Ma’am,” Captain Holt said, cutting Jake’s greeting off. “Does Al live here? May we speak to him?”

“It’s really important. Will only take a second,” Jake added as the rest of the group was appearing now.

“He’s not here,” the woman said. “He went up to the roof.”

“What?” Jake asked, now leaning against the door jamb.

“Sorry. If you want to talk to him, you’ll have to go up there.” The woman shut the door in their faces.

“That’s another fourteen flights of stairs,” Holt said.

“I’m pretty sure I’m gonna die,” Jake said dramatically.

“Good, you stay here and recover and I’ll go speak to Al,” Holt said as he started back towards the stairs.

“Not a chance!” Jake said, rallying his energy.

Eight minutes later, Jake and Holt burst through the door to the rooftop. “I...did it….was here….first!” Jake managed to say before he retched to the side.

He was able to make it a few more paces as Holt called for Al. Jake threw up a second time as they looked around.

“There’s no Al here,” came a voice. Someone in the same janitor’s outfit appeared from behind a corner.

“Ah, no! Ames, what are you doing?” Jake asked, clearly surprised.

“I’m here to tell you that neither of you won the heist this year.”

“Wait, what?” Rosa called as the rest of the group appeared through the doorway and came up behind Holt and Jake.

“This is preposterous! You don’t have the crown. Al does. Where is he?”

“It was me all along,” Amy said triumphantly.

“What do you mean?” Jake asked.

“Did you really think I wasn’t expecting the two of you to cast me off to the side this year? I used that to my advantage to take you both down.”

“What do you—” Jake started to say.

“For the past three months I made sure to drop hints of how much Captain Holt’s approval means to me whenever you’d bring up the heist,” she said to Jake, but quickly acknowledged Holt. “Which I do, by the way!”

Jake rolled his eyes. “That’s no different than normal. So what?”

“And I’d also manage to slip in a few words to Captain Holt about how well our relationship is going, so he’d think I’m more loyal to you,” Amy said as she nodded to Jake.

“But...you are, aren’t you?” Jake asked.

“Really? You’re asking me that when you wouldn’t even divulge any details of your plans?”

“And you wonder why I said I couldn’t trust you,” Jake mumbled.

“Can someone please explain what’s going on?” Terry cut in.

“I’m getting there, Sarge,” Amy said as she looked over to the rest of the group. “Oh, hey Nolan. Hey, Jason. I knew you’d call them in,” she said to Jake.

“No you didn’t,” Jake protested.

“Really? Then care to explain why else you’d wake up early in the morning and I’d hear you giggling at text message conversations? Did you really think I had no idea you’d included them in the whole thing? Honestly, it’s a little insulting. And how did you two get away from your wives for the day?” Amy asked.

Harry and Ron both looked guilty. “Er, we told them we were on a mission,” Ron said.

“...And you really think we believed that?” Hermione walked out from the same area Amy was hiding, followed by a second person.

Ron and Harry were white as a sheet. “Oh yeah, I called your wives in. Turns out Charlotte and Nolan are married, they just didn’t want us to know. And this is Lucy, Jason’s wife. Charlotte suggested she join our team.

“It’s about time I got to meet you all,” Ginny said with a genuine smile on her face. “It’s a shame, really, Jason. I could have been such a vital part of your team, but I guess you haven’t bothered to tell your American friends about me, have you?”

“It was a mission before. We don’t talk personal on missions,” Harry said through gritted teeth, worried she was going to give something away. Ginny shot him a look that said, ‘I’m not stupid, so bugger off.’

“Guys, come on, it’s late. Heists are dumb, anyways. Can we wrap this up?” Terry complained.

“Yes, I am quite interested in how Santiago pulled this off,” Holt chimed in.

“Right,” Amy said. “You’ve already heard the first part of my plan, which was to get both of you to not trust me for your teams. Once I knew Jake was bringing in Jason and Nolan, I recruited Charlotte and Lucy. Charlotte was staking out the opposite end of the hallway by the interrogation room and was keeping me updated on Jake’s plan, since we all know he has to make a move first..at least for the heists, anyways. But it was when I was playing the ‘hurt’ card and talking to Jake when I noticed Captain Holt was speaking at his desk, so I asked Lucy to investigate.”

“I crawled through the air ducts to find out what was going on. Turns out Holt had an extra spy of his own,” Ginny explained.

“I knew you’d call King!” Jake exclaimed.

“It wasn’t King. He used King’s connections to get a very important device to help spy on us. One that could see, hear, and talk to, but no one else could see.” Amy was being careful not to give the identity of the magic portrait away. She knew it was Dumbledore’s portrait, but Holt, Terry and Gina couldn’t know.

“No!” Jake shouted. He looked at Harry and Ron, who nodded. He’d sent them into Holt’s office to figure out who he was consulting, and they managed to slip him a text, telling him who it was. “Okay, Captain. I have to admit, that was a solid idea.”

“Thank you,” Holt said as he nodded.

“Anyways, Lucy also heard about Holt’s plan when he told Terry how he was going to steal the crown from your cabinet. You actually made it quite easy for me to get to it,” Amy commented.

“So you dressed up as Al and emptied the garbage,” Jake finished.

“Exactly. I knew you’d watch the security footage and use my address book to find Al’s address. Luckily, his wife was willing to play along in our charade. I did have more planned for Charlotte and Lucy, but you just made it too easy for us, so we’ve been celebrating our victory instead.”

“But then where is the crown now?” Holt asked.

“At Shaw’s, where my inauguration as ‘amazing detective/genius’ will be held,” Amy answered.

“Man, Ames, I love you. I’m impressed,” Jake said. It took him a moment to realize what he’d said.

“You—you do?” Amy asked, looking at him with wide eyes.

“What?” Jake asked, still not fully understanding what just happened.

Charles was squealing like a little girl in the background. “Jake just told Amy he loved her!”

“Oh, yeah, I guess I did,” Jake said with an awkward laugh.

“Did you mean it?” Amy asked.

“I—yeah, I did,” Jake admitted.

It wasn’t his intention to tell her how he felt in front of the entire precinct as well as his wizard friends, but it was too late now. Amy’s face broke into a sweet smile and it looked like she was trying not to cry. “Aw, I love you too, Jake.”

He walked over and kissed her as everyone whooped and cheered. When he broke apart, she looked him squarely in the eyes. “Don’t think for a second I’m giving you that crown,” she said fiercely.

Everyone laughed. “I wouldn’t dream of it. You won, fair and square. Could you carry me down to the first floor, though? I don’t think my legs can walk back down thirty one flights of stairs.”

Amy, Charlotte and Lucy all laughed. “What’s so funny?” Ron asked.

“I forgot to tell you. The elevator isn’t broken! We just put a sign up to make you take the stairs. We knew it’d buy us enough time until midnight,” Amy said with a triumphant smile on her face.

“My girlfriend’s evil and I love it,” Jake said.

“Can we get to Shaw’s now?” Rosa asked, trying to push things along.

“To Shaw’s!” Jake agreed, as they all made their way to the elevator.

~o~

“All hail the crown of destiny!” Jake said as he placed the crown on Amy’s head. “And she who wears it. Amy Santiago, the—”

“Queen!” Amy interjected.

“—Queen of the 99,” Jake finished.

“And?” Amy asked, waiting patiently.

Holt and Jake both inhaled before saying, “Amy Santiago is an amazing detective/genius.”

Everyone clapped and enjoyed their drinks. Ron leaned over to Hermione and said, “So, how much trouble are we in for lying?”

“I think we can let it slide, considering we won,” Hermione said as she nodded to Ginny.

“Er, Lucy, where are the kids?” Harry asked.

“Bill and Fleur have them,” Ginny said, “And George and Angelina took Rose and Hugo.”

Harry and Ron nodded as Ron changed the subject, satisfied the kids were in good hands. Not that he’d have anything to worry about with his family on standby. “Nice of them to include us in this, yeah?”

“Yes, it’s nice to see them again. Though, we shouldn’t make this regular. We’re already pushing it with how much they know,” Hermione chided.

“You’re probably right. It’s a shame Dumbledore can’t join us,” Harry said.

“Oh, yeah, have Holt walk right in with his portrait. Wouldn’t that be a sight!” Ron sniggered.

“I already messaged Kingsley, telling him we knew about his involvement, and he’s free to pick the portrait up,” Harry said.

“I can’t believe McGonagall even agreed to it!” Ginny added.

The conversation shifted as members from the squad came over and joined them. It was a happy reunion of the two teams, even knowing they couldn’t make a habit of it. The trio resolved to enjoy the night before returning back to England in the morning as they sipped on their drinks. Jake was filling Ginny in on the things Harry neglected to tell her about their time in New York City a few months back, including the infamous precinct chant. As if on cue, Ginny got to witness the chant firsthand.

Terry held up his glass and yelled, “NINE-NINE!”

“NINE-NINE!”

#hp fanfic #harry potter/brooklyn 99 crossover #hp/b99 crossover #brooklyn 99 #it is done!#No seriously auror 99 is officially finished

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holyhikari · 4 years

Text

Okay. Okay. It’s 2020, most of the world is shut down and the first episode of Digimon Adventure aired yesterday, missing a ‘Butter-Fly’ and with a colon to spare. Life sure is something.

Gotta say I’m relieved. (For now, at least.) Sure, yeah, I got into the hype train for the reboot from the get-go and determined to just have fun, but. If I can picture all the ways something can go wrong — go BORING — down to excruciating details right from the first episode, why not? That’s what brains are for. So that’s what I did.

Should have saved all that energy.

I want to share with all of you my thoughts on this episode, break it down a little bit; how it made me feel, the few character introductions we got, the pace, the plot and its possibilities.

