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miraculouscontent · 3 years

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Always.

“Truth” is just... I mean, I want to say “garbage” but that doesn’t even do how bad it is justice? Like, okay, I take four major issues with it (my followers be like: just four? :P):

First is the writing in general and the continuity of it all. This episode looks like it’s been through multiple drafts and the final product is an amalgamation of a bunch of them with no coherency between any of them. I already could kind of guess it from the Adrimi kiss that the finale removed, but it’s obvious that there were going to be Adrimi/Lukanette arcs in Season 4 but then stuff happened (i.e: the staff being cowards) and they got cut. It’s totally possible that the plot with Jagged Stone being the father and Marinette having to keep secrets from Luka were still the same episode even in the original draft, but I imagine it at least wasn’t episode one.

There are other, more subtle hints as well, like the episode giving no time to Luka learning that Jagged is his father (making the fandom wonder if Luka remembered when he was Truth) and Ladybug being shocked when she realizes that the akuma is Luka as if she didn’t already see him be akumatized. Juleka also gets weirdly sidelined in the episode despite being Luka’s twin (Astruc has stated that both Luka and Juleka are older and Juleka got held back, which is why she’s in Marinette’s grade but Luka isn’t), so she’s Jagged’s offspring as well. One might presume that Juleka just never cared at all but that doesn’t mean she shouldn’t be allowed to interact directly with the guy or have any involvement at all. All it would’ve taken is for Luka to mention that Juleka never cared about who their father was but he did, thereby implying that Juleka’s reaction to Jagged would probably be more like, “oh okay.”

You know, if they didn’t reduce her to incoherent mumbling.

Second is the timing of this episode. We had the New York special with Paris being destroyed, but it’s clearly fine here (so I guess it isn’t canon now; thank God honestly), and while it’s technically possible that enough time has passed (supported by the vague implication that Marinette having to miss out on dates with Luka has gone on for a while, given Tom and Sabine’s lack of reaction to them dating), it’s not supported by Marinette examining the Miracle Box as if she’s only just gotten it.

There’s also Shadow Moth, where we’re shown an extended version of the scene from the end of “Miracle Queen” where Gabriel repairs the peacock miraculous, giving the episode a “Volpina”->”The Collector” vibe but then why are the events lining up the way they do???

The narrative also does a really bad job at showing us why Marinette is so strapped for time. She has guardian duties now but you’d think it’d balance out with her not having to go to Fu anymore for guardian training (you know, that thing we never saw but was said to be happening or at least that it was Fu’s intent to have it happen). You could argue that maybe Shadow Moth is more active, but then Chat Noir should be affected by this too; Ladybug states outright that she’s been busy and Chat Noir responds with something akin to, “oh I know, because you’re guardian,” which implies that it’s her guardian duties keeping her busy and Shadow Moth is just interrupting her dates specifically.

But we don’t even see what responsibilities she has added on as guardian. I knew the writers would make it so her being guardian was a hassle, but it’s the first episode of the series and we’ve gotten next to no answers for what being guardian actually adds.

It’s almost like this was a rushed first episode to break up the only thing that unambiguously made Marinette happy for the sake of bringing the love square back and needlessly making her suffer because the writers think it’s hilarious.

Speaking of which, the third thing thing is the comedy because--just--I hate the comedy in this show.

Like, just to start, there’s the kwami, who clearly begin with their mob mentality from the later episode of “Furious Fu” and all proceed to act like children. No, I didn’t expect them to all be wise (I mean, Xuppu exists and is very much not that, having been implied to be a fit for Kim who is known for being a total himbo), but I don’t expect them to all scatter like they do. Kaalki in particular, who was shown to be more poised and refined, blatantly reveals herself to a bunch of civilians just for the sake of Marinette freaking out and needing to make up an excuse.

Same with Alya and her friends. Marinette is panicking because of the kwami and Alya “deduces” (while shading Marinette so blatantly that it’s insulting) that Adrien must be there in her house which--maybe don’t SAY THAT OUT LOUD in case Adrien is literally in her room???). Then Marinette gets a call from Luka, shouts his name, and the girls do a complete 180 in support of Lukentte. It’s not like I’m not for them supporting whatever Marinette wants to do, but the shift is so sudden (and contradicts “Frozer”) that it gave me whiplash and the entire scene ends up being pointless since the girls still go with the “Marinette is in love with Adrien” thing when Truth asks them what Marinette’s secret is. Like, we could’ve gotten small, stupid secrets that everyone thought only they knew about Marinette, but instead it’s just the same thing over and over again (which makes no sense since, by the time Alya blabs the secret - which Alya has already told Nino before anyway - it’s no longer a secret therefore making the answer invalid).

Heck, the whole “secret” thing could’ve even been the people Truth shoots finding ways of answering his questions in a way that is technically telling the truth but also not really, such as if Anarka had answered the, “Who’s my father?” question with, “someone you know/someone famous,” so as to avoid saying that it’s Jagged Stone. It’s just boring seeing characters answer with whatever the asker wants to hear instead of being able to find a way around it.

And then there’s Chat Noir, who’s just--ugh.

Like--okay, I’m going to be extremely petty for a moment and just go off because I hate Chat Noir’s role in this entire episode. The Season 3 finale went out of its way to have Chat Noir be all like, “I have a girlfriend,” when it was a lie, and then Season 4 just parkours around Ladybug telling him that she’s dating (Ladybug clearly took no issue with Chat Noir telling her he’s dating so it’s not like she’s worried about issues there; she’s gotten on his case before in episodes like “Startrain” so there are exceptions) because they want to keep having him flirt and not be sAd because this is Marinette’s episode of suffering and Chat Noir actually having to face the reality that Ladybug is dating (not just in love with someone else) would’ve actually been interesting. Chat Noir gets tons of unnecessary screentime in the episode - mostly for the show to shove in LadyNoir shipping fuel - and then actively avoids telling him the obvious thing because he would’ve actually been forced to grow/develop/stop flirting.

It would’ve been so cute and sweet to see him awkwardly trying to flirt without overstepping boundaries (so more like banter than flirt) or - you know - actually try to support Ladybug and want her to be able to finish her dates by him offering to keep akuma/sentimonsters busy, but no, he’s just left in the dark.

The finale had Chat Noir supporting her (terribly but I digress) and then doesn’t do anything with it at the start of Season 4, meaning his support of her was completely meaningless and just there.

His first appearance is him pranking Ladybug when she’s already overstressed and busy, which comes off as super poor taste and I’m both glad he got splatted into that window for it but also upset because it’s screentime completely gone to waste, and of course it’s just a lead up to him guilting her by being like, “nooo the only thing that hurts me is when you leave me alone during patrol!”

I know he’s teasing (...probably) but it leaves a bad taste in my mouth because we know (well, I knew because I know how this show works) that Luka and Marinette were going to break up because of Marinette’s hectic schedule, so it just comes off as insensitive to joke about it, especially when Ladybug’s busy guardian status just serves as a reminder that Fu is gone.

Even when he’s protecting Ladybug from Truth’s questions by cutting in and asking a question of his own, of course he asks about himself to forcibly fish compliments out of Ladybug because she can’t lie to him, and of course they have Ladybug compliment his humor most of all as if that trait hasn’t nearly gotten them in danger multiple times and she’s been repeatedly annoyed when he decides to joke during the worst possible times. It’s as if the writers wanted to pat themselves on the back for their own comedy, so they had Ladybug be a mouthpiece to stroke Chat Noir’s ego.

He claims he won’t force a truth out of her and then literally forces her to say what her favorite things about him are. I acknowledge that this can be seen as me nitpicking but we went from the finale where Chat Noir actually stepped up and took charge (because Ladybug was stressed but I guess him doing anything useful is just whenever it serves the plot) to this where he’s back to flirting constantly and jamming in as much LadyNoir shipping fuel as physically possible. It’s not that he’s useless but he’s annoying and takes up space in an episode that’s supposed to be about Luka and Marinette.

And that leads us into the fourth thing, which is the break-up and just the treatment of Luka and Marinette in general. I could go on and on about how the Season 3 finale built up their relationship just to tear it down in the first episode of Season 4, but that’s not the main issue here.

Luka brought Marinette comfort. He made her happy. He never judged her. He was happy to just date her regardless of any conflicted feelings she might have because hey, who is he to complain if she wants to give him a try and who knows what’ll happen?

And the season couldn’t even give one moment of them being unambiguously happy without ruining or interrupting it. I was ready for the break-up and I was even ready for it to be the first episode but I wasn’t ready for it to be so bad.

Marinette’s Adrien pictures appear out of nowhere (again, makes no sense for the timeline) when they’ve been gone for basically all of Season 3 and even “The Puppeteer 2″ specifically which makes a direct reference to “Troublemaker,” the episode that purposefully overdid it with her pictures (”Truth” has more hanging up and clearly used “Troublemaker” as a reference, by the way). They’re just there for force the love square and Adrien into the episode as much as possible to remind the audience that Adrien breathes. There is literally no purpose to any mention of Adrien and bringing him up isn’t even relevant to Marinette and Luka’s break-up.

It’s just upsetting to know that the umbrella scene from “Origins” (which is already flawed in and of itself) kickstarts this whole thing. Adrien did basically nothing there except for clear up a misunderstanding and give Marinette an umbrella when his ride was a few meters away and Marinette’s house was just across the street, but that actives Marinette’s absolutely crippling crush on him that lasts for 3-4 seasons. Marinette is in this eternal struggle of not being allowed to grow and change because the writers think her stammering/crushing on Adrien is funny while actively punishing her for having this crush in the first place (again, like in the scene with Alya, which insults Marinette for her crush when she wasn’t even panicking over her crush).

It’s the same with Luka, and I can’t believe that it took me until this episode to realize that he and Marinette are both treated the same way: tormented by episodes for having a crush on someone. Episodes will go out of their way to forcibly insert Adrien into the plot to both humiliate Marinette and make Luka feel awkward when the episode isn’t supposed to be about Adrien at all. “Truth” is just “Desperada 2.0″ except Adrien is barely on screen at all and they still felt the need to name drop him constantly. The writers are so sensitive to the idea of people jumping onto another ship or forgetting that Adrien exists that they’ll find any possible way to include him.

“Silencer” knew better. “Silencer” knew that Marinette’s life didn’t have to revolve around the mere mention of Adrien’s name and that she had other interests/desires/traits outside of him. Adrien isn’t brought up once and it was great because the show didn’t feel the need (for once) to throw Adrien into an episode that he had nothing to do with.