As much as I want to approach this series keeping the idea of authenticity in mind, it is a reboot. They chose a certain set of (popular!) pre-existent characters to explore, to work with; a balance between creating and adapting. And I’m very interested in seeing how they’ll combine the core elements of Digimon Adventure with all there is unique to this generation of kids, teens and, you know it, adults who stuck around.

Since all we’ve got is the introduction to the series, I’ll be contrasting TOKYO DIGITAL CRISIS to how the original Adventure kicked off back in 1999 with ADRIFT? THE ISLAND OF ADVENTURE!

I did try to keep this as coherent and review-like as possible, but there’s a fair amount of fan-girling and it’s all seen through my very biased Adventure-stan-colored lens. Don’t say I didn’t warn ya.

‘99 starts with an image of our planet, and ‘20 starts almost the same. This time, though, we can see we aren’t alone. ‘The Digital World affecting the Earth’ is something that happens, I believe, in every Digimon reincarnation. In ‘99, it’s deeply affecting our climate. Now, the issue doesn’t seem so drastic that it’s able to reach influence organic matter and mess up many Nature’s cycles across the globe, but it’s still not looking so good for our kids. (It’s the first episode and Hikari and Yuuko almost get train-sandwiched, but I suppose that almost having your head chopped off, courtesy of Kuwagamon, isn’t lovely either.)

Anyway.

I think this Digital World/Network shot isn’t actually part of the episode? I think it’s part of the opening (I mean, not the OP sequence with the song, obviously), and that we’ll be seeing it before each episode starts. Still, it’s an interesting juxtaposition, isn’t it?

A Glorious World is upon us! I wasn’t actually expecting Butter-Fly or anything similar to it, don’t worry. I’m glad the new OP is its own thing! I want Digimon Adventure ‘20 to be as authentic as possible without losing the original’s heart. The song is nice enough. I don’t want to compare it to Butter-Fly, but I’m only human. Give me a few episodes. Gotta let go.

The OP has way more Taichi than the others. No surprise there. He’s our goggle boy. (Still, since they went for a quick throwback to the original opening, it’s a shame only Taichi was shown falling down towards the Digital World).

Everyone got a part, though. Shout out to Takeru and Hikari for being yet again the ominous, powerful baby-faced duo that is definitely up to something.

It’s so interesting that, while the other crests are shown very clearly and surrounded by sparkles, Light and Hope are only shown briefly shining in their partners’ shadows. Why is Takeru so far away from us, why is this so sinister-looking. Hi, mysterious plot. Nice to meet you.

Wherever Hikari is by the end of the OP, it reminds me of Vamdemon’s castle. Maybe she feels connected to Tailmon and follows her somehow? Angemon wasn’t shown in the OP with the older six children’s partners, just Patamon. I wonder if they’ll try to make us grieve for Angemon a second time. It’d work with me. Either way, I imagine we’re in for another last-minute Patamon evolution when everything looks hopeless.

This time, though, we’ve got Hikari from the beginning (yes, I am VERY excited about this, thank you for asking, THIS IS WHAT I DESERVE), and, while I think Patamon is more powerful in regular conditions (as in, Angemon can probably take Angewomon in a fight despite the level imbalance, but as soon as Hikari starts glowing you know who’s winning), he will now be sharing the spotlight with another Archangel evolution… as his friend or as his foe, considering that Tailmon might be a double agent of some sorts in the beginning. Welp.

Anyway. Toei isn’t fooling around, in the OP we can see MetalGreymon in a very scary-looking, glitchy fashion that I’m LIVING for, WarGreymon’s silhouette and, good grief, there’s even a glimpse of Omegamon. Talk about too much information. Maybe chill out a little? (I say this, but the adults already know all of their evos, and the kids just want MOOOOOOORE monstahhhhhrrrrrrsss….which is fair.)

MetalGreymon looks dope here. The others, though, are only shown up to their Adult evolution, even Gabumon. I don’t think they will have only Gabumon and Agumon reaching their Mega forms, and then fusing into Omegamon while everyone else only gets as far as Perfect. Again.

They wouldn’t do this to us. Right? Yeah, they would. Maybe we can have Holydramon/Ophanimon and Seraphimon later on, as a treat. Aaaaaand, depending on how many episodes — how many seasons — this new timeline gets, I’m not giving up hope just yet. Let me have Phoenixmon, Toei, you heartless thing.

Moving on to the actual episode… The first non-Digimon character to show up is the true protagonist. Our queen is back. Our little Digivice thief, Miko herself.

Just you wait, you ain’t gonna be Hikari’s favorite cat-like creature for long.

Speaking of Hikari, LOOK AT THIS WITTLE BABY GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2020 Taichi right off the bat was Taichi for me. He’s talking to Yuuko and yells “Hikariii~” so loudly Hikari hears it from where she stands, the short cutie. Their mom just hands down the phone for her without missing a beat so Taichi can comfort her through whatever she’s worrying about (her summer classes, probably). Such a sweet, natural little moment that flashes both characters out. I want more of that, please.

We’re then introduced to Koushiro! I’m not gonna lie, I cringed the first time I heard him speak. I thought the voice didn’t fit him very well. This impression faded quickly enough, though, and I’m already attached to his new voice. Later, I realized that part of the reason he sounded off to me was because of how nervous he seemed — around Taichi, of all people! In this version, they’re just meeting for the first time, so it’s very in-character for him. Guess I was kinda shocked seeing Koushiro not feeling at ease talking to Taichi. Poor thing is Anxious! And he’s overthinking about Summer Camp! And he’s happy Taichi is his neighbor! That certainly would’ve helped during the Vandemon arc back in ‘99.

Koushiro gets a little bit over his awkwardness upon hearing the news regarding the cyber attack, something he’s curious about, and finally steps towards Taichi instead of away, which is spot on. These two fall into an easy camaraderie, as they SHOULD, and they head to the train station together, where Taichi decides to, I don’t know… run like crazy on the tracks until he gets to the rogue train where his family is and stop it with sheer force of will? Yeah! Sounds like him!

And now to one of the most interesting parts of this adaption, is that they’re showing us the Crests early on and HOW they’re doing it.

Taichi is able to meet Koromon because he’s being brave.

I mean, the first time, he was chosen because of his courage, too, but they all go in together. They’re taken. They’re washed off the Earth. And while Taichi had no idea he was going to be pulled into the Net, he chose to try to save Hikari and his mom (and, a few moments later, he chose to dive in towards Koromon). This time, it feels so much more personal. The screen switched back and forth between the Crest of Courage, Taichi and Hikari, who I believed called his name. The scene worked so well! (Following this pattern, Koushiro gets his Digivice when expressing curiosity, the will to pursue an explanation for what was happening!!!!)

On the other hand, it’s sort of bittersweet they weren’t pulled in together. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad they didn’t try to introduce all of them AND the Digital World at the same time again. But… ‘99 established them as a ‘team’ within seconds. It’s interesting, though. I’m VERY curious to see how their bonding will go this time around!

Taichi and Koromon meeting was beautiful. I was worried the soundtrack wouldn’t even stand a chance against the masterpiece that is the original one, but the musing playing was so delicate, so majestic. I felt I was witnessing a precious moment. Also, Koromon’s ears twisting into how we represent the DNA while he was evolving was!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!SUCH A GOOD DETAIL!!!!!!

It cracked me up when Koushiro said that what was happening was very surprising while not sounding surprised at all. I wonder how long the kid has been looking into the cyber attacks. Oh, and the Network is pretty. Prettier than I had anticipated, though not that different from Appmon’s style, I think? I can’t wait to get a look at the actual Digital World and see if it has that unique feeling and that odd, watercolor painting aesthetic. I hope I can trust the OP:

Did you notice that Agumon giggled a few times? He looked at Taichi with such love, familiarity and devotion and like he knew something. It felt… right. My heart. My poor, poor heart. (I know this Agumon probably has met Taichi before inside of this very Universe, like the Hikarigaoka incident in the original version, but I like to think about Universe-hopping platonic soulmates.)

Overall the sound work was fantastic, but this scene deserves a highlight. The noise of the Kuramon lookalike moving after evolving was genuinely disturbing. And look at how pretty this is:

Speaking of evolution, AGUMON EVOLVING INTO GREYMON WAS THE SHIT. I loved how straight-up FERAL it was, while still keeping the “Digital” part of “Digital Monster” very much present. It reminded me a bit of Hosoda’s Greymon (most amazing Greymon to this day!) in the Digimon Adventure Movie and, now that I think of it, of him fighting in some Tri. Reunion scenes. Scary Greymon is the best Greymon. Yes. I like it when the Digimon manage to disturb and scare me, okay? They aren’t called monsters for nothing.

I mean we got to see his horn literally bursting out of his skin. This is low-key terrifying. 10/10.

BUT WHERE IS THE EVOLUTION THEME SONG

I am: deceased. Cause of death: Hikari’s soft smile when she realizes her big brother managed to help them.

Alternatively, this first pic had killed me on the spot.

FINALLY, we get to see Yamato, and of course, he’s staring down dramatically at Taichi on top of Garurumon like the intense person he is. And, no big deal, there’s a cyber attack in a U.S military base and, uh, apparently the next episode is the 2020 version of Bokura no War Game?!

I— WHAT?!

No pressure, am I right? I don’t know about you, but I’d rather be falling off a good ol’ cliff with my camping buddies.

To be honest, if they intended to end it like this, it felt like this should’ve been a special episode. Maybe one-hour-long or so? Why……….HOW……….. They wanna go from the pilot straight to a Bokura no War game tribute?! The very movie that introduced Omegamon. I swear, if Omegamon’s debut is the SECOND episode, I’m gonna break. How is this gonna work. Well, at least they have us… intrigued?