Even if I was a love square shipper, I would feel insulted by “Truth” because one half of my ship kept getting name dropped and used as a tool to humiliate the other half, which makes it all the more eyeroll-worthy when the love square stans of the fandom praise this episode for breaking Lukanette up when--oh, wait, they didn’t even break up “because Adrien.”

And that ends up being the real thing here. The writers had to invent a reason for Marinette and Luka to break up. We already know that Jagged Stone being Luka’s dad is a retcon (not technically in the show’s canon but in information we heard about outside of it), so they shoved in Luka having issues about not knowing his father specifically so that he would be pushed over the edge when Marinette couldn’t tell him about her being Ladybug.

When Luka and Marinette were just together and hanging out, Adrien wasn’t mentioned once. Say whatever about the Adrien pictures being on the wall and Marinette’s stammering (she always says stupid stuff when she panics - especially stuff she doesn’t mean - so I’m not upset with her so much as the writing for having her mess up in that specific way), but the only time Marinette talks about Adrien at all in the episode is when someone else brings him up.

She goes on a date with Luka to the cinema and they were having a great time without Adrien involved at all. I know I already stressed this point in a previous post, but one of the reasons that I find Lukanette to be so amazing is because the show actually focuses on Marinette’s interests and doesn’t force her to be the writer’s mouthpiece for gushing about their sunshine boy a punching bag for comedy. In every Lukanette scene that doesn’t bring up Adrien/before Adrien shows up, Marinette is either praised, able to be happy, or is showing one of her interests that isn’t aDrIeN, and whereas Adrien being on-screen around Marinette usually just means that she’s gushing about/stammering around him with no development, Lukanette features us actually learning more about Luka or other characters.

“Captain Hardrock” - lets her bond with Luka over a shared interest in Jagged Stone, and Luka is established as a sort of empath who uses music as a way to speak for himself

“Frozer” - gets to practice ice skating with Luka, who is actually good at ice skating and also can tie laces despite not tying his own because he’s a rebel

“Desperada” - gets to try out guitar with Luka and we learn that Luka has been playing guitar for as long as he can remember

“Silencer” - showcases Marinette’s interest in fashion and properly introduces Kitty Section; has a plot featuring all of them together doing something not even remotely love-related and we get actual confirmation of Luka’s crush on Marinette, along with Marinette’s reaction (blushy+happy; just saying, idk how anyone could watch “Silencer” and not think that Marinette was crushing on Luka)

“Heart Hunter” - Marinette gets a song written for/about her and Luka is established to have a job

“Truth” - brings up Lukanette’s shared interest in Jagged Stone, features Marinette’s interest in fashion when she gives him a gift she made + had Jagged Stone sign, and shows her raising her voice but not being judged by Luka for it, who’s happy with her just the way he is

When the show focuses on Lukanette, it’s all about lifting Marinette up, praising her, and making her feel good. When Adrien is involved or it’s hyper-fixating on Marinette’s crush on him, it’s about bringing her down and making her feel bad for a crush they keep forcing her to hold onto and humiliating her for.

Point being, the writers had to force their way into getting Lukanette broken up because of their precious love square and the fact that Marinette and Luka being happy is the opposite of what they want.

It’s embarrassing to watch a team full of old white guys (I’m convinced at this point that they just hang their female writer on a coat hanger so they can point to her whenever someone says that their staff is too male-dominated) treat their female biracial lead with such disrespect, and I can only presume that the mistreatment of Luka is because he’s supportive of her and they don’t like that, meaning that the way she’s treated ends up rubbing off on him.

It doesn’t come off as a fun or interesting plot; it comes off as cruel. When Adrien is sad, he usually gets people rushing to comfort him (”Party Crasher,” “Gamer”), but “Truth” has Marinette in tears over the fact that she can’t have a boyfriend due to being Ladybug and the writing has the gall to crack jokes about Kaalki not knowing what tears are, and then Marinette has to ask for the kwami to hug her for comfort.

When Luka gets akumatized into Truth, the episode doesn’t even hesitate at bashing away at him, from everyone saying that Marinette’s secret is that she “loves Adrien” (which, as Truth points out, isn’t a secret, and they could’ve had this somehow lead up to a twist ending where Marinette actually isn’t into Adrien anymore and the Adrien pictures were genuinely for reference, but she stammered about it because it was embarrassing that her boyfriend got sent it with no context) to one of Luka’s favorite songs actually being about how Jagged abandoned him to go on tour. Luka has to deal with Marinette ditching him constantly (not that I blame her) and not knowing who his father is despite wanting to know, and the episode treats him like trash for... what? Having a crush on a girl who’s secretly Ladybug? Because that’s all it seems to come down to in the end.

I also have serious gripes with the fact that Marinette has this huge schedule established in “Gamer 2.0″ and they don’t even try to explain why she can’t use it to keep track of her obligations. The episode has her say (in a roundabout way but still) that she’s forgetting stuff constantly because of all of her emergencies (the emergencies of which are not stated and I hate the subtle implication that forgetting something means you don’t care about it when that’s clearly not how things work and also not what Marinette comes off as because - again - they establish that she’s overworked) but fails to properly explain it. The episode hammers away at Marinette having all these issues and even has Tikki chide Marinette by asking her about leaving Luka alone while apparently neglecting the fact that Marinette HAS to go be Ladybug right now and what else is there to even do??

Both Luka and Marinette are punished for just having a crush and wanting to be together and I hate that the episode forces a break-up instead of coming up with a solution to the problem. Instead of “Marinette isn’t ready for a romantic relationship,” it feels more like she’s just not allowed to be happy.

Long-distance relationships are a thing. Relationships where people don’t get to go on dates frequently are a thing. Instead of forcing a break-up, the episode could’ve had a lesson/development where Marinette is told that she’s allowed to pursue a relationship and just needs to plan accordingly. but they just didn’t want to.

For example: instead of planning dates, Marinette could wait until an akuma/sentimonster is defeated to call Luka and ask him out, because Hawk Moth usually doesn’t strike immediately after one is dealt with. I’m positive that Luka would happily take impromptu/sudden dates over planned-but-inconsclusive ones. Heck, they don’t even have to date specifically and can just stick to phone calls (kwami can’t be picked up on technology) or hanging out in Marinette’s room/on Marinette’s balcony while they do their thing.

Relationships are a commitment, but that doesn’t mean they have to be a burden, and the episode absolutely drags Marinette over it. The whole thing with the kwami being released and stressing her out when they’re not supposed to be able to just come out normally is explained away by, “oh, the new box must be like you, Marinette; full of surprises!” when the reality is just that the show wants to take away everything that’s sacred to Marinette. The Season 3 finale had Fu’s letter telling Marinette that “life doesn’t always give you what you want, but the real gift is life itself,” then proceeds to turn Marinette’s life into a living hell.

Her room? She has to say good-bye to her privacy because now the kwami are always going to be around. The first thing one of them (Trixx) did was start reading her diary, showing that they have absolutely no shame or regard for Marinette’s feelings.

Her schedule? Conveniently pops away into the realm of non-existence so she can look bad for ditching Chat Noir on patrol and neglecting dates with Luka due to her responsibilities/stress.

Her boyfriend, the one person in the entire show who loved her, respected her agency, never judged her, actually apologized when he made her sad, and who she was genuinely in love with rather than just having the equivalent of a celebrity crush for? She had to break up with him because plot and needing to force her to go back to fawning over the guy who has only made her life worse by her crushing on him.

When I say the universe hates Marinette, this is what I mean. It created random akuma to attack Paris all for the sake of forcing Marinette away from Luka, and apparently didn’t realize what they were doing in the scene where Marinette hurries back to the Liberty when Kitty Section and Adrien are playing together when Adrien is Chat Noir so he should’ve been late too.

(Oh, and Marinette completely ignores Adrien in favor of waving at Luka and even tells Luka outright that Adrien isn’t even a factor in their relationship issues, further proving the “multiple drafts smashed together” and “the Adrien name drops are pointless” points.)

The whole thing in “Backwarder” where it was basically outright stated that Marianne could’ve been Fu’s confidant had Marianne not been outed by Ladybug’s mistake? Completely forgotten and left to the wayside. Marinette could’ve told Luka that she was watching the Miracle Box in Ladybug’s place (for any number of reasons, really: either Ladybug thinks it’s too dangerous to keep with her, or if the public doesn’t know that Ladybug is guardian, then Marinette can just say that she’s guardian) and that she has to run off to keep guard of the Miracle Box when an akuma/sentimonster happens in case Ladybug needs a miraculous.

Boom, done, episode solved. Luka gets to help Marinette with the kwami, Marinette is less stressed because someone knows half of her secret, and Luka and Marinette continue to date but are able to plan around akuma attacks.

But no. That whole thing in “Backwarder” where guardians (or at least Fu) can have a confidant was just there so Marinette could feel guilty about screwing it all up, because she’s not able to take advantage of that perk herself.

How convenient.

#category: salt #category: critique #episode: Truth #other: ml spoilers #other: ask and answer #((This is mostly incoherent because I am very tired.))#((''In general or at the episode--'' Yes.))

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blulemonades · 4 years

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The Training Scene

Edited 8-21-21

Prompt Scene to the Series: Rising Sun

Description: Y/N and Jasper are in charge of training both the other Cullens and Uley Pack, how to fight an army of Newborns. Still on touchy ground, Paul realizes the cruel severity of his imprint previous life and the rest of the pack seem to gain more respect for the tiny leech.

Word count:1902

DISCLAIMER: I USED SOME OF THE DIALOGUE WRITTEN BY MEYER IN THIS PROMPT. I USED THEM AS A WAY TO FIX MY STORY IN WITH HER STORY MORE FLUIDLY.

Warnings: physical fighting, foul language, talk of death

a/n: Paul and the rest of the pack will be wolf form for most of this scene anything in Bold will be the conversation between the pack.

I avoided looking at anyone in the pack as they walked through the tree line. While my family gawked and stared at the large pack, I stood tensed, swallowing the pings and pangs of guilt I felt for not sharing this detail with my family. However this wasn't my information to give them.

Trying to refocus my thoughts towards helping Jasper with plans of training. It became hard to drift from the grey-silver wolf that held my shattered heart in his hands. Anger and Embarrassment still flooded through my system from our last conversation. I was hurt that he had thought so low of me and that he felt the need to scream at me in front of the whole pack.

I flinched as the memory of what I said popped back in my head.

“Do you really think I wanted to be this monster?” I spun around to stare at him. Ignoring the eavesdropping teens behind me. Paul's face still held the ame disgust, as it did after Jacob told everyone of the newborn army.

“You honestly think that I asked to be this bloodsucking filth.” Paul's face flashed in shock at my phrasing.

" I had a life." I stressed the last word " A good life. With a doting husband, who I only recently found out, killed himself because he couldn't protect me."

I never told Paul about Jonathan...or anything about my past because…Well he never seemed to care. Hell, Alice and Jasper are the only ones that even knew about Jonathan's suicide...maybe Edward but- \

Finally looking and registering the blank look that was Paul’s face now. I felt nothing but anger as I tried to bite my tongue from telling him anymore. He doesn't deserve to know about Jon. He doesn't get to use that against me like he uses everything else to attack me.

He just doesn't understand the fuckery that I've had to deal with. “ Did you know that one of the uhh-” I looked back at the ground “side efforts~”

I almost laughed at my word choice. “Of being a leech is that you can’t kill yourself.” I could hear his heart skip a beat. “ Yeah... we can kill each other just not ourselves.”

A laugh escaped my throat, then another , then another. I shook my head, trying to pull myself back together. “And I know that because I tried every single method of the book."

“Even lighting myself on fire, did nothing but tickle me.”

"Y/n" I heard him breathe, then I felt the tiniest brush of a touch on the top of my shoulder. Jerking away from him, and looking back at his face. I saw the disgust that had laced in his expression and eyes were gone. In its place, was an expression of remorse.

Full on laughing I tried to continue my speech, “It’s hilariously fucked up isn’t it” If I could cry I would be. I swallow the dry sob in the back of my throat.

“Well my whole entire existence is fucked up actually.” I started to calm down. “ If it wasn’t, I would be 6 feet under right now.”

“ Y/n” He started but I held up a hand to stop him, but he squeezed out “ It was a bad choice of word-.”

"Of course!" I blew up. " Because you didn't know." I raised an eyebrow as he raised a hand to touch me again. He put it back down as when he saw the flames in my eyes. I continued "Because you never gave me the chance to explain to you what I went through. You just assumed that I asked for it ."

"I'm done with having to defend myself, morally from you." I turned and headed back to my vehicle, ignoring Paul's yells, as I slammed the car door. Bella would just have to get a ride from Jake.

A wave of calmness hitting my system pulled me from the embarrassing memory. My eye shot up to Jasper, who was on the other side of her. He was still staring straight ahead.

“Welcome” Carlisle spoke, I let my gaze settle on his relaxed stance out in the middle. My father has always amazed me with his calm appearance.

"I know it must be a difficult thing for you to come." Then he went on to explain that Edward would be acting as a translator, so that way they don't have to phase if they don't want to.

“Thank you” Edward replied in a gruff tone. “We will only watch and listen, but no more. That is the most we can ask of our self-control.” I was thrilled more by that statement than I should be. I was hopeful that maybe I would be able to leave this place without a glance at a certain wolf.

“That is more than enough,” Carlisle smiled calmly. “My son Jasper” his right hand moved to gesture “And daughter, Y/N '' his hand then shifting slightly to me, I nodded in acknowledgement to Carlisle gaze.

If I was still human, I would have had thousands of tiny goosebumps, up and down my arms right now. It felt like there were at least a thousand eyes on me.

"-have experience in this area. They will teach us how the newborns fight, and how they will be defeated. I’m sure you can apply this to your own hunting style." I heard a low rumble among the wolves

“They are different from you?” asked Edward. Or Sam? This is getting confusing already. Carlisle smiled, “How about I let them explain.” again gesturing toward Jasper and me before stepping back to stand next to Esme. Jasper and I both walked up from the back to where Carlisle stood in the middle.

I took a quick glance at Jasper and knowing, he would want to talk more than I did but I promised to speak mainly to the wolves if he explained more to our family. So that meant this question was for me to answer.

Directing and keeping my attention to Sam, I tried to stay unfazed as I spoke “Yes, as they are still very new to this life. The Newborns will be full of frenzy driven by the brute strength given to them from the blood that still lingers in their system."

"The newborns will fight amongst themselves. As of today we know that their numbers sit at 20. Ten for us and ten for you, with that it shouldn't be too difficult. but it's highly likely that their numbers will either lower farther or raise. ” A rumble of excitement seems to run through them.

“We are happy to take more than our share. If necessary” Edward translated, I notice the change in the tone. I smiled, “We will have to see.”

“ What makes you two more qualified on this matter than any of the others?” Edward spoke again.

There was a rustle next to me as Jasper took a step forward. Arms behind his back, his stance reminded me of my first meeting with him after I changed, posed and ready for a fight.

“Y/N and I were forced into this life for the same reason as these newborns were forced. Except developed a conscience that our creator-" spoke with clear disgust in his tone. " -did not have control over."

I heard a small gasp behind me and a small rustling of feet behind me. Clearly Bella did not know this strange detail. Jasper began to pace. I always picked on him when he did this. 'Your military is showing', I would say. But right now, it was nothing short of intimidating how he stood.

“We know how to defeat them because we know what it's like to be them.” “Thank you” Edward quickly cut him off. “We will watch now.” Nodding Jasper turned to face back to our family.

“There are 2 things you need to know, 1. Don’t let them get their arms around you; they will crush you instantly. 2.” He stopped turning back to face the wolves.

I flashed a look at Sam, the black wolf stood taller staring back at the ex-major.

“ Don’t go for the obvious kill “ Jasper spoke clearly emphasizing each word wanting them to understand him. “ They will be expecting that. “ Jazz relaxed “ and you will lose. “ Sam let out a huff in response.

“ Y/N and Emmett, you are up first.” I heard a mumble pass down the wolf line as everyone spread back leaving me and Emmett at different ends of the field.

“This should be good” Emmett spoke now, seeming to warm himself up, rubbing his hands together.

“Emmett relies on his strength very much like the newborns.” Jasper said “ so he will be a good example for you.” He looked between Emmett and I. "Start whenever you are ready." I smiled at Em “Don’t hold back” cockily, he let out a bearish laugh at ending it with a smirk. “Not in my nature” and he charged.

I felt the wind as he chucked me in the air, quickly catching myself in a landing spin charging back at him. It seemed not even a long second had passed before I had his large head smashed into the ground.

“Again” Emmett growled. Smiling, I pushed away from him. I tried to ignore the huffs and snorts coming from the wolves' side.

“Don’t lose your focus” I told him “Following your emotions is only making your moves more predictable.” He nodded, standing up and heading over to his end of the field again. I nodded toward Jasper who agreed with my assessment, gesturing to continue with Emmett.

Taking my place again, Emmett charged and within the next minute he was already calling for another rematch.

"Don't turn your back on your enemy." Jasper spoke with an eye roll.

**Paul’s Pov**

"Y/n is kicking his ass." laughed Jared. Silently laughing with him I watched as Y/N jumped on top of the big Cullen twisting him mid-air and slamming him into the ground again.

"That she is, " agreed Sam lightly chuckling.

Watching her first stand across the field from that large Cullen made my insides twist in worry; however, as I watched her pin him in no time flat, it seemed to bring a sense of pride in me. It only made me feel even more guilty. I shouldn't be happy to finally see her again. I didn't deserve it. Not after what I said about her.

"God, please just apologize to her already" spoke Leah, before I could reply Sam growled softly

" Leah," he warned.

"Shut up" I replied harshly. "I'll keep my thoughts to myself."

"What? I am only trying to help! Out of all of us. I'm the one who knows best how to handle the emotional range of a woman." Quick to defend herself, I realized Leah made sense.Before anyone could really respond to her statement. We watched as Gruff-man walked off the field. Leaving only Y/n on the field...undefeated. Edward stepped up, Jacob tensed as Edward's death flashed in his thoughts

"Jake" Sam barked

Watching all the Cullen's fight each other it was clear to anyone that both Y/N and Jasper were the only experienced ones. Either of them lost a fight with any of the others. It made me wonder…

"We're done for the day"

------

283 notes · View notes

asian-hero · 4 years

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Too Impatient to Wait Another Lifetime (2/3)

A/N: I’m not going to lie, but the reason I didn't post this for a while is because the last one did so poorly compared to my other fics, so I figured that no one would want to read this anymore :(

But I truly love this story, and this is probably my favorite part that I wrote for this, so I wanted to share it anyways :) Welcome to the medieval/fantasy era

Pairing: Prince!Todoroki/Bard!Reader

Summary: The idea of soulmates is often one that’s heavily debated over. Some believe in the idea that there’s one special person out there for everyone, whereas others believe that it’s near impossible for just one person to be your “perfect match.” While you can’t necessarily see if someone is your soulmate, when you finally find that person, you get a feeling of euphoria that you’ve never experienced before. Unfortunately for you, someone must find it hilarious to constantly separate you from your soulmate every single time, in every single lifetime. So, what happens when you realize that you don’t want to wait any longer for your happily ever after?

Words: 8,367

If there was one thing that Prince Todoroki Shouto hated, more than the weighty title at the beginning of his name, more than the isolation he felt from being the heir to the throne, it would be the seemingly pointless balls his father would insist upon.

In all honesty, he knew why his father would put on these lavish events. Since Shouto was the crown prince, only due to a falling out between his father and his two eldest brothers, the fate of the Todoroki lineage had also rested upon his shoulders, and in order to keep their family tree growing, he needed a wife. However, since he was never allowed outside the walls of the castle, these balls were put in place in order to find the most “suitable” wife for Shouto.

Suitable for his father, of course.

So, Shouto would hold his tongue, not daring to argue with his father’s wishes, though he wished nothing more than to just lay low for one night, to at least pretend that he was a normal person, one who wouldn’t be forced into a loveless marriage. Instead, he’d quietly submit to the demands of the King, sitting on a throne next to his mother, watching as lord’s and lady’s danced around, mingling with one another. He did his best to keep in the disgust whenever a prominent lord would step up, their daughter standing behind them, and attempt to sell the royal family on one of their own, as if their daughters were simply tools used to gain an entry into a world they desperately wanted to be apart of. Every single time he’d come face to face with a desperate lord, he wished that he could just give them his status, with no charge. After all, they seemed to want it more than he did.

It was safe to say that Todoroki Shouto hated balls. He found them to be tedious and repetitive.

However, tonight was different.