The ED is so Yamato-focused it’s almost weird that his voice actor isn’t the one singing lmao. That amount of Yamatoness got me by surprise. Some of the pics look like a PowerPoint presentation of CD cover ideas for his yet-to-exist (or not) band… and I say this lovingly, okay? I love him so much.

This is my favorite one!

I lost count of how many times I listened to this song!! It also got me hooked up. What’s up with Takeru and how the writers took the whole Angel aesthetic to a whole new level?! Is he sick? Is he dying? Is this why Yamato is so sad and lonely throughout the ED?????? EVERYONE GO BEFRIEND HIM. I heard he’s a good friend.

Be right back, I’m gonna tattoo this pic to my face.

Bonus commentary!

I bet I wasn’t the only one looking for random cameos whenever they showed us crowds. Didn’t find anyone we know, but I’m sure this will change. 02 characters cameos, I’m ready for you.

Soooooooooo the Tachikawa own a tech company this time?? For all we know they own Japan. That’s scarier than the Diablomon-like virus giving Trump a headache. If so, Mimi is gonna be way more spoiled than before. Oh, dear.

I HOPE WE SEE MORE OF THESE PIXEL BABIES! That was a perfect Easter egg.

If none of these icons at the bottom is the Digimon Analyzer, then what’s the point of my entire existence?

I can’t wait for next Saturday! Even if solely to yell “WHY??????” at my screen.

I can’t thank you enough if you read this far!

#digimon #digimon adventure psi #psi spoilers #bea with the tea #I SPENT THE WHOLE DAY WRITING THIS AND........ IT'S NOT EVEN GOOD.......... OK #long post

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flyingblackhawk · 5 years

Text

small observations from watching Endgame again

in chronological order:

Clint calls Lila Hawkeye (super cute)

Did Tony think he was seeing God? That’s what I thought too when I saw Brie Larson for the first time

did Scott drag a hand cart of his belongings around SF and then just... leave it at the memorial? Did he go back for it??

Tony and Pepper have a little herb garden

Hulk is wearing a cardigan. Where did he get a huge cardigan? Did someone make that for him?

Tony has a framed photo of Howard sitting over the sink with Peter’s photo

Nat’s “everything is fine” smile during the time travel test was so fuckn funny

Tony backing up the Audi and winding down the window instead of just getting out because he is a Certified Brat

At some point during the last five years, Tony has repaired the scratch marks T’Challa put on the shield and presumably re-painted it (then put it in his garage bc he’s cute but he’s still a Brat)

Hulk and Rocket in the back of a pickup set to The Kinks made me want a whole buddies-road-trip montage with the two of them travelling to Norway to fetch Thor

Comic!Clint speaks Italian and ASL so at what point during the murder rampage did Clint learn Japanese? Did he take little Duolingo breaks between stabbing people?

the monitors confirm that they are canonically called ‘timesuits’ and that’s really funny to me

Tony and Nat lying on the table while Bruce lies on the ground and they all brainstorm is the Softest Science Scene Ever (Natasha is a Science Bro now)

Natasha’s last words to Steve are “see you in a minute”

The Ancient One also has a little herb garden. Does everyone have a herb garden? Can now confirm Pepper Potts and Tony Stark have a better herb garden than the immortal Sorcerer Supreme

Natasha’s last words to Rhodey are “Take care, okay?”

“You can all stand around posing up a storm later” - 2012 Tony, like he wasn’t just gleefully taking part in said posing (BRAT)

Clint pours two drinks and only two drinks despite there being plenty of glasses for everyone (rude. cute.)

IDK how I thought they got Loki out of the tower but the scene of the team walking him through the lobby made me hiccup with laughter

Thor breaking down and saying “I’m totally from the future” = also hiccup laughter but with a tinge of wanting to hug Thor until he’s okay

Scott saying “What, are you bored of the time heist? You RUINED the time heist” was an absolutely 10/10 delivery from Paul Rudd

“Thanks for the pep talk, pissant” iconic

Jarvis’s sideburns and floppy hair are helpful only to anyone who still wasn’t sure exactly what year they were in

Did Red Skull just... float there while Clint paced and yelled stuff at him? Absurdly funny to me. Don’t wanna talk about the rest of the scene.

The facility has a little lake pontoon. I know they’re using it for Grieving Purposes right now, but I have to know if the team goes swimming off it. What else could it be for aside from Grief and Swimming???

“You’re a very earthly being, and we’re talking about space magic” amazing

Nebula’s USB fingers are cool and I wouldn’t even be mad if my dad did that to me

Rhodey saves Rocket without the use of his legs he is a fucking BEAST and I LOVE him

Clint Barton saying “ow” after a building falls on him is the most Hawkeye thing ever

Tony kicks Steve awake and says “that’s my man” you’re welcome Stony shippers

Nice of the magic lightning to do a cute lil braid in Thor’s beard

Thor uses Stormbreaker to bat Mjolnir at Thanos like it’s a baseball

Steve (!) also plays a hammer/shield version of baseball

Pepper looks so pissed at Tony wow that is an ‘I can’t believe you have set ANOTHER one of our properties on fire’ face

Wong’s “what, you wanted more?” had me cackling

Nebula had obviously already told past Gamora about Quill, and yet past Gamora chose to knee him in the nads anyway. Nice, past Gamora.

“Nice to meet yoOH MY GOD” Peter, precious baby

Tony sitting backwards on the chair in the recording is so reminiscent of Steve’s detention PSA I’m 99% sure he did it on purpose just to make one more joke at Steve’s expense

I’m not sure but I think I saw Lila wearing a spider pin at the funeral

Valkyrie’s wearing a puffer vest and I’m in lesbians with her

“There shall be no knifing each other, everyone knows who’s in charge” thank you so much, whoever is responsible for that line

Bucky clearly knew the plan, and has already said goodbye to Steve

Peggy’s front door is open, meaning he walked in and surprised her, and they started dancing soon enough afterwards that neither of them remembered to close the door

In conclusion, help me

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trash-and-recyle-fics · 5 years

Text

Feisty 2

Warnings: Violence? Swearing grammar punctuation and spelling mistakes

Summary: so uh here’s the thing I suck at summary’s so just read

Enjoy

———————————————————————

You have been living with the Winchester’s for about a month now...

The asshat actually made you go to school. You signed up at the office with Sam and started in a week. One week to make it so you didn’t have to go. As soon as you got back to the bunker you went to the bathroom and grabbed the hunters first aid hit. It had salt a lighter dental floss, cotton balls, guaze, rubbing alcohol and a pack of sewing needles. You grabbed it and went to your room. It was simple just a bed with green sheets, obviously cement walls and a black rug on the floor. You went to your wall where a mirror hung. You sterilized the needle with the lighter and counted to three. You shoved the needle through your septum and before you pushed it all the way through you went to your dresser that was up against the far wall and grabbed the nose jewelry you stole the last time you went on a run with Sam. Putting the pericing in was as painful as 99 paper cuts. You cleaned it with a cotton ball and rubbing alcohol. Putting everything away you got out you grabbed your makeup- that you also swiped when Dean took you to the closet mall for clothes shopping. You drew on eyeliner and put on mascara. You did one final look in the mirror and went to talk the the boys.

“Hey Y/N I was wondering- WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!?” Dean pointed to your face and screamed like a 12 year old girl who saw a spider.

“Its makeup dipshit.” Sam cam up behind you holding a plate of food. Most likely for Dean consider the guy can barely take care of himself. As you turned to look at him Dean started talking again.

“Sammy! Tell her no! She isn’t aloud to where that shit and she punched a fucking hole in her nose!! Tell her to take it out!” Sam looked mildly horrified as he set the plate on the library table.

“Y/N.. why did you perice your nose?”

“I wanted to.” You shrugged and started to walk to the map room. Dean moves around you so he blocked your way.

“Too young- you are too young!” He shouted. Now you had a full on shit eating grin.

“I’m 16 smartass.” You remarked.

“Okay okay! Calm down, Dean she is just expressing herself through makeup. It not a huge deal.” Sam spoke.

“She.Has.A.Hole.In.Her.Face!!!”

“Awe Dean just listen to Sammy. It’s not a big deal.” You walked back to your room and sat there with a giant grin of your face. Step one is done.

A couple days later with only five more days to go to school you decided to take the next step. At night you researched cases and beasts you thought to be mystical. You had learned enough to know that a couple states over there was a werewolf case. All victims found with hearts gone. So the next morning you put your plan in action.

“Dean.... I’m boredddd.” You said while sitting at the map table as he researched a monster that was causing people to die prematurely.

“Not my problem Y/N.” He said not even looking up from the lore book.

“Hey Sam did you know there is a werewolf case about a days drive away.” He almost choked on his coffee.

“How do you know what a werewolf case looks like?” Dean eyes were glowing with anger.

“There are tons of books and files on them here. I wanna go kill it. Will you take me?” You said not even offering a glance at Dean.

“No. You will it go on hunts. The most you will ever do is read about them. Are we clear?” Dean said looking you strait in the eyes.

“Oh come on-“

“He’s right Y/N. You won’t go on a hunt. Ever. As long as we are here you will not.” Sam stood and left the room.

Dean wasn’t looking at you anymore he was looking through you with a sad expression on his face.

“I’m still bored.” He again looked at you and had a ghost of a smile.

Part three was the hardest and probably the one that would work though. You had been talking to another hunters son. Sam has gone on a hunt and needed information about the thing. The boy called to get the information from Dean but you picked up instead. Now you guys have been texting.

You sat in the kitchen with a sandwich in front of you. Your phone facing up and getting texts from Joel. The case had ended about a day ago and Sam was home. Joel was sweet but just wasn’t your type. As Sam walked in he sat down across from you with a beer.

“Hey so Y/N Dean and I were talking and-*ding*.” Your phone went off. Then again and again. Finally Sam took it and looked at the texts.

“What the hell Y/N.” Sam set your phone down and rubbed his forehead.

“What?” You took your phone and put it in your pocket.

“Dean is going to have a heart attack.”

“Just don’t tell him.”

“Actually I came In here to talk to you about something.. Dean and I have talked about you meeting some uh people.” Confused you took a defensive stance.

“And what does that mean Samuel?”

“We have some friends that are away right now, in fact they are also helping Dean.. they are going to come here in about an hour..” deciding to take it a step further you reasponded.

“Is one cute? Or maybe hot? Like what do they look like. How big are his hands? You know what they say Sammy big hands- big feet big-“

“DONT FINISH THAT.”

He got up with his beer and left. So Dean would be home in an hour or so with the guets and you needed to up the anti. In your room you put on the shortest pair of short you had, a tight shirt with a flannel unbottend and just put on your same old shoes.

You applied heavy eyeliner and mascara and put on your worst attitude. Now this would surly delay school for at least a couple more days.

As Dean came in through the heavy door you waited in the libary with the very phone the boys gave you while texting Joel. He was getting flirty and you grew impatient. Sam and Dean called you into the map room and you gladly got up to go. You texted Joel back and put the phone in your pocket. You pulled up your shorts a bit and went to great the guets. There was a guy wearing a trench coat and another wearing jeans and a green jacket. As you sat in a chair of the map room you put your feet up on the table.

“What the hell are you wearing?!”

“Oh you know a flannel.”

“No not that those.” He pointed to your shorts and the two men also looked confused.

“What do you mean?” The sickingly sweet voice almost drove yourself crazy.

“THATS IT!” Dean hit the table and you flinched. Sam saw but was to concerned about the high tension in the room.

“YOU WALK AROUND HERE LIKE THE WORLD OWES YOU SOMETHING! YOU THINK THAT GIVING YOU A PLACE TO STAY AND FOOD WAS ENOUGH BUT APPARENTLY NOT! SO TELL ME Y/N WHAT ELS DO YOU WANT?!” Shock ran hot through your body. So you did what you do best and hide it with attitude.

“Stop trying to be my dad I have a dad!!” You stood as you yelled.

“Oh yeah because he cared so much about you! He used you as a punching bag! He didn’t love you Y/N!” You stepped back. The words sinking in and sadness taking over. The room got so quite, but the air was as thick as a war zone. You made yourself look at Dean through you tears and quite crying.

“I don’t need you. I could leave and just go. Maybe go back home. They wanted me at least.” You turn to pack your shit but again he had to open his trap.

“They didn’t need you Y/N the used you.” You turned on your heel and ran to him smaking him across the face. You made a fist and hit him in the chest. He backed away but you continued your outburst. You hit shoved and smacked him. Finally Sam grabbed you from behind and lifted you away from Dean.

“DON’T YOU DARE TELL ME THEY DIDN’T WANT ME!” You struggled against Sam and yearned to knock the daylights out of the elder Winchester.

“CAS!” Sam’s voice echoed. You paid him no mind though. You were full on crying and scratching at his arms so you could get back to Dean. Cas walked in front of your veiw and raised to fingers. Then all went black.

TIME SKIP

You woke up in your bed your shoes were off and you were covered with a blanket. You rolled over and started to cry. You cluched your stomach and started to rock. Grabbing the blanket and put it to your face. Covering your mouth and nose to try and silence the sobbing. You layed back down and continued rocking and crying.

*In the kitchen*

“I don’t know Dean but maybe you should try and talk to her.”

“No. She obviously doesn’t want to talk.” His face was bruising already and had cut on his lip. Sam has bled a bit from you scratching at his arms.

“Dean-“

“What Cas?”

“She is awake.” The brothers looked at each other. Sam stood and followed Dean down the hall.

*in your room*

You heard the echo of the footsteps and you covered your head with the blanket. Your door opened and you tried to dry your eyes.

“Hey Y/N?” Sam spoke

“Get out.” You voice sounded weak and you hated it.

“No you can’t do that! Not again just -damn it- talk to us!” Dean pulled your blanket off of you and you curled into a ball.

“What do you want? Why can’t you just leave me? Why didn’t you just take me to a bus station?” Again the tears started and Sam sat down on your bed. He put his hand on your arm. You cried harder.

“Why Y/N why are you acting like this?” You sat up and wiped your face.

“The last time I went to school was when I snuck out of my house to go. When my father found out he dragged me home and beat me til I passed out. When I woke up he told me he loved me and that I needed to follow his rules. I was in 7th grade. 7th grade! So yeah I have been acting up! But I can’t go to high school I don’t know shit!” Dam sat down on your bed while Dean chose to stand. Sam put his hand on your arm.

“Look Y/N enough is enough. No more acting out like this. For now until we find another way to get you an education you don’t have to go to public school.” You nodded unable to show much more emotion.

“Sorry. I’m sorry.” Dam nodded but Dean let out a laugh.

“Oh Y/N if you think a little attitude would drive us off you are wrong. More wrong than sauce on a steak.” Sam laughed at the comment and you let a grin show.

After about 30 min you left your room to shower. You grabbed your towel but completely forgetting clothes. It was too late once you realized this. You were already done with showering and had the towel wrapped tight around your body. The bunker was big there was hardly a chance you would run into someone. Wrong. About halfway to your room you ran smack into the guy from earlier. His hair blonde and eyes brilliant.

“I uh I’m sorry I didn’t see you!” He apologized profusely.

“I’m Y/N.” You put on a fake confident smile.

“I uh I’m Jack.” This time you have him a genuine smile. You walked around him still clutching your towel. As you arrived in your room butterflies became prominent. He was flat out delicious.

Part 3???

Jack x reader???

FEEDBACK IS THE BEST FORM OF EXPRESSION!!!!

#fanfic #fanfiction #supernatural #let me know #series #dean winchester #sam x reader #sam winchester #dean x reader #jack x reader #writing #reader insert #fiesty #fiesty part 2 #sam x sister reader #dean x sister!reader #sam x sister!reader #dean x sister reader

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spurofthemomenttt · 3 years

Text

DAY 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102 (June 7-13, 2021)

IDENTITY - WHO DEFINE US

We are not defined by who others think or say we are. We are not even who we have worked so hard to be or believe we are. Honors, corporate ladders, and titles are all man-made distinctions—and distractions. God is not more pleased with gold tassels than with those who care for the poor or feed the hungry. In Matthew 20, Jesus told the parable of the workers in the vineyard. He described the kingdom of heaven as being like a landowner who went out to hire workers for his vineyard. Although the workers were hired at different times throughout the day, they were all paid the same. Why? Because they each had agreed to work for that amount. The landowner was completely fair to each person, challenging the grumbling workers by asking them if they were envious that he was being generous.

Jesus stated in verse 16, “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.” We American Christians have trouble accepting this as the standard for us too. Surely this can’t be right. We can’t possibly all receive the same grace from God, can we? Doesn’t it matter who we are in this world? Don’t we have to be somebody? The truth is that we are who God says we are, and God says a lot about us. Look at a few verses from the book of Ephesians:

Ephesians 1:4 says God chose us.

Ephesians 1:7 tells us we are forgiven.

Ephesians 2:10 states we are His workmanship (not our own).

Let’s not stop here. We learn in 1 Corinthians 6:19 that we are God’s temple, in John 1:12 that we are God’s children, and in John 15:15 that we are friends of Jesus. Oh, sisters, the Bible tells us a lot about who we are as believers in Christ. We cannot allow the world or even well-meaning friends and family to wrongly define and label us. When you start to hear that lying voice in your head saying you are not good enough, pretty enough, rich enough, or that you are not smart enough, that you deserved that horrible thing that happened to you, stop right there and tell yourself (yell it out loud if you have to):

“No, I am not stupid. I am God’s workmanship!”

“No, I am not unloved or unwanted. I am a friend of Jesus!”

“No, I do not deserve to be abused. I am a temple of God!”

Sometimes the lying voice you hear is your own, and Christ wants to be heard above it. My aunt Lib reminded me of this years ago. When I was in the throes of my doctoral program, Aunt Lib, in the midst of the evermore laborious journey of cancer treatment, called to tell me how proud she was of me. But instead of talking so much about her pride in my educational accomplishments, she shared how she was most proud of me for accepting Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord and for seeking to follow Him. You see, accomplishments (while they should be celebrated) are not what make us good enough. What makes us enough is that we are transformed by the mercies of Christ Jesus.

#son of god #god's children #blessed #positivity #positivepsychology #contented

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kyulkyungs · 7 years

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Teacher, Bye Bye!

Character(s): Boo Seungkwan, Vernon (Chwe Vernon Hansol), Dino (Lee Chan)

Genre: Fluffy goodness!!! The final part of the Kindergarten!AU (excluding possible requests).

Word Count: 1,734

Summary: The year has been something special, and it’s time to say goodbye to this year’s kinder class! It looks like the boys want to spend some more time with you before they leave!

A/N: Yikes! I thought the ending was a little bad. Typical of me since I don’t plan while writing, I normally do it all in one go lmao. Whatever comes to mind is what will be added in unless I decide it’s not fit. I’ve deleted 500+ words before because I didn’t like where the plot was going. Anywho, it’s done!! The kinder series I chose to write myself is done, but requests are always nice. Thanks for reading the series that really started this blog off!! :D

95 Line / 96 Line / 97 Line / 98 & 99 Line

The excitement and chatter among the kids in the classroom was continuous even after the many hours of playtime in the day. Now it was nearing late afternoon and almost time to go home, yet all of the energy remained. Especially with the bowls of candy, and fruit provided by you, sitting around the class.

“No running inside the classroom!” You scolded some children quickly passing by, they all slowed somewhat but were still moving faster than what was considered a walking pace. Shaking your head slightly, you allowed an amused smile to come off of your lips.