Not fundamentally, no. Shouto still sat upon his throne, doing his best to look somewhat interested as his father droned on and on about some girl from a dukedom not too far from them. As his eyes drifted from person to person on the dance floor, he found himself pausing when his eyes land upon a woman dancing around while playing the lute, singing a lovely tune that carried throughout the entire ballroom. She was accompanied by a few other musicians, who seemed almost as jolly as she was. Shouto wasn’t quite sure what drew him to her. Perhaps it was her melodic voice, or maybe it was the semblance of freedom that her entire person exuded. She both irritated him and intrigued him, and that mix of emotions was what made his feet move towards you, seemingly not caring to hear what his father had to say for his sudden movement. He wasn’t able to make it far, though, for as soon as he entered the dance floor, he was met with a few women, some of which he recognized belonged to powerful dukedoms, who begged him for a dance. Even as he tried to step away politely, trying to get over towards the bard who captured his attention, they still persisted. He did his best to try and escape them without seeming like an asshole, but it was becoming more and more difficult.

Across the dance floor, singing the last note of the last song before intermission, stood you, a slightly goofy smile etched across your face. Coming down from the high of your latest performance, you quickly gave a bow, though you doubted that anyone noticed, and walked over to your group, giving out words of encouragement and praise, as most of them had never preformed at such a large gathering before, let alone a ball for the King. You laughed along with your group, listening to the newer ones ramble on about how grand the ball looks, how lucky you all were to be in the presence of such high ranking people.

As you continued to converse with those around you, you found yourself looking over towards the sea of people, who had now taken a pause in their dancing, opting to talk amongst themselves. Though they never spared even a glance at you or your friends, nor would they ever stoop as low as to talk to the likes of you, you couldn’t help but feel a sense of warmth at the thought that they all had danced to your music. Not some fancy, uptown musicians that the King could’ve easily hired, but you and your traveling group of musicians. Though you tried not to get a big head about it, you found yourself welling up with pride.

You were so absorbed into your own world that you didn’t notice the group of women hounding a man behind you, slowing inching closer and closer to your group. By the time you finally noticed you were just moving to grab your lute, moving to get back into position, but it was too late. As you straightened up, putting on your smiling persona, you felt someone collide with you, pushing you forward and nearly causing you to trip over yourself. The sound of your lute crashing against the floor was drowned out by the chattering of the crowd, but you could practically feel the anger rolling off of you. Whipping around, you were fully prepared to give whoever bumped into you a piece of your mind, telling them that they owed you a new instrument. However, as soon as you eyes locked with the cold, heterochromatic gaze of the Prince, you found your words catching in your throat.

Rather than giving the long lecture you’d mentally prepared, you instead bowed slightly, doing your best to remember what to do in the event of meeting a royal. “Your Highness, I apologize—“

As you looked up, you found yourself staring at a rather harsh glare from the Prince, one that made shivers go down your spine. Standing back up, you met his gaze, not backing down. In that moment, you could’ve sworn that you saw a hint of surprise flicker in his eyes, but as soon as one of the lady’s beside him spoke, the hint of emotion was gone, and was replaced by the usual cold aura he exuded.

“Oh my goodness, Prince Shouto, are you okay?” One of the women asked, sending you an unamused stare before going back to her mock fretting, “Did she hurt you?”

At the subtle shake of his head, you wanted to snort in response. After all, how the hell could you hurt him? He was the one who bumped into you. Just as you were about to excuse yourself, to escape to your friends who had suddenly disappeared at the sight of the Prince, you heard him clear his throat, signaling that he wanted your attention. Turning back to face him, you gave him a questioning look.

Strutting up to you, he watched you with detached, emotionless eyes, and, for a moment, you felt your normally bubbly and carefree persona disappear. Now, all you felt like was a child who was getting scolded.

“Make sure you watch where you’re going, next time.” With that, he turned away from you, but you weren’t about to let that sit.

“Watch where I’m going?” You asked, making sure that you heard him right.

When he didn’t respond, you felt yourself growing livid. How dare he blame you when he was the one who bumped into you? Even if that wasn’t the case, in the end he was fine, and you were without your lute. Stomping over to him, you pointed an accusatory finger at him.

“I’ll have you know that you were the one who bumped into me,” You hissed, making sure to keep your voice quiet enough to not cause a scene, “Just because you’re some ‘high and mighty’ Prince doesn’t mean that you’re not above an apology.”

Shoving your broken lute into his face, you gave a mocking smile, doing your best to keep your anger at bay. “You owe me a new lute, and I expect that on top of my pay for tonight,”

Huffing, you stormed off to where the rest of your band were, realization of what you just said not quite hitting you. As you went off, your back turned towards the Prince, you didn’t get to see the absolute shock on his face, nor did you see the way he held off the women beside him, telling them that it was fine, and there was no need to cause a fuss over your outburst. Once you were over to your group, you were greeted with the shocked faces of your friends, some of them were focused on the broken lute in your hand, while the others were more focused on you.

“Are you,” One of them started, reaching out a hand towards you, “Are you alright?”

You gave a hum of affirmation, easing some of their worries. “Don’t worry about me, my lute broke my fall,”

Once you were able to calm them down, another one piped up. “What did you say to the Prince? You looked pretty agitated,”

You waved your hand, trying to dispel their worries once more. “It wasn’t that bad, all I said was that just because he’s royalty doesn’t mean that he’s absolved from a simple apology. I mean, he’s the one who bumped into me.”

While your friends continued to stare at you incredulously, you couldn’t help but wonder just what they were thinking.

It took you exactly two minutes to realize what you had just said, and to whom.

Gasping, you put a hand up to your mouth, ducking your head as if that would hide you from the royals. You honestly don’t know what overcame you, all you know is that you were angry because he had the nerve to say that you were the one in the wrong, and that didn’t sit right with you. But now, oh god, you were surprised that he even let you walk away from him, after that outburst you had. While there weren’t stories about any sort of cruelness the Crown Prince had, there certainly were tales of how cold and dismissive he could be, and you certainly didn’t want to be on the receiving end of that.

Moving to whisper to one of your friends, you told them that you needed to leave, preferably at that moment. Having seen what just occurred, they ushered you to the door, telling you that it was probably for the best. So, as you made through the shadows of the magnificent ballroom, you made sure to stay hidden away from any prying eyes, just in case anyone saw their entertainment run away like prey from predator. Thankfully for you, your group seemed to distract all the nobility, playing another song as you left.

Turning around one last time, you found yourself locking eyes with the Prince once more, and, if you were a betting woman, you’d say that he was looking at you with both curiosity and, a bit of regret? It was a bit unnerving, to be stared down like that. However, remembering all of the times you’ve incorrectly guessed when gambling, you immediately crush that idea. There was no way he was looking at you with anything but contempt. Exiting the room, you made your way out of the castle and into the chilly air of the night, praying that you’d never have to see that Prince again.

Unfortunately for you, fate seemed to enjoy toying with you.

A few days after the royal ball, you found yourself in one of the dingiest taverns in the kingdom. While, of course, it wasn’t necessarily the best looking, you had to admit that both the patrons and the drinks were what kept you coming back for more. The unassuming tavern had become a home of sorts for you, somewhere that you could walk in to and be recognized immediately, greeted with a warm welcome. It was quite possibly your favorite place to preform, if not for the company, then because of the tips you’d receive.

Though you still mourned your dearly departed lute, the instrument that had been with you since you first started out, you were thankful to have backup options in case something awful happened. So, as you moved around the bar, singing some tune that lifted the mood of all the patrons, your fingers danced across your lyre, playing a melodic song that captivated all those around you. It was nice to have a change in pace, and although you would’ve much preferred the instrument you were most comfortable with, it was a pleasant change to hear the soft and angelic plucks of your lyre.

Dancing around the tavern, you gave flirtatious looks at the patrons who seemed to have the most money, giving them a wink as they tucked a few coins into the small bag at your side. Continuing to move around, you could vaguely hear the soft click of the front doors opening, indicating that yet another person had entered. Though you paid no mind, as you were wrapped up in your song, with your voice carrying an alluring tune, one that both put life into the bar, and seemingly had every person in there wrapped around your finger. As you turned around, your fingers still moving across the strings, you found yourself eyeing up a person you’d never seen here before.

Their figure was cladded in a black cloak, with the hood pulled up, covering most of their face. The clothes they wore beneath were hard to depict, but from what you could make out, it seemed as though this person was either a thief or a well off worker, as they seemed too nice for the typical patron. Eyes trailing up to their face, you couldn’t really see anything above their nose, but one thing that stuck out to you was the marking on the left side of their face, the scarred flesh stopping mid-cheek. For a brief moment, your mind wondered if the person was actually the prince, though the rational side of your brain told you that the idea was ridiculous, it’d be stupid of the prince to come here, of all places. He’d certainly have a death wish coming here, if not for the thieves who would want to either hold him for ransom, then the common folk who’d want to kill him due to their hatred of his father. However, as your song ended, your eyes finally connected with the mysterious stranger.

A mixed match of steel gray and a cool blue eyes had locked with yours.

Feeling your heart freeze in your chest, you quickly gave a bow to the audience, quickly glancing from side to side to see if anyone else had noticed the dumb prince. When you realized that no one had noticed, you quickly walked over to the hooded man, slamming your hand down onto counter beside him. He seemed startled at your sudden aggression, but as you smiled sweetly to the bartender nearby, he allowed himself to relax, though you could tell that he was still on edge.

“Can I get two pints of ale?” You asked, though it was more of a statement as you threw your coins onto the counter, nodding your head as the bartender went to pour your drinks.

Once you had the two mugs, you looked over at your new companion, nodding your head over to the most secluded area, telling him to follow. Walking towards the table in the corner, you found yourself blocking the prince’s body with your own, making sure that no one else figured out who he was. As you two slid into your seats, you pushed one of the mugs towards him, taking a long sip from yours.

Letting out a long sigh, you put your drink down, crossing your arms across your chest. “What are you doing here?”

He simply looked down at the drink set in front of him, his fingers tapping on the sides of the mug. When he didn’t give you an answer, you leaned in closer, your face certainly too close to be comfortable, especially knowing that the man sat in front of you was royalty. “Not going to answer me? Should I just assume that you were just wandering around town and you happened to stumble into any tavern you could find?”

He shook his head, his eyes finally meeting yours once more. As you continued to look at him with confusion swirling in your eyes, he bit his cheek, figuring out what exactly he should say.

“You said that just because I’m a ‘high and mighty’ prince, it doesn’t mean that I shouldn’t apologize for my actions,”

At that, you could feel your cheeks heating up, the mortification of what you’d said coming back full force. Taking a deep breath, you attempted to calm yourself, putting on a look of pure neutrality.