“Hey, do your ears even work? Slow down, you’re gonna bump into me and you’ll regret it!”

“Seungkwan,” you scolded once more, but lightly and still with a smile. “It’s not nice to threaten the other kids. Even if it’s the end of the year.”

“You’re right. I probably will never see them again because they’ll ditch all their current friends for new ones next year.”

“Seungkwan!”

“I’m guilty as charged.”

You laughed, making Seungkwan beam brightly and his chubby cheeks make room for all the teeth wanting to show. “Seungkwan, unless you went to preschool, I don’t think there’s much to talk about.”

The child raised his arms in mock defense and gave you a rather serious look, making you want to laugh some more. “Believe me, you know that one girl with snot on her nose three classrooms down? She used to be my best friend until she left me for the kid in the class next door. She’s a two timer, that’s what!”

“Seungkwan, you need to stop watching dramas while my mom is,” Hansol whispered into his friend’s ear. Seungkwan shrugged and looked back up at you.

“Don’t mind him, he’s shy.” You crouched down to properly speak with the boys.

“Believe me, Seungkwan. I would know. Had too much candy, Hansol?” The boy shook his head, dark locks flying around with each movement and landing in his face.

“My mom never lets me eat this much candy, so I’m trying to eat all the candy I want right now.”

“Don’t eat too much or you’ll get a stomach ache, okay?” Hansol nodded and scurried over to one of the many sugar filled bowls, dragging Seungkwan with him.

“Do we have anymore strawberries?” There was a bowl hitting the side of your legs, which had red fruit stains and a couple of little strawberry leaves in it. It was indeed empty and had greatly upset the child holding the bowl up.

“Chan,” you cooed, gently taking the bowl from him. “We have one more box of strawberries that I have to wash and cut up. Do you want me to do that?”

Chan nodded excitedly. “Yes please!”

“Do you want to help?” Another, perhaps even more enthusiastic, nod.

“Can I? Please?!” You nodded this time, but calmly with an added chuckle. Not to pick favorites, but Chan was one of the kids in the class that you’ve enjoyed teaching this year. Being the first born of his parents, they weren’t sure when to enroll him and ended up enrolling Chan a year early, making him the youngest in the class. If he continues like this, at least he can brag about graduating high school ‘a year early.’ For now, he was the kid that showed up to school wearing a dinosaur t-shirt every other day because he saw a show and instantly loved dinosaurs.

Luckily there was a sink inside your classroom, so you didn’t have to use the hose outside. The box of strawberries you mentioned before was sitting by your desk, just calling out to be opened. When Chan saw it, he excitedly ran over to it and grabbed it, running back to you with both of his hands tightly wrapped around the plastic box. You had already started running the sink to find an appropriate temperature for the water so Chan could put his hands in without feeling too hot or cold.

“Ready to wash?”

“I’ll make sure to wash these strawberries with love!” Chan exclaimed, opening the box and carefully taking each strawberry out. With a plastic knife, you began to cut the leafy part of the strawberry off and quarter each piece of fruit delicately placed down by Chan. When you finished at least ten, you noticed that Seungkwan had taken a seat right next to you and was simply smiling up at you while you were working.

“What are you doing Seungkwan?” You asked, continuing your work. He kept smiling up at you.

“Sitting next to you.”

“Is there a reason for that?”

“You’re my favorite teacher!”

“Seungkwan, I’m pretty sure I’m the only teacher you’ve had unless you went to preschool.”

“I said I was guilty as charged last time.”

For the nth time today, Seungkwan had made you laugh. “I still don’t know how you learn all of these phrases.” Said boy merely shrugged and was swinging his legs on the sink counter top, still smiley as ever. “What’s with that smile too?”

“You’re my favorite teacher!”

“Whatever you say,” you joked. Seungkwan pouted and shoved his head into your arm, making you accidentally drop the strawberry back into the sink.

“Careful! This is a delicate process and even a small mistake will lead to the worst case yet!”

“That being you crying?”

“Yes!” Chan yelled out before you could scold Seungkwan. You apologized to the youngest and picked the strawberry out of the sink, slowly like Chan had instructed you do. In no time, the bowl of strawberries was refilled and a happy Chan replaced the serious Chan from before.

“Are you going to eat all of these by yourself, Chan?” Seungkwan asked, hovering over the bowl to see the sea of red fruit. Chan looked into the bowl as well and then shyly looked away.

“I could... share them with you guys if you want them.” Seungkwan eagerly took a strawberry out of the bowl, saying a thanks and then calling his partner in crime over.

“Hansol! No more candy, your mom is gonna yell at you if you get a cavity!” Seungkwan shouted across the room, effectively catching the boy in the act of shoving candy into his pockets. He came waddling over with some candy packets falling out of his overflowing pockets.

“I wasn’t eating any, I was picking some out for later. I’m going to plant them in the garden and grow candy trees.” Hansol scooped the fallen pieces of candy and started to create a mini pouch with his shirt, piling the candies from his pockets in that pouch too.

“You look like a kangaroo, and your bellybutton is showing.”

“I don’t care. I need to protect these candy babies.”

“Do you want a strawberry or not?” Seungkwan asked, taking out another strawberry and holding it out for Hansol. The boy opened his mouth and instead of answering, kept it open for Seungkwan to feed him the strawberry. When he started chewing, a muffled ‘thank you’ came out.

“Do you want one?” Chan held a strawberry out for you to take. “I picked out the biggest one for you because you’re my favorite teacher too.”

“Thank you, Chan. I’ll make sure to savor this strawberry.”

“You better. I was planning on eating that one and I washed it the most carefully, so treasure it.”

“Oh, are you sure that you don’t want it?” The way Chan was looking longingly at the strawberry kind of made you feel bad. He even had a pout to go with it.

“This is my going away gift for you because I’m not going to be back next year.” Chan’s pout got even bigger and he looked up at you, curling your fingers over the strawberry in a similar manner to the type in movies. “So treasure it, okay?” With that, Chan took the entire bowl of strawberries and ran off to another corner of the room where he could eat them all by himself.

“I have a going away gift too,” Hansol murmured, kicking the ground slightly and shuffling towards you. “I saw some rappers on TV, and tried to write a rap for you.”

You smiled brightly, making Hansol smile as well but aim his smile at the ground instead, too shy to meet your eyes. “Well let’s hear it, Hansol.”

“I wanna do it when there’s nobody listening. It’s special and only for you.” Agreeing with Hansol and finding that perfectly fine, you casted an amused glance at the little candy pouch he was still making with his shirt.

“Do you want a bag for that?”

“I can’t hide a bag when my mom comes to get me, she’ll know and my candy garden will never happen,” Hansol pouted. The kids and their pouts these days... were they deliberately trying to melt you? “So can you keep this a secret with me?”

You laughed, finding the sack of candy right on Hansol’s belly a little obvious anyways, but agreed to keep it a secret. “Then do you want to sit next to me until you think the coast is clear for you to start rapping?” Hansol nodded and took the seat next to you on the sink’s counter. Like Seungkwan, he began swinging his legs. “Where did Seungkwan go by the way?”

“Right here!” Seungkwan called, holding a bundle of fallen leaves from the trees outside. “I wanted to find flowers, but there weren’t any pretty enough for you. Leaves can be pretty too though! They can be a part of flowers or something much bigger. They give you shade and make good umbrellas for the rain too!”

“You can get leaves pressed too, to reserve them. My mom did that with a flower I gave her and it still looks colorful.” Hansol nudged one of the leaves in your little ‘bouquet.’

“That’s a great idea! Then you can remember me forever!” Seungkwan shouted.

“Can you get strawberries pressed? I wanna keep one forever so I can eat it whenever I want,” Chan said, reappearing with an almost empty bowl.

“I want to rap now! Everyone leave!” Hansol shouted, performing a crab stance and warding off the two other boys.

Seungkwan used his arms to block his body from Hansol’s crab pincers. “To be clear, this isn’t what happened in the drama yesterday!”

#elli writes #fluff #kindergarten au #seungkwan #vernon #dino #98 line #99 line #neutral pronouns #seventeen #seventeen scenarios #seventeen imagines #svt scenarios #svt imagines

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togetherinspirit7 · 7 years

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[FAN ACCOUNT] 170304 INFINITE Fan Gathering III

******* WARNING: Super long post ahead! Like super duper extra long post this time! We apologize ahead of time!

Hi everyone! We know it’s been such a long time since we’ve posted anything besides asks, so we first want to thank you all for your patience and understanding! We’re not too sure why, but life has been kicking both of our butts simultaneously for quite some time now. Also, sorry it’s taken so long for me to do this. I’ve been hit hard with post-concert depression and I’m still quite busy. I also needed some time to collect all of the memories that have been slowly coming back to me. Good news is that our boys had a fan meet and I (dayounggie) was lucky enough to nab a ticket for the Saturday one. Unfortunately, since I work late hours, I was unable to even attempt to get tix for the Friday meeting, but luckily and LOTS of stress later, I managed to get a ticket for Saturday. I was really bummed out to miss out on L-soonie and the ladder game to pick the next member for the v app show, but the Saturday rally had its own perks!

My Saturday started at 5am when I woke up to wait in line for goods... by myself. I really wished that ohmangotango was here to wait out in the cold with me, but I guess I don’t really wish that upon anyone. Either way, I thought I went there thoroughly prepared with all the essentials but I was still freezing my butt off. Finally, it was time to get goods... but of course, life just likes to dump on me and the one item that I really wanted and braved hours of cold for sold out... literally by the person in front of me. I was going to cry. But at least I knew the boys and their love would be worth it. I was only worried about other fans in standing. Oh yes, I forgot to mention, the only ticket I could find was in Standing C. I was quite worried about having to stand and deal with the inevitable pushing in standing... esp since it’s a fanmeet and there would be lots of movement.