“So, you’re here to berate me for it? Have me arrested?” You truly shouldn’t have this much confidence, but you couldn’t help yourself. Being in your second home made you feel more comfortable, and you knew that those around you would help you out in a heartbeat.

However, it didn’t seem to be necessary, as the prince shook his head, and it was then you realized that he seemed to have a rather awkward look on his face.

“No, that’s not it at all,” He started, his hands gripping onto his drink tighter, “I wanted to say that you were right,”

You blinked, not quite sure if you heard him correctly. “Pardon?”

“No one has ever been as straightforward as you. I know that I come off as cold and abrasive, and there are times when I truly mean to be. However, I shouldn’t have been so rude to you that night when I was the one at fault,” Staring at you with an all too sincere look, he continued, “So, I’d like to apologize for my actions,”

You continued to look at him with a blank look on your face. It was still baffling to you that, firstly, the prince came to perhaps one of the shadiest taverns in the kingdom, just to apologize to you, and secondly, the fact that he seemed to be an entirely different person that the last time you saw him, even though it hadn’t been long. The prince you saw at the ball was stuck up and rude, but the man you saw before you looked uncomfortable and unsure of himself.

Clearing your throat, you averted your eyes from his, taking in the lively seen before you. “How did you even know I’d be here?”

“I asked your bandmates,” He said simply, as if it were the easiest answer in the world.

Your lips quirked downwards, and you made a mental note to scold them afterwards. After all, what would’ve happened if he wasn’t as kind as he was, then they’d be responsible for ether your banishment or your arrest.

Leaning back into your chair, your eyes flickered across his form, still unable to truly process the person in front of you. While you thought it was sweet of him to come all this way to formally apologize to you, you couldn’t help but think of how stupid he was, wandering around town all by himself. What would’ve happened if someone else were to have recognized him?

Deciding to voice your worries, you spoke, “So, what in the world made you think that coming to the shadiest part of the kingdom all by yourself was a good idea?”

He tilted his head, and it took all of your self restraint to not sigh once more. “I’m not alone,” Pointing towards another cloaked figure hanging by the door, he smiled, “I had one of my trusted knights come with me,”

Before you could even breathe, he glanced over to his side, “Besides, I figured that I should give you this in person,”

Eyes following to where the prince had looked, you finally noticed the rather fancy looking lute sitting by his side, and you felt your jaw drop. Snapping back up to look at him, you gasped.

“Your Highness, I can’t—“

“Shouto.”

When you gave him the most incredulous look, he simply shrugged, taking a sip of his beverage, “We’re far from the castle, there’s no need to call me ‘Your Highness,’ and besides,” he started, a small smirk playing on his lips, “Weren’t you the one who said I shouldn’t bring attention to myself?”

You bit your tongue, doing your best to hold in a smart remark. While it may be true that the two of you are far away from his castle walls, it didn’t mean that you were safe from punishment should he see fit. So, you approached the situation cautiously, making sure that you were clear in your response.

“Shouto,” You started, and you were fairly certain that you could see his eyes light up, “You cannot just show up to give me an expensive lute just because your conscious caught up with you. In fact, you shouldn’t even be here at all,”

You could see his face fall for a second, but before you could even try to soften your original statement, his blank mask was put back on, his lips forming a thin line.

“I came here out of my own volition, only to fulfill a request that you made that night,” Leaning in a bit closer, he raised a brow, “Or do you not remember demanding me to give you a new one?”

Though you usually prided yourself on being able to keep calm in some of the most stressful situations, you couldn’t help the nervous feeling situating itself in the pit of your stomach. After all, it wasn’t every day that you were inches away from the prince’s face.

Taking a deep breath to calm yourself, you spoke once more, “I said many things out of anger, but I didn’t expect you to take that part seriously.”

He didn’t answer you with words, instead bringing the instrument over the table and setting it beside you, to which you immediately pushed it back towards him, your eyes unrelenting. For a few more seconds, the two of you found yourselves pushing the lute back and forth, neither of you wanting to give in.

After what had to have been the fifth or sixth time, the prince sighed, pushing it back towards you for the final time. “I don’t understand why you’re so adamant about not taking it, but you may as well just accept it. After all, you’ll be needing it for the next ball,”

Your head jolted up, eyes boring into his, “Can you repeat that?”

The prince’s eyes lit up once again in mischief, though he did his best to mute his facial expressions. “There’s a ball next month, and I’ve already told my father that you’ll be playing once more.”

“Are you serious—“

“So I suggest that you take the lute and start practicing, perhaps learn a few new songs before the ball,” Standing up, he threw one last smirk in your direction, “Oh, and if I see that you don’t have that lute, I’ll be sure to get you an even more costly one.”

With that, the prince made his way over to his knight, and the two of them exited the tavern, leaving you to wonder just what the hell happened.

So, after a month had passed, and, though you detested it, you learned a few more songs, you found yourself coming in contact with Shouto Todoroki once more. Only this time, rather than being able to blend into the crowd, simply singing and dancing your heart out, you felt a pair of mismatched eyes watching your every move, and, if you were lucky, you could make out the slightest hint of a smile on his features whenever you met his eyes.

Similarly to the last ball, Shouto refused to dance with anyone, choosing to sit upon his throne as he watched the lords and lady’s dance to their heart’s content, and, just like last time, he sat through the multitudes of lords offering their daughters to his father with the promises of alliances that he truly didn’t care for, nor did he need.

However, instead of simply going through the motions, wanting nothing more for the ball to end, Shouto instead focused his sights on you, watching with a small smile on his face as you danced around from person to person. Instead of feeling a sense of resentment towards you like last time, he instead found great joy and entertainment in watching you preform, and he especially enjoyed it whenever the two of you made eye contact, only for you to turn your head, your entire body screaming with embarrassment. Though he wasn’t quite sure why, he could feel his heart speed up whenever you’d give him a subtle wave, a small enough gesture that no one else but him caught. He didn’t know why his face would flush at the sight of you smiling and laughing, or why he wished that he could be the one who made you look like that.

While the prince continued to watch you intently, you found yourself playing your last few songs, your fingers plucking the strings of the lute gifted to you by the stubborn prince. You did have to admit, the instrument he had made for you seemed to be made out of the finest materials, and it had a lovely sound.

As the night grew longer, and you were on your final song, you found yourself growing more bold in your movements, singing even louder and even dancing alongside some of the nobles in the room, whom seem to have enjoyed the show you put on for them. Singing the last few bars of the song, you twisted your body to face the prince, and, with an unfounded surge of confidence filling your body, you gave him a sly wink before bowing to the crowd, taking your leave.

Since you promptly turned around and walked over to your bandmates, you didn’t notice the surprised look developing on the prince’s face. If you’d waited for just a moment longer, you would’ve seen the dramatic shift in color from his usually pale face to a red that could rival the shade of his hair. You would’ve also noticed, had you waited, that Shouto promptly excused himself, an action that wasn’t too unusual for the party hating prince, walking quickly down the steps and out the door in order to reach you.

Just before you could head back into the carriage the King had sent for you, you felt a hand tug at your wrist, preventing you from moving further. Whipping your head around, you made eye contact with Shouto, who also seemed to be just as shocked as you due to his actions. Raising a brow, you stepped closer to the man, giving him a quizzical look.

“Your Highness,” You started, glancing down at where his hand held you, “Is there something wrong?”

At the sound of your voice, Shouto released you from his grip, moving to rest his hands by his sides, “Ah, no, everything’s fine,”

Nodding your head slowly, you took a cautious step towards the carriage, not quite sure if you were dismissed. When you noticed the downcast look upon the prince’s face, you bit your lip, weighing your options carefully. Deciding that you may as well gamble with fate, you spoke up:

“It was nice to see you again, Shouto,” You started, giggling as the prince looked up at you with shock, “Even though it was entirely your fault for this,”

With that, you stepped one step further, grabbing one of his hands in yours and pressing a soft kiss to the back of his hand before waving goodbye, entering your carriage. As you entered, you watched the prince’s face turn from one of shock to one you couldn’t quite read. Just as the carriage was about to take off, with you wondering if you’d insulted him just now, you watched in surprise as he clambered into the seat beside you, shutting the door quickly behind him.

“What are you doing?” You hissed, looking out the window to see if anyone had seen him.

Luckily for you, the only person who had seen the prince enter in with you was your coachman, and you supposed you could pay him off to keep his mouth shut. However, that still left you with the confusion as to why the prince jumped in beside you. As you continued to stare at him for an answer, he began to stumble over his words, something so uncharacteristically charming.

“I—“ He started, immediately cutting himself off as he tried to better answer your question, “Well, I’m not really sure what to say. My body was moving on its own,”

You gave him the most dry look you could’ve mustered, though you couldn’t find it in you to be irritated. Sighing, you leaned back into your seat, raising an eyebrow at the man. “You do know that I could be in serious trouble if you come with me, they’d think that I kidnapped you,”

He giggled at that, a sound that you wanted to hear more of. “Ah yes, the bard and serial kidnapper, (Y/N),”

You weren’t sure why, but the way he said your name made your heart flutter. However, you pushed that feeling down immediately, staring at him with a serious look in your eye. He seemed to understand the situation, opting to speak once more.

“I’m truly not sure why I jumped in, all I know is that I wasn’t ready to say goodbye just yet,” He smiled at you, taking your hand into his, “You make me feel so many different emotions that I have yet to feel,”

You scoffed, yet you still let him hold your hand, “Oh really? Like what?”

“Envy,” He stated simply, before his face grew into an even bigger grin, “Amusement, happiness, and perhaps a few more that I can’t quite describe,”

He leaned in closer, and you felt your throat dry, watching as he simply stared at you. You wanted both to kick him out of the carriage to save face, and to pull him even closer, though you weren’t quite sure which urge was stronger. In all honesty, you hoped that he couldn’t hear how quickly your heart was beating, not wanting him to get an even bigger ego boost than before.

The two of you continued to stare at one another, neither of you making a move until the coachman coughed awkwardly.

“Miss,” He started, his voice catching both of you off guard, “Should we be heading off?”

Looking to the source of the voice, then back at the prince in front of you, you watched as he leaned in closer to your ear, whispering, “I’ve already told my guard to cover for me, I’ll be fine,”

Pursing your lips, you didn’t take your eyes off of the man in front of you as you called out, “Yes, let’s go.”

Rather than having him take you back to your home, you instead had the coachman take you to the center of the city, where the festivities never ended and the two of you could blend in without a trace. Before the two of you exited the vehicle, you quickly shoved off any symbols of royalty that cladded Shouto’s figure. He watched in amusement as you hastily took off his cloak and royal broaches, not bothering to help you one bit. As you sat back a bit, trying to see how he looked, you shrugged your shoulders, figuring that it was as good as it was going to get.

“You just look like a wealthier man,” You sighed, tugging his hand as you exited the carriage, “I suppose that’ll have to do,”

“I am a wealthier man,” He pointed out, waiting for you as you paid a hefty amount to the coachman, hoping that it would buy his silence.

You simply waved your hand, as if dismissing him. Pulling him into the center, you began to show him the many attractions and foods that were in the city. You wanted to show him more of what he never got to see, wanted him to experience more than he ever got to do. Watching him stare in awe of the sheer amount of stalls that were open for the night market made your heart soar, and you couldn’t help but giggle whenever he’d ask you what something was. You allowed yourself to be pulled in every direction, letting him choose where he wanted to go, and what he wanted to try. There was one moment when you lost him in the crowd, being pulled away from his side. You were panicked at first, worrying that someone would’ve recognized him, and then the two of you would be in trouble. However, when you felt a hand intertwine with yours, you felt yourself let out a huge sigh, scolding him gently for leaving your side. He apologized with a cheeky smile, telling you that he got distracted by something.

For the rest of your time in the city, the two of you never disconnected your hands.

As the night began to wind down, you pulled him towards a clearing in the park, finding some space where no one could bother the two of you. Sitting down on the grass, you motioned for him to join you, staring out to watch the river’s current. You could feel his presence beside you, his body emanating a comforting warmth that almost had you leaning into him. Staring out into the horizon, neither of you spoke, instead opting to simply enjoy the moment with one another.

It was surprising to you, just how well you seemed to get along with the prince. Though your first impressions of one another weren’t exactly something to marvel over, you were surprised by just how well your personalities went together. It felt as though you had known each other in another life, as if you grew to care for one another then, and it was flowing over to the present. Though you weren’t one to believe in myths such as that, you couldn’t help but smile at the idea of having known the prince in a past life, and you wondered what you’d done to be lucky enough to meet him once more.

Turning your head to the side, you made eye contact with Shouto, whom, once caught, whipped his head to the other side, a steady blush rising from his neck. Throwing your head back, you let out a laugh at his actions, amused with how he responded. Scooting just a bit closer, you bumped his shoulder with your own.

“Enjoying the view?” You teased, giggling harder when his face became a bright red.

Glancing at you from the corner of his eye, he smiled. “If I was?”

You playfully rolled your eyes, doing your best to keep the heat from rising to your own face. “Can’t blame you, really,”

Shouto let a laugh out at that, tilting his head back at the sound. Once more, the two of you grew silent, with nothing but the far away chatter from the townsfolk filling the night air. As the night grew colder, and the sky turned from a violet shade to a pitch black void, you turned your head to look at Shouto, giving him a sad smile.

“Well, you should probably head back now, wouldn’t want the King to start a war looking for you,”

He scoffed, but nonetheless stood up, extending a hand for you to take. Once the two of you stood up, with you brushing off your lap for any excess debris, Shouto continued to hold your hand in his, not ready to let you go just yet. When you noticed that he was making no effort in leaving, you gave him a quizzical look.

“What’s wrong?” You asked, before deciding to tease him a little, “Don’t tell me you don’t know how to get home,”

Rather than feeding into your teasing like normal, he instead fished for something in his pocket with his free hand, fumbling for a bit before finally pulling out a simple locket, one that you’d been not so secretly eyeing since the two of you got there.

It was by no means an extravagant necklace, it was just a simple gold locket, the shape of a small oval and a chain that went down to your collarbone. You looked from the necklace in his hand back to his face, confusion taking over your features.

“Didn’t I tell you last time that I didn’t want you to go and buy me things?” You questioned.

He nodded, taking his hand out of yours and putting the necklace on you, his hands brushing the back of your neck for a moment longer than they needed to. “If there’s something you should know about me, it’s that I usually don’t comply,”

You huffed out a laugh, doing your best to disguise your flustered state, though you were sure he could read you like a book. “You know, if you keep buying me things, I’m going to get used to it,”

“Maybe you should,”

Before you could even protest, he moved in closer, pressing a kiss to your cheek. It was so soft and his movements were so unsure that you weren’t quite sure that you hadn’t imagined it. Touching the spot where his lips had rested, you looked up at him in shock, though he refused to make eye contact with you once more.

“I hope to see you again, (Y/N),” He spoke, clearing his throat as he began to walk away.

You didn’t let him get far, however, as you quickly tug on his wrist, and as he turned to ask what you needed, you pressed your lips onto his, giving him a sweet kiss. At first, you felt him stiffen beneath you, and just as you were about to move away, to apologize immediately, he wrapped his arms around your waist, pulling you in closer.

For a few minutes, the two of you simply stood in the darkness, pressing soft kisses to each other’s faces, basking in the glow of your reciprocated feelings. However, you knew that he needed to be back soon, if not for fear of being found out, then because the night was much too dangerous for a royal like him. Reluctantly, you pulled away from his embrace, giggling at his pout.

“You really need to get going now,” You said, brushing his hair away from his face, “You’re sure to be in trouble if they find you missing,”

He sighed, not wanting to move away, but knew you were right. Resting his forehead on yours, he gave you one last kiss, smiling hopefully at you. “So, can I see you again?”

You rolled your eyes. “You’re the prince, you could send your knights to come and collect me at any time,”

When he gave you a flat look you grinned, nuzzling your nose into his neck. “Of course you can, just say the word and I’ll be there,”

Giving you one last bright smile, he finally detached himself from you, his face lit up in pure excitement.

“Then, how about tomorrow?”

Just like that, the two of you ended up spending as much time as you possibly could together, whether it be due to his father hiring you for the balls he hosted, or when Shouto snuck out of the castle to you. Though you couldn’t see each other every day, on the days that you could see each other, it felt as though you’d never even left the others side.

You’d spend your days together mostly exploring more of the city, as Shouto had mentioned to you that, being the heir to the throne, he wasn’t allowed to be outside much. You made sure to give him all of the experiences he wanted, even the simple, mundane ones like going to the local bakery to buy some desserts. Other times, the two of you would simply lounge around outside, with Shouto’s head resting against your back as you strummed your lute, softly singing a ballad you had learned on the road.

Of course, the two of you never really defined your relationship, and, in all honesty, you were afraid to even try to. You knew what you were getting yourself into, you knew that you shouldn’t hold such affection for the Crown Prince, but you couldn’t help it. You couldn’t help the way your heart fluttered whenever he looked at you, how you felt as though you were soaring whenever he touched you, or how you felt as though you were unstoppable whenever he kissed you. Deep in your heart, you knew that this wouldn’t last forever, that he’d eventually have his duties to attend, and you’d simply be a distant memory for him. However, you couldn’t bring yourself to worry about that now. Instead, you simply worried about the smaller things, such as making sure Shouto didn’t hurt himself, or making sure that no one would recognize him.

You didn’t realize just how short your time with him would be.

On a bright, warm, summer day, you waited outside of the castle walls, hidden away from any of the guards patrolling the outside. Today you were supposed to be going on a picnic with Shouto, perhaps just bask in the sun’s rays. It had been a few days since you’d last seen him, since an old friend of the King was coming to visit, and Shouto was to help entertain them. Of course, you’d been understanding of the situation, simply telling him that you’d wait. So, when the day finally came that one of his most trusted knights had shown up at your door to personally deliver a letter from the prince, asking if you’d join him for a picnic, you were quick to agree.

Resting on the wall, you let out a small sigh. He was running a bit late, but you figured that he was probably just trying to find an excuse to leave his father. As you turned around to face the entrance to the castle, you noticed a carriage coming in at the front. You watched as a familiar head of red and white hair popped out of the carriage, making a small smile cross your lips. However, before you could even breathe, you noticed another figure come out beside him:

A rather regal looking woman had stepped out of the carriage beside him, linking her arm in his as she whispered something to him, giggling. As the two were making their way towards the castle, you watched the mysterious woman stare up at him with a look that you knew very well, holding your breath as you saw her pressing a kiss to the corner of his mouth. You watched as he didn’t push her away, instead allowing her to latch onto him. Humming to yourself, you watched as his eyes wandered around, finally locking with yours, his eyes going comically wide. But you didn’t bother waiting around to see what he’d do. Instead, you simply frowned, making your way back towards the city, deciding that it’d be a lovely day to go and busk in the park.

For the rest of the day, you found yourself seated on the grassy ground, strumming the lyre that you’d exchanged for your lute at home, singing to your hearts content. You ended up making good tips, and you ended up having an audience by the end of your final song. Once you had finished, you bowed slightly towards the crowd, before moving to head back into town, hoping that you could get a drink before heading home.

However, fate seemed to enjoy playing with your emotions.

Just as you were nearing your favorite tavern, you heard a voice call out to you, followed by a hand catching your wrist. Turning around, you found yourself facing a green haired knight, who looked to be out of breath.

“Sir Midoriya,” You started, turning so you could better face him, “How can I help you?”

He took in a deep gulp of air before shuffling through his belongings, eventually settling on a folded piece of paper, handing it to you. Curiously, you slowly opened the piece of parchment, scoffing as you looked at the location Shouto had wanted you to meet up. Folding the note back up, you handed it back to Midoriya, giving him a smile full of venom.

“Sir Midoriya, please do me a favor and tell His Royal Highness that he can go and fuck himself for all I care,” Giving the man a bow, you entered the tavern, only to quickly turn back and add, “Word for word, please.”

As you slammed the door shut, you thought that would be the end of it, though you supposed that was just wishful thinking. Once the beautiful blue sky of the afternoon had turned into a rosy pink color, you found yourself sitting in one of the more seclusive parts of the tavern, watching the patrons of the bar as you slowly sipped on your drink. You weren’t drunk by any stretch of the word, having not really been in the mood to be throwing up your guts the next day, though as soon as you heard the door open, and your eyes landed on a familiar looking figure, you wished that you had been.

You watched as mismatched eyes scanned the crowd, eyebrows raising just a hair when his eyes met yours. Figuring that leaving was no longer an option, you waited for the prince to make his way over to you, wanting nothing more than to get this conversation over with. As he finally sat down in front of you, his eyes boring into yours, you took a long swig of your drink, letting out a sigh as you swallowed.