So after a well deserved nap at home, I went back out to the venue. When we finally got in, the screen played mvs as always but also told us to send in a selca for a surprise. It’s not really a surprise cause they did it at the last rally too. But if you send in a selca, during the last song, they choose a few to go up on the screens in the bg. Fast forward to the end, they didn’t choose my pic ㅠㅠ Even though I didn’t have the best number, I got a really good place by standing behind this guard who was letting people in. So, I was along the back rail where it’s a little raised and I had something to lean on. In general, I had a fantastic time. My section was super chill and not stuffed-packed, so there wasn’t a need to push or sway. Everyone just kinda kept to themselves and were very nice and polite and talked to each other and stuff. The girls standing in front of me staggered so I could see between their heads and had a great view 99% of the time. I know I say this often, but Inspirit is the best. They really have no bad intentions. I think if there is any pushing, it’s cause there’s no room and you can’t help but sway with the crowd, or because they’re younger fans who are still a bit rude. Either way, it was the easiest standing experience I had, which was good cause it lasted 4 HOURS!! Ugh, gotta love our boys!

Finally, the fan meet started and the boys came out after a short vid recapping what they’ve been doing since the last fan meet 2 years ago. The boys came out and performed ‘Bad’ and Dongwoo performed the dance break but he didn’t do the normal dance. Instead, he went full energetic Dongwoo and started break dancing and doing all kinds of jump things off the floor and flipping all over the place lol. Excited Dongwoo is the best... but I guess he’s always excited. Then the boys went into their first ment. They introduced themselves but I don’t remember exactly what they said. I only remember Woohyun introducing himself as everyone’s heart. They also talked about Dongwoo’s dance break and he said he wanted to do something a little more special so that’s why he was all over the place. So they made him do it again. They asked for the music but Sunggyu insisted on doing it without the music so we could ‘properly take in’ his dance lol. He did it again and added a pelvic thrust while lying down as well. While they were talking about what they’ve been up to for the past 2 years, they got to Woohyun’s album and everyone started singing ‘Nod’. Hoya suddenly stopped us and told Dongwoo to do the dance break again while we sang ‘Nod’ lol. It was quite a strange sight but Dongwoo was a good sport lol. I remember Woohyun also mentioned that our singing got better and I felt so proud in that moment lol. They continued to talk about the past and talked about Minseok as well (for those who don’t know, Kim Minseok, the actor signed with Woollim/good friend to most of the members, was the MC). They talked a little about the jungle and Minseok was a really good MC. He was really involved in the ments and interacted with the crowd a lot, which made Woohyun really jealous, but we’ll get into that later.

Next they performed ‘Between Me & You’. Idk remember when, but they said the first half would be songs from the ‘Reality’ album and the second half would be songs from ‘INFINITE ONLY’ or something related to the promotions over the last 2 years. After that, they went into another ment. I think they were asked to pick a member for something but I couldn’t catch what it was for. Hearing the answers, I think it was for who’s the most different or who tries the hardest or something, and they chose Sungjong. They said it was because he always works hard on his gestures and wants to show a good side to the fans. Sungjong talked about how all the hyungs take pictures of him and upload it to their group chat but it makes him happy cause that just shows they care or something. So Sungyeol said that he’ll upload everything he’s taken of Sungjong on SNS lol. Then they talked about an episode that happened during the ‘Bad’ recording. The CEO wanted a true/false theme and that instead of the line ‘betting on you’, Sunggyu and Dongwoo recorded a bunch of different things like ‘true/false’, ‘truth or a lie’ and Dongwoo ended the recording by yelling ‘CEO nice~’ and they went into digression about how if the song concept was ‘CEO nice’ then they would’ve gotten #1 for like 30 weeks and it would’ve been popular at golf ranges and bowling alleys lol. Minseok talked about how the boys’ live perf is seriously the best and he hinted that as a music show host, he saw some groups who lip synced and stuff. Then somehow, we got Minseok to sing the chorus of ‘Typhoon’ and he was pretty good! He also mentioned that he really likes that song and throughout the fan meet he mentioned that he likes their music lol all the bromance love. Then V line started humble-bragging about how they all sound so good live as if they swallowed cds and that it sounds like the AR version. That led them to talk about how they sing with small variations so people know it’s not the AR version and one time at an end-of-the-year show, Woohyun exaggerated a note and his voice gave out and then the members teased him. He said the moral of the story was not to exaggerate. They also talked about a time it was early in the morning and Woohyun couldn’t hit a high note at rehearsal and it was embarrassing cause it was in front of other groups too lol. This led them to talk about their second world tour and how they would break up into different teams to go out and do things. They’d break into teams like Myungsoo, Sungyeol, Dongwoo together, Hoya, Sunggyu, Woohyun together and then there was a Sungjong team. Then they said that the Hoya, Sunggyu, Woohyun team went to a performance (I’m thinking this was when they went to see ‘Phantom of the Opera’ on Broadway in NYC) and they had 2 managers but the Sungjong team had 3 managers. They were pretty much teasing him for being high maintenance lol. He said that he doesn’t mind doing things with the members but since he sees them all the time, he just wanted to do his own thing. This also led them to talking in different languages. Woohyun said that Dongwoo was in charge of English and Dongwoo said he’s not that good but can say simple things like ‘What did you have for breakfast’ (or something similar). Then Woohyun, so very cutely, was like ‘Morning rice?’ lol it was adorbs. They said that Sungyeol specializes in Thai and Yeol busted some out and it was so cute. Gyu said something in Mandarin and Soo in Japanese. Jong was in charge of Korean and they said Hoya was in charge of Indonesian, and then Hoya mumbled nothingness into the mic lol. Dongwoo said something in English and Woohyun told him to ‘Sit down’ in English and when asked what he specialized in, Namu said he specialized in the fans lol. What a cutie pie. Then Minseok said something along the lines of I’ve finally grown accustomed to your cheesiness kinda thing lol. They even talked about airport fashion and I think they picked Jong as having the worst. They talked about a lot of other stuff too but I specifically remember Jong talking about how at one concert, I think a fan helped him remember it was in London, where he was standing where the the fireworks were supposed to come out but at the last minute, Yeol grabbed Jong and pulled him out of danger so he was really thankful for that. Ugh... my Yeol feels were on fire. Then they talked about how Sungjong was the hard carry for ‘Knowing Bros’ and they brought out a soccer ball. They talked about how it was so funny cause he wasn’t trying to be funny and was super serious about it. He really was trying to trap the ball with his chest but, in Woohyun’s words, kept getting hit in ‘weird places’ lol. So Woohyun said that Jong has been practicing or something and threw the ball for Jong again and Jong headed it again. That boy needs more practice I think. Then they talked about if they ever wanted to try their hand at a character or drama that another member was in. We all teased Yeol and Soo for some embarrassing moments. They moved onto talking about Gyu’s solo songs for a bit and the hard time Soo is having filming lately (because of the weather). At one point, Gyu asked Minseok to ask them a question he’s curious about. He said he had none because he knows everything lol. Then he asked the fans if they had anything and knelt down close to the edge of the stage to ask a fan. This is when I could literally see the lasers of jealousy shooting out of Woohyun’s eyes. He even said something like ‘Don’t look at our fans that way’ lol. They talked about who was looking forward to the fan meet the most. I think most chose themselves but Soo chose Woohyun and Dongwoo chose Jong. They also made Hoya do an acrostic poem for 무한대집회. It was pretty good as far as I remember but I don’t remember what he said exactly. It had something to do with not going home until the sun comes out. Then they wrapped up the ment and performed ‘Take Care of the Ending’.

After the song, the escape the room game vcr came up. The point was to win money by completing missions and the king gets to do something special at the fan meet. The first mission was getting 95 or higher on a karaoke machine within 20 minutes. They did ‘Come Back Again’ and didn’t get a high enough score so Sungjong sang ‘The Answer’ and Gyu got all mad that he was ‘ruining’ it lol. Then, with 3 mins left, Woohyun was like ‘get outta the way, I’ll get 100 points’ and sang ‘Nod’ and got 99 points so they passed the first mission. The second mission was to get a combined amount of 3000 using pedometers. But, the trick was that they would have different combos of addition and subtraction for each member to make it more difficult, like ‘head - left foot + right hand’. Because of the weird combos, the members looked extra silly. It was quite hilarious, just thinking about it makes me lol again. Yeol was extra cute and with the headband, the members said Gyu looked like So Ji Sub in ‘I’m Sorry, I Love You’ and called him Gyu Ji Sub. Sunggyu’s part was funny too and when it was Namu’s turn, Gyu was staring at him and Namu got all embarrassed and was like ‘What are you looking at?’ lol. They did really well so they went to the 3rd challenge which was eating super spicy ddukbokgi in 10 mins I think. They were making all kinds of panting sounds so I think Woohyun said that the video was getting too raunchy lol. They finished (mostly because Gyu kept feeding everything to Yeol) and so they went to the 4th mission. It was a game of charades, but each member had to act out 3 words and they had to get a total of 18 correct. This part led to some funny moments too with lots of disses from Gyu, but they ultimately failed this mission, so the money they got at the end lessened. To choose the king they all had to one shot a can of coke and not burp. Whoever doesn’t burp for the longest wins. In the end, Woohyun won after drinking like 3 cans of coke and they came back out and performed the Korean version of ‘D.N.A.’