Setting the mug down, you crossed your arms. “Long way away from home, Your Highness,”

At the sound of his title, he flinched, but he didn’t let that deter him, “(Y/N), let me explain—“

“What’s there to explain?” You questioned, your head tilting in almost a mocking manner, “I get it, you’re a prince. You were going to marry some rich girl eventually, there’s nothing to talk about.”

“(Y/N)—“

“It’s not like we had a chance anyways, it was all just supposed to be fun, right?” You asked, putting on a guarded smile.

He sighed, and you could tell you were getting under his skin. “Would you let me explain?”

When you didn’t say anything, he took it as his chance to go. “I didn’t even know of her until a few days ago. She’s the daughter of one of the most influential Lord’s in the kingdom, and apparently my father made a deal with him, that’s why I’ve been with her,” He reached out to hold your hand, inwardly letting out a breath of relief when you didn’t pull away, “I never wanted this to just be ‘fun,’ and you know that,”

You let out a laugh, though it’s devoid of any humor. “I didn’t think that you were hiding some secret wife, Your Highness, but her being here just reminds me of how different we are. I’m not royalty, and there’s certainly no way that your father would let you be with some random commoner, so is it really worth it to prolong something that’s bound to break?”

“You don’t have to be royalty, I could always,” He trailed off, but you knew what he was getting at.

“Do you really think he’d let you get away that easily?” You asked, and when he didn’t respond you continued, “Besides, you shouldn’t throw away the rest of your life for some random bard, Your Highness. Don’t make this harder than it needs to be,”

Pulling your hand away from his, you stood from your seat, giving him a small bow as you walked towards the front door, but not before whispering to his knight to take him back. As you opened the entrance of the tavern, you looked back at the prince you left behind, your heart cracking slightly as you touched the locket on your neck. Smiling, you let the door shut behind you, closing that chapter of your life.

About four months after the last time you saw the Prince, you heard news that he was to marry one of the Lady’s from a dukedom not too far away from the kingdom, one that had a monopoly over some profitable trade routes. Though the King insisted it was a marriage of love, word quickly spread amongst the townsfolk that the Prince was not particularly fond of his bride-to-be, but none of them dared to speak it.

A year later, the Prince had married his “sweetheart,” and you had found another. While you loved them dearly, you still couldn’t deny the hole in your heart, one that longed to be filled, yet would never be completely whole.

One night, when your lover had long since gone to bed, you sat out in the night, letting the cool breeze wash over you. As you looked up to the stars, you could faintly make out a constellation of two lovers, and, as your hand went to touch the locket sitting above your heart, you prayed to any deity that would listen to you, pleading with them to bring you back to your prince in the next life, and that next time, the two of you could finally be happy.

Little did you know, that in a castle not too far away from you, a certain prince was looking at the very same stars in the sky, praying for the same thing.

#bnha #mha #bnha imagines #mha imagines #bnha x reader #mha x reader #boku no hero academia #my hero academia #todoroki shouto #todoroki shoto #shoto todoroki #todoroki x reader #todoroki shouto x reader #todoroki shoto x reader

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darklymelanatedstories · 3 years

Text

You will be mine (ft Piccolo&ChiChi)

Part 1

Everything went downhill when he left. When he died at the hands of a monster, who the police still could not find, and left Gohan and I alone, along with another baby already on the way. Having one more mouth to feed while working at my horrid job just to make ends meet and make sure my baby boy doesn't go to bed hungry.

Goku wasn't the most involved parent but he kept us living a comfortable life. He kept us safe and happy but now he's gone and we couldn't even give him a proper send off because the detectives still haven't found the body of my supposedly deceased husband.

"There was blood all over the scene. The DNA match, it's your husband. But there's footsteps leading away from the scene but they stop at a dead end."

How could his corpse just get up. Was he still alive?

"An anonymous witness said that they saw his body there before we arrived. The footprints match with the sneakers he wore."

It doesn't make sense. He couldn't have just walked away and vanished of the face of the earth.

"It's no doubt that this is a suicide. There isn't any evidence of another human being that was at the scene of the crime."

They say it was suicide but I know my Goku. He was too happy to have taken his own life. He had so much to live for. He had his life, his friends. He had us...he had me.

No. Someone must've done it. For some reason Goku's good nature got him more enemies than friends. Someone must've done it.

"Alright, ma'am. Since you keep pushing for this, who you do think would want your husband dead?"

A lot of people. The people that couldn't get rid of Goku just as he couldn't get rid them.

"Frieza? You better have some pretty tight evidence and a lot of guts to be accusing one of the most powerful people on Earth for murdering your husband."

"Cell? Cell has been locked in holding for years. He couldn't have done this and the androids have done their time. Your husband even fought for their freedom, remember?"

"Chi Chi, you honestly think the husband of Bulma Briefs could have done this? If it were Vegeta we'd have known by now. I know this is a hard time but you should stop wasting our time and going around accusing people. You have a child to look after. You don't wanna have anyone suing or pressing charges."

Could even be one of his closest friends. These guys weren't always angels when they met Goku. But maybe they were right. Maybe I let Goku's death get to me. I can't worry about that now. I have a child to look after and soon I'll have two.

Speaking of which...

"Hey mom we're back." Placing the sparkling clean plate, from my absentminded cleaning, back into the sink, I placed a smile on my face before turning to my little boy who was already running to me to trap in one of his powerful bear hugs.

"Sorry we're late. We got held up a bit.",he said.

"It was my fault." The sound of the deep baritone voice echoed in the kitchen as he stepped in with one hand stuffed in his jean pocket and the other one clutching something tightly in his palm.

"We thought we'd get you something nice." He looked at Gohan, giving him a smirk. "Right, Gohan?"

"Yeah!!" My little boy started jumping up and down excitedly then grabbed my hand impatiently to drag me to the outside.

"Ok calm down! What is it you wanted me to–"

My eyes widened. In front of me was a big red capsule Corp brand car with a large white bow on the hood. Probably a newer model since I haven't seen much of them driven around.

"What a beautiful car." I was about to ask why piccolo suddenly got himself a new car when he came up next to me swaying the keys on his finger.

"And it's all yours."

I looked at him in disbelief. "Mine?"

"Yep. I figured it'd help that you don't have to take the bus to work everyday plus it'd save you alot of time on your errands."

I was stuck between feeling happy and grateful for the thought and amazing gift, and feeling insulted to be thought of as a charity case. I don't know how many times I've told him that I was fine. I wasn't a damsel in distress that needed saving. I could do this one my own but–he's so sweet.

Ever since Goku "died" Piccolo has been nothing but helpful despite me practically chasing him away whenever he offered his services or money. Goku wasn't a very wealthy man and he didn't have life insurance so when he died he left us high and dry, but Piccolo would always be there...for some reason.

Always coming around whenever he had the chance to spend time with Gohan or just to keep me company and be my shoulder to cry on whenever I missed Goku.

Maybe it has something to do with him being very close to Gohan but I can't complain. Out of all the people I know, Piccolo proved to be the one I can trust.

"So, do you want to try it out?",he asked. I was so busy with my own thoughts I didn't even realize that he had opened the door for me.

"Uh," Gohan suddenly had a nervous look on his face. "Are you sure about this, Mr Piccolo? Mom is a already a force to be reckoned with, now imagine what her with road rage would be like."

Piccolo's eyes widened looking as if he paled at the thought. "On second thought, it's getting dark. Maybe we should try it out another–"

"Nope, too late!",I shouted, jumping into the driver's seat and clutching the steering wheel just in case the boys would try pulling me out.

Piccolo got into the driver's seat and we noticed the little scamp trying to creep away.

Piccolo honked the horn, startling him and freezing him on the spot. "Gohan, get in here!"

"But I've got homework–"

"Oh no, it was your idea to go car shopping. If I die, you're dying with me."

I rolled my eyes as I turned the key. "Jeez, you don't drive for a few years and now people are afraid you might kill them."

Hearing a laugh from my passenger I turned to find his obsidian eyes staring back at me. His eyes were filled with something, something I can't put my finger on.

I noticed his lip twitch a bit before he turned away from me and put his seatbelt on. "Let the kid stay home and I'll judge your terrible driving myself."

"It's passengers like you that make me wanna crash the car.",I teased earning a growl and slightly terrified look on his face. I rolled down my window and told Gohan to stay safe and that I'd be back soon.

Piccolo scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest, covering the Namek logo on his white T-shirt. "He'll be fine, it's me I'm more worried about."

•••

"So how was that?",I asked with a smug look on my face as I parked the car outside his home. Hey, he had to get home somehow.

He grunted. "I'm surprised I made it in one piece."

"Listen, if you're too chicken then don't ride with me next time."

"Very funny.",he said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

Raising my head up with a smile I replied with, "I know, I'm hilarious."

He gave me a scowl to which I just laughed at because I couldn't take him seriously no matter how intimidating he might seem.

"Thank you.",I said once I regained composure. "For everything. I really appreciate you helping our family out."

He flashed me a rare smile. "Well it wasn't easy, what with you threatening to end my life with your murderous frying pan and all."

I nudged him in the arm. "Leave my frying pan out of this."

I took his hand in mine, feeling how he stiffened lightly at my touch. He looked at me and I gave him a warm smile. "Goku was right about you and I see why Gohan loves you too. I'm lucky to have a friend like you, Piccolo."

He sighed, it sounded...sad. Maybe it was because the mention of Goku.

"Yeah, friends.",he muttered. "That's what they're for, right?"

I squeezed his hand gently and I felt him do the same. There seemed to be a lingering before he let go and got out of the car.

I said my goodbyes and drove off for home. I'm about to have another baby in 8 months. I have to find my husband's killer, with or without the stupid police. At least I know that I'll have Piccolo by my side to help me.

_________________________________________

Intoxicated, he stepped into the dark room where the only light source was coming from the open door from which he came him and the windows where the curtains weren't shut. Finishing his glass of whiskey in one chug, he manoeuvred his way to his bed, the torturous words still replaying in his mind.

When he neared his bed, he noticed the box on his dresser. The box he forgot to put back in his hiding place. The box he didn't want to put back. He loved looking at it. The box brought back that loving memory.

The box that contained the ring.

The ring of the man he had murdered.

A devilish smirk shaped his lips as he opened it, the moonlight shining on the gold ring.

He held it up to his face as a chuckle left his lips which immediately turned into a deranged cackle.

Phase one was complete.

"You will be mine."

#piccolo #chi chi #piccolo x Chi Chi #goku #Gochi #gohan #chiccolo

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tabloidtoc · 3 years

Text

National Enquirer, March 15

You can buy a copy of this issue for your very own at my eBay store: https://www.ebay.com/str/bradentonbooks

Cover: Tiger Woods' car crash

Page 2: Bruce Springsteen has beaten the DUI charges leveled against him after federal prosecutors couldn't find a drop of evidence he had been drinking over the legal limit -- with an acceptable blood alcohol level of 0.02 well below the 0.08 threshold at the time of his arrest in Sandy Hook, New Jersey, prosecutors backed off two of their charges for drunken and reckless driving -- the rocker did plead guilty to a third charge, admitting he had two small shots of tequila on federal parkland and for that, he was fines $500 plus $40 in court costs

Page 3: Patrick Dempsey's dreamy return to Grey's Anatomy was a big hit with fans but his well-received cameo left series star Ellen Pompeo seething with jealousy -- Ellen may have permitted Patrick to revisit his old stomping grounds in Meredith Grey's fever dreams in season 17 but she doesn't want him coming back permanently and swiping her hard-earned glory and she considers herself the anchor of the show and thought she was rid of this guy after making the show her own, but now fans are begging for him to be brought back and Ellen is furious -- it's no secret Ellen hated the first 10 years of the show when Patrick was the star and she feels the series got better after he left and she became a big-shot producer, something she'd been demanding for years -- she likes being in control and calling the shots and clearly thinks she got this deal on her merit alone but it's also because she's the star who's lasted the longest; most of the original cast had already left and bosses had to cave in to keep her -- unfortunately being in charge hasn't amounted to better ratings and show has been slipping consistently in recent years and the main reason they brought Patrick back on was to spike the ratings, which it did and now producers are considering offering Patrick a full-time gig but Ellen will do everything in her power to prevent Patrick from stealing her thunder again

Page 4: Home reno gurus Chip and Joanna Gaines are clashing over his wild spending, and she's desperate to rein him in before they land in the poorhouse -- Chip and Jo are rich on paper and worth $20 million in property and assets but they were hit hard by the pandemic like everyone else and recovery has been sluggish to say the least -- they're just getting back on their feet and under a ton of pressure to get their Magnolia network off to a running start but Chip, as usual, is casual when it comes to money and it frustrates Jo to see him buying things they don't need, like new tools and equipment when the old ones work just fine and overpaying on lumber and masonry -- Chip is always shopping and not always for the house; he's got a boot fetish and has dozens of pairs, plus he treats the crew to free cappuccino and treats from their coffeehouse several time a day and Chip wants the best of everything for himself and everyone else

* Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds are ready to welcome baby number four through adoption -- the couple who are parents of daughters James and Inez and Betty hope to find their next child in South America and they've invested time and money sponsoring immigrant children and they're warming up to the idea of providing an orphaned baby or toddler with a forever home -- a 16-year-old girl they sponsored through the Young Center for Immigrant Children's Rights was deported back to Honduras and they were heartbroken, and Blake and Ryan are now determined to provide a child with a happy home and opportunities he or she wouldn't have in their native country

Page 5: Newlyweds Pamela Anderson and Dan Hayhurst are itching to start a family and are already trying for a baby of their own -- 53-year-old Pam tied the knot with the 40-year-old handyman on Christmas Eve at her Vancouver Island home and she's been telling pals they hope to have happy news soon -- Pam wants to build a whole new clan with Dan and he's on board even though they each have kids with their exes and Dan's two kids from a previous relationship are living with the couple at Pam's pad -- the couple love the idea of adopting or going the surrogate route and it's not something they want to waste any time over

Page 6: Weary Kelly Clarkson is juggling her skyrocketing career and brutal divorce battle with estranged husband Brandon Blackstock on less than six hours sleep a night and Kelly has also been pushing to sell her homes in Nashville and Encino, while running her L.A.-based talk show and recording new music -- she's been running herself ragged for months and she's feeling the burn in a big way but despite her exhaustion, she can't sleep and nothing she tries works and the most shut-eye she catches is two, three hours at a time; she lays awake in bed at night worrying and crying

* Suddenly remorseful Kanye West has spiraled into depression and despair since soon-to-be ex-wife Kim Kardashian filed for divorce -- for all their problems, Kanye realizes she was the one person who was there for him whenever he went off the deep end and now he knows he's alone and seriously doubts he can hold his life together -- without Kim and her family to keep his wild impulses in check, he may succumb to the poor judgment and wild mood swings that have marked his chronic bipolar disorder as they were the ones who reminded him to take his meds and steer clear of recreational drugs and now all he has is a circle of yes-men he doesn't listen to anyway -- since the split, Kanye has shuttled between his ranch in Cody, Wyoming and a hotel in L.A. near the sprawling mansion he once shared with Kim and he's been blowing up her phone to beg forgiveness, but she won't take his calls and it's driving him off the deep end again

Page 7: Kourtney Kardashian is fed up with Shanna Moakler's online barbs and is plotting her revenge against the ex-wife of her new squeeze -- since Kourtney and Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker went public with their romance last month, former pageant queen Shanna has been throwing social media shade and Kourtney's tired of taking Shanna's crap and she's going to fire back soon and Kourtney's using her wide network of contacts in Hollywood to bad-mouth Shanna and she's placing calls to casting directors and perspective suitors to put as many potholes in her love rival's path as possible and she plans to make Shanna regret messing with her

Page 8: Nearly two years after Johnny Depp was forced to exit Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean franchise following ex-wife Amber Heard's allegations of abuse, the company has kicked him while he's down by considering her for a plum part -- Johnny is fuming over news that Amber is reportedly in contention to play fairy-tale heroine Rapunzel in the studio's upcoming live-action remake of Tangled -- for Amber to be in the running for a Disney pic is the ultimate insult to him especially because he believes the company made millions of dollars off his name

Page 9: Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle had a whopping $500 million motive to betray Queen Elizabeth -- outraged at being cut loose by the British royals, the couple retaliated by secretly negotiating backroom Hollywood megadeals and going public on TV -- Harry and Meghan see themselves as victims of an out-of-touch monarchy and want revenge and selling out Harry's family is the way to get it and cash in big-time; Meghan's convinced they'll have deals totaling $500 million by the end of the year but they better act fast because Hollywood is a fickle town where even royalty can be chewed up and spat out

Page 10: Hot Shots -- Amelia Hamlin stuck to the shore while pink-haired beau Scott Disick made waves in Miami, Steve Martin nibbled on a pretzel while filming Only Murders in the Building in NYC, Floyd Mayweather turned 44 and celebrated with a birthday bash in Miami, Bachelorette reject Tyler Cameron showed off his toned tummy in Florida

Page 11: Drew Barrymore feels deeply for dad-controlled Britney Spears because she's been there: she said her mom locked her away in a loony bin for over a year when she was just 13 -- Drew said it's hard to grow up in front of people and she empathizes with Britney and Paris Hilton and any star who can't escape the glare of celebrity -- Drew's mom put her in a place that was a full psychiatric ward and says she used to laugh at those Malibu 30-day places because she was in a place for a year and a half called Van Nuys Psychiatric and you couldn't mess around there and if you did, you would either get thrown in the padded room or put in stretcher restraints and tied up

* Eddie Murphy famously bragged he has never changed a diaper in his life despite having so many kids and now he's set on having another baby with fiancee Paige Butcher and this will make baby No. 11 for Eddie -- he says his genes are incredible as ever, so why stop; he's super fit and Paige is in amazing shape at age 41 and wants at least one more baby so they're going to go for it and are already trying

Page 12: Straight Shuter gossip column -- CNN could blitz news veteran Wolf Blitzer as the network revamps its lineup and TV is a young person's game and no one knows that better than Wolf and after 31 years at CNN, he sees new faces getting promoted and knows his days are numbered and Jim Acosta and Poppy Harlow are the future of CNN, not Wolf -- although Wolf's airtime has been cut as Jake Tapper's role expands, he isn't bitter or angry but instead he's grateful for an amazing run

* Love It or List It star Hilary Farr is moving on to her own show and leaving partner David Visentin in the dust -- Hilary's new show is basically the same one she and David have been doing for years, with him edited out and David was blindsided by the news and he knows HGTV has sent out a casting notice for the new show and he's hurt and angry especially because Love It or List It hasn't been renewed yet

* Sacked Dancing with the Stars host Tom Bergeron has reached out to Chris Harrison after he stepped away from The Bachelor amid a racist scandal -- Tom wasn't fired over a scandal, but he knows exactly what Chris is going through because both of them thought they had a job for life, but nothing lasts forever -- Tom is a good guy and wants Chris to know he's around if Chris needs anything

* Tom Felton, who played Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter films, spruced up for the camera (picture)

Page 13: Brooke Shields isn't letting a busted leg keep her down but she's taking her recovery one step at a time -- she shared an Instagram video showing her cautiously hobbling on crutches and explained she broker her femur and she was beginning to mend -- she didn't reveal what caused the unlucky break

* Outspoken actress Rose McGowan is living a charmed life in Mexico and the Harvey Weinstein accuser has headed south of the border and vows never to return to the United States -- she got her permanent residency card from Mexico and is grateful to have it and says it's a really healing land and it is truly magical -- she moved at the dawn of the COVID-19 pandemic because she knew it was going to get really bad in America and she had a moment to figure out where she wanted to be

* Picky perfectionist Blake Shelton listens to around 300 songs to choose what to record for each of his albums, according to his longtime producer -- music pro Scott Hendricks said he wades through nearly 3000 tracks by professional songwriters to select tunes for Blake to consider and then Blake methodically whittles down the nominees until he's certain which songs he wants to record but Scott admitted that process is more difficult for him culling the 300 from the 3000 -- Scott, who has worked with Blake for most of his career, said of their close professional relationship that the chemistry works and they have recorded several hundred or more songs together and they are getting ready to go do some more

Page 14: Crime

Page 15: Killer kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman's busted beauty queen bride will be marked for death behind bars -- if Emma Coronel Aispuro snitches to the feds about the bloodthirsty Mexican Sinaloa drug cartel long run by her caged husband, she'll put a big fat bulls-eye on her back -- according to a federal complaint, Coronel was intimately involved in her husband's multibillion-dollar drug-running racket and acted as his criminal agent while he was on the lam and the mother of El Chapo's two young daughters helped mastermind her spouse's daring 2015 tunnel escape from a Mexican prison and also paid him $100,000 for another failed bust-out a year later -- they are going to put the heat on her to spill more details on other top operatives in the cartel and take them down, too, but if she spills, it will be open season on her on the inside

Page 16: Dr. Dre appears to rap about estranged