After the song, they did another ment. I remember the fans were trying to get Minseok to dance a part of ‘D.N.A.’ and he did a little after Woohyun taught him a part, but he said he’s not a good dancer. They also talked about how the original title of the song was ‘Virus’ but that word has a bad meaning in Japan so they changed it. They also mentioned how it was originally supposed to be released in Korea but the lyrics didn’t sound as good cause of the chorus where Sunggyu sings ‘Stop. It.’ sounded kinda weird and it fit better in Japanese. Suddenly, Minseok asked if D.N.A. stood for something and they were all like, ‘...DNA...’ and he was like I know what DNA is, I just thought that it meant something cause of the periods between the letters lol. He said it could be ‘돌았나’ (a Busan accented way of saying ‘are you crazy’ that comes off kinda harsh to non-Busan people) so they were like ‘No and stop swearing, there are adolescents here’ lol. Then they talked about going to Busan and the food there and something about Gyu going there with Minseok.

Then they brought out a throne and crown with a spinning wheel to carry out missions. The member spins the wheel and has to carry out that action wherever the king tells him to go to. With the very first spin, Dongwoo ousted Woohyun as king and Woohyun was so devastated and adorable lol. He was like ‘I wasn’t even king for one minute!’ Then they carried out different missions. I don’t remember the order but I think Gyu gave some of his clothes to a fan, Dongwoo gave a fan this gold necklace and he even put it on for her and moved her hair out of the way (everyone swooned lol), Woohyun acted out a scene from ‘Goblin’ with a fan on the third floor (and he was so cute because he was talking while he was walking through the venue where we couldn’t see him and also when he left, he stopped by every single door on the third floor to peek out and wave at fans cause he’s the biggest sweetheart), Hoya took a selca with a fan, Sungyeol danced to ‘TT’ and also gave a fan his practice shorts (which the members all sniffed to make sure it wasn’t nasty lol), Myungsoo backhugged a fan, and Sungjong danced to ‘Chaser’ at 2x the speed and even picked a fan to dance with him on stage and she did a bang up job too (you go Glen Coco!).

Then they performed ‘Love of My Life’ and then showed an interview vcr. I don’t remember exactly what they said, but it was pretty much about how they feel and thanking people/fans. Then they sang ‘One Day’ and went into ments again. They talked about the ‘Typhoon’ promotions and Sungjong’s killing part (the part where he does the choking dance move) and Woohyun said that more than this part, he thought the ‘I realized’ part that Sungjong does was the killing part and he imitated it. Then fans made Sunggyu do the choking dance and at first he did it half-heartedly and Woohyun scolded him and made him do it seriously and OMG IT WAS GLORIOUS. My little heart still hasn’t recovered. Then we proceeded to make them all do it and Hoya acted like he didn’t want to but Yeol called him out and was like ‘You do it all the time in the waiting room, don’t act like you don’t wanna do it’ lol. Then at the end, we made Yeol do it and he was like ‘I’m gonna do it EXACTLY like Sungjong’ and his facial expressions were hilarious. We made Minseok do it too, he was such a good sport lol. I don’t remember if it was here or some other time, but Woohyun was like ‘He’s not even a member, why are you making him do it?’ and his jealousy was on full display imo! Then they were like there’s only one song left and everyone got super down and kept whining but Woohyun was like, even though it’s our last song, you guys are gonna chant ‘Come Back Again’ and we’re gonna pop out and you’re gonna be surprised right? So don’t be sad’ lol. They kept asking, ‘Should we do the last song now?’ and everyone was like ‘yeah..’ and so they kept talking longer and longer cause they felt bad. Then Minseok said his goodbyes and everyone chanted his name and the boys performed ‘Typhoon’.

Then we did the chant of course! It felt like forever omg my voice was dying. The lights went down and the May comeback teaser came on. Then they came out from the second floor doors and walked around the second floor area while performing ‘Nothing Better Than This’. They started doing their last ments and Sungjong was first. He ended his with his typical ‘Honey, dream of me!’ Then Dongwoo started his by saying that Gyu once said, ‘There are many Dongwoos in the world, but none of them are like you.’ Then it was Soo’s turn and there was an event prepared for his birthday. We were supposed to hold up a slogan that said ‘Happy Birthday Myungsoo’ when it was his turn during the last ment and we sang Happy Birthday to him. The boys were chanting for him to cry and he was like wth lol. They also mentioned how during rehearsal Yeol was like ‘Maybe the fans will do a bday event for you’ and Soo was like ‘Nahh, they prob won’t’ and they apologized for having no sense and not buying a cake to make a proper event. They said that they really thought he’d cry but he didn’t and they said it’s cause they don’t have the pianist noona playing heartwarming music in the bg (no band for the fan meet). He also said that it was very touching and he’ll remember it forever and there was an ‘I love you’ chant. At the end of his ment, the boys started a ‘Cry’ chant and when we stopped, this little boy that was in the second floor seats behind my section kept chanting when everyone was super quiet and it was adorable and we all laughed lol. Next was Sunggyu, he didn’t really say anything too important. Then it was Yeol’s turn and he apologized for the lack of help on their side for Soo’s event and said, ‘I’ll make sure to make Myungsoo cry later and upload it on SNS’ and they were like ‘What are you gonna do? Yell “CRY CRY” while hitting him?’ He said a few other things, then it was Hoya. Someone asked him to do the I say Ho you say Ya thing so we did that. He then said, ‘Sunggyu-hyung once said, there are many Hoyas in this world, but none like you.’ and Yeol said ‘but there’s that genius dog Hoya!’ (a dog that came out on TV for being really smart). Then he used that line again and said ‘there are lots of fans, but none like Inspirit’ and mentioned his Golden Disk speech again about how it’s hard to be their fan and how he’s always grateful. He mentioned (and later Gyu and other members kept mentioning) that they made a promise to keep on going together, so fans think they were hinting at the contract re-signing. Then as he was wrapping up, I think a fan was being escorted out by security, prob for filming with a camera, and the boys were like, please just let it go this time! And they even apologized in the fan’s stead. UGH THESE BOYS! CAN THEY GET ANYMORE PERFECT? The right answer is yes. They apparently can... Then it was Namu’s turn and there was a part where he was talking about enjoying life and not living with too much haste and a fan yelled ‘Okay/got it’ and then after every attempt at trying to be heartwarming the members and the fans kept yelling ‘okay~’ and it was so cute!

Then this led to what I’m sure you guys have all heard about... the extra songs and acapella medley that lasted an extra hour. We kept whining for more songs or at least more talking, we just didn’t want them to go yet. And the boys with their weak hearts gave into our demands. Fans also said how they don’t want the wheel next time and they held a vote and said that they won’t do it anymore lol. They just really showed that they cared about us so much and that they didn’t care whether they’d get in trouble or not or anything, the only thing they cared about was us and our time together. (BRING ON THE TEARS ㅠㅠ) At first, they said that there’s a comeback in May so not to worry, after hearing our pleas for them to stay. Then they mentioned how they only found out about the comeback through the teaser on the first day and that they were just as surprised to hear that as we were. I love how they just hang the dirty laundry out there lol. (looking at you Woollim... you better do right by our boys -_- )

They kept trying to start the last song but we were whining and Namu was like, ‘If you guys keep doing that, then we really won’t be able to say no’ and I think Yeol mentioned ‘Chaser’. They first checked to see if they had the venue booked until a certain time or if they could keep talking for longer and fortunately, the staff said that we had it for the night. They always mention how they get lots of complaints from parents and stuff for how long their concerts are (they’re always at least 3 hours, which is quite long compared to other concerts) and they were like oh wells lol. They checked to see if they had the MR and said not to tease them and upload vids of them getting the choreo wrong since it’s been a long time. Finally, staff said they didn’t have the MR and after A LOT of going back and forth with the staff about MR/AR/acapella, they finally said they had the MR for ‘Entrust’ and ‘Cover Girl’ and they were like let’s just do both, so the boys put on an impromptu performance of those songs and they were walking around and going through the second floor again and some of the boys (like Gyu and Namu for sure) made sure to stop by and say hi to their families. You guys don’t even know how happy I was. ‘Cover Girl’ is my all time fav song and ‘Entrust’ is up there too. They’re just so happy and whenever the boys perform it, they always give lots of fan service so I was ecstatic. Woohyun ended it with ‘We’re yours!’ They had so much fun with it and Dongwoo was all excited and they were kinda like whatevers, eff it, let’s just keep going lol. So they were thinking of other fun songs to sing and Namu was like ‘Man In Love’ or ‘Nothing’s Over’?’ and the staff said they only had AR and we were like ‘IT’S OKAY!’ but they didn’t want to do AR cause they said they had pride and didn’t want to lip sync (ALL THE PRIDE IN OUR BOYS YASSSSS) and so Gyu was like the fans can sing and we can do ‘Nothing’s Over’ then all of a sudden, the music for ‘Nothing’s Over’ came on and they all got into formation and started dancing. Then once we started singing the ‘Yeah~’ part and they realized that it was the MR version, they were all happily surprised and kept going. And of course, we did the ‘Die die’ fanchant!

Then! They tried to do prepare for the last song again until Dongwoo started singing ‘Together’, and we all kept singing. That started the medley of us singing with the boys for like 15 mins. This is definitely on youtube, so I’m gonna skip over it. All I have to say is that I am INSANELY proud to be a part of this fandom and OVER THE MOON grateful that I found these 7 treasures. We started the medley for fun, but towards the end you could really see how touched and emotional the boys were getting. There was a part where Dongwoo tried to do ‘Inconvenient Truth’ but he picked a strange part to start at so fans didn’t pick it up quick enough and he was like why isn’t anyone singing? Dongwoo also started the Telemonster OST they did too lol. They all chimed in with different songs and it was so cool to see/be a part of. Woohyun mentioned how it’s fun for them and us but everyone else must be like wth. And they also mentioned that the only thing that matters is us together, since that’s what a fan meeting is all about. UGH ALL THE CRIES. Then Sunggyu put a stop to the medley cause they started singing the Digimon and Pokemon theme songs and were getting too off topic lol. Then they finally performed ‘Thank You’, went around and said their goodbyes, and finally, at the end, Myungsoo started to cry. Yeol was like, ‘Someone give me your phone so I can take a pic and upload it!’ lol. Then the list of official fanclub member names came up but I was so pissed cause the security kicked everyone out before I could see my name. They literally pushed me out the door and slammed the door in my face... and then some security guard manhandled me while I was waiting on the sidewalk trying to cross the street. I think it’s cause I had my phone in my hand and he thought I was trying to wait on the sidewalk for the boys’ vans to go by but I just wanted to go home at that point. So the end of the night was -___- but then as I made my way home, they start texting one by one messages through that number that you were supposed to send your selca to. Each member said a short cute message of thanks and love you’s.

Overall, this was probably one of the best INFINITE related anything that I’ve been to... and I didn’t know if anything could beat IEA. But ugh, seriously our boys... I have no words. You could feel their love. I’m so so sorry that this was so long, but since it was a fan meet rather than a concert, there was so much more talking! Even after the few hours I put into writing this account, I still feel like I’m missing stuff or left small stuff out cause there’s too much already. Hopefully we’ll all be lucky and blessed with a DVD of the fan meet one day! If you have any questions, please feel free to leave us an ask and thank you so much for reading to the very end! Also, from one Inspirit to another, thank you so much for supporting and loving the boys! They deserve all the love in the world, and I’m so happy to be a part of it with all of you lovely fans! It’s a bit early, but please make sure to put your 110% effort into streaming/tweeting/everythinging once May comes around! Thank you~ ^^

#infinite #인피니트 #무한대집회III #무한대집회3 #무집 #무집3 #sunggyu #dongwoo #woohyun #hoya #sungyeol #l #myungsoo #sungjong #fan account #170304 #togetherinspirit7

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sand1128 · 7 years

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FanFic: The Fall of Friar

A/N: This fic takes place during college. I had mentioned a Rucas breakup in several other stories and @siennese asked if I intended to write about what happened. I have 5 chapters planned for this fic and 3 new related one-shots/drabbles that will take us from here through to the start of the IG series. This takes place several months before Charmed Moments. As with 99% of my other stories, this is a Maya-free universe.

A/N: They are in college and while I won’t be providing details about intimate moments, they will be alluded to…

Chapter 1- Only the Name Remains

Lucas stood in a group with his frat brothers, all ready to start chugging their beer, the crowd around them chanting the name of who they believed would win. Chants of “Mad Dog!!! Mad Dog!!!” could be heard from a rather large section of the crowd.

It was no secret that Lucas Friar had undergone a dramatic personality change in the last month. Gone was the most mature guy in the fraternity… in his place was “Mad dog”… an obnoxious party boy who didn’t seem to care about anyone but himself.

His old friends would be hard pressed to recognize him. He had bulked up courtesy of spending several hours in the gym every day. His grades had fallen far below expectation and in a move guaranteed to shock even his best friend, Lucas now sported the start of a linear tribal tattoo on his right shoulder.

Only Lucas knew the reason for his new persona… knew that it was all his own doing.

Just as the chugging contest was about to begin, a murmur spread through the crowd. As heads turned, the wolf whistles started, followed quickly by an elbow in the side. “Check out that Angel. I’d like to know all her secrets” Lucas rolled his eyes as the guys egged each other on. Lucas demanded that the group get back to what they were doing when the white feathery tip of a wing caught his attention. He turned his head to bellow out a rude comment when the pounding of his heart caught his attention.

It couldn’t be… could it?

As the owner of the wings turned in his direction, his heart stopped when he recognized Riley. His Riley looking as gorgeous as ever. Without realizing it, he stepped forward to intercept her when her gaze met his and much to his dismay, looked right through him. It was in that moment he remembered…. she was not his Riley anymore… she was his ex and he was the one who made that nightmare his reality.

Riley had debated whether she should go to the party. Her heart wasn’t really in it but she didn’t want to give Lucas Friar the satisfaction of her staying home. She hasn’t caught so much as a glimpse of him since he broke her heart. He swore he’d love her forever… funny how forever ended shortly after college started. It was then that he pledged “Immadick and so are U” or whatever the heck it’s called… she knows that’s not the name but it makes her giggle so in her mind? It fits.

Suddenly, having a steady girlfriend wasn’t what he wanted… essentially, she wasn’t what he wanted anymore.

But he didn’t just dump Riley, he dumped their friends too. They haven’t seen him since the night of their breakup…

Having spent weeks creating her costume (she created his costume too, before destroying it with a pair of kitchen scissors in a fit of rage) and tired of moping around wondering where it all went wrong… she agreed to attend with her sorority sisters.

As she walked in and looked around, she knew she wouldn’t be staying long. She was not a big partier and she hated to be around people whose main concern was how hammered they could get. The catcalls made her uncomfortable and she did her best to ignore them.

The closer she got to the center of the room, the more her heart started to pound. It had been months since she felt the electricity she always felt when she got near Lucas. She looked around quickly but didn’t see him anywhere.

She took a step forward and bumped into someone… as they turned, her heart stuttered, stopped then fell to her stomach, which in turn fell to her feet.

Dressed only in black pants and a pair of black wings, stood Lucas. He stood completely still…the perfect image of a fallen angel. While everything on the outside had changed, his eyes had not. Since the day, they met, they have always been able to speak volumes without saying a word. As a matter of protecting herself, she refused to meet his gaze, instead staring at something just past him. She wasn’t exactly sure what she was protecting herself from… fear of emptiness in his eyes? Contempt? Fear that he would see the secrets in her eyes?

His hair was a lot longer now. Gone were the short little spikes she loved to run her fingers through. One of the tactile things she loved the most was playing with his hair, whether it was while they were kissing or when he was resting his head in her lap…she would run her fingers through it…stopping occasionally to massage his scalp.

His shirtless torso revealed that his body had grown stronger. While she didn’t act like your typical college freshman, she was still a woman. She’d be lying if she said that she didn’t realize or respect the new changes to his physique. She had always felt safe in his arms and the visible additions made her long even more for her safe haven. On his shoulder was the start of a tattoo. Some lines had been filled in, others were still just an outline. Oh, how her fingers itched to trace those lines.

It only took a second for her mind to catalog all of the physical changes he had undergone.

What she couldn’t see and was desperate to know? What brought about these changes. Were they only physical changes? At his core, was he the same Lucas Friar she had always known? In her heart of hearts, she already knew the answer to that question.

Lucas might not want to be with her anymore but that doesn’t mean she wanted him to suffer…. much. No matter how far apart they are…. he will always have a special place in her life. He was the first boy she ever liked, her first date, her first kiss, her first boyfriend, her first and to this point only, her first love and her first heartbreak.

As she begins to move past him, he whispers “Hi”, looking at the ground she whispers “Hey” and as that word leaves her lips it’s as if the world stops. They are both momentarily stunned, each waiting for the other to say something, do something… anything at all.

It was a mere second or two but to them, it felt like hours. Riley was lifting her head when Lucas was suddenly surrounded by his frat brothers again. In between their chants for “Mad Dog to chug it” were prepubescent howls of “Mad Dog is on the loose” and “Look out ladies, the Mad dog is in heat.” Riley walked away from the crowd shaking her head slightly… if someone had bet her $1000 she would have said there is no way Lucas Friar would behave like that. At least the Lucas Friar she had known wouldn’t have. This Lucas? She doesn’t know and honestly doesn’t want to.

She spots her friends in the corner when Matthew yells out “Riles! Get over here Matthews you little minx.” Riley smirks at his over exuberant exclamation as she joins them at a corner table. Matthew stands up, wolf whistles and twirls her around so he can look at her costume.

“Damn girl. That costume should be illegal… you are smokin’!” Matthew clutches his hand over his heart and pretends to be having a heart attack. “How are you still single?!” Matthew asks as there is an abrupt break in the noise.

“I’m newly single. Seems my boyfriend…. correction my ex-boyfriend felt that being tied down wasn’t what he wanted. He wanted to be free to ummm… pursue other interests.”

“Don’t be lyin’ to me girl. Your dumbass ex threw away Filet Mignon so he could sample at Betty’s Buffet of Bimbos. He’s not worth your time. Bless his heart he’s a fool. Hang with me girl. We will find you a man who prefers quality over quantity. Grade A beef over chuck wagon chop. Champagne over….” Riley laughs as she listens to Matthew go on and on. He never fails to make her laugh, to boost her ego and tonight, to help keep the memories and tears at bay.

The urge to party left Lucas as soon as he saw Riley. It was the first time he had any contact with her since he ended things. She didn’t call, didn’t argue, didn’t make up reasons to see him. She simply accepted his decision and walked out. Hell, she didn’t even slam the door. Since he was inebriated at the time, he was quite grateful for that fact. Just as the sun broke the horizon the following morning, there was a heavy knock on his dorm room door. As he threw the door open, ready to tell the jackass to quit knocking so damn early, a box of his belongings was shoved into his chest. When he looked up from the box, he met the murderous gaze of Josh Matthews. Before he could utter a word, Josh delivered a right hook to his jaw and told him in no uncertain terms to “Stay the hell away from my niece asshole or you will long for the days when Tombstone was your biggest fear.” Lucas, still drunk from the night before, simply rolled over from his place on the doorway floor, kicked the door shut and went back to sleep. In the days that followed, he simply chose to forget everything… except the next party. He ignored the calls, texts and visits from Farkle and Zay. Ignored the texts and calls from Izzy. He even ignored all contact attempts from Auggie. He simply ignored everyone outside of his frat brothers. They became his circle. In no time at all, his life was a cycle of parties every night and the gym every day.

But like a hamster on a wheel… he didn’t know how to get the cycle to stop. Wasn’t even sure if anything or anyone would be waiting for him when it did.

#rucas fanfic #the fall of friar

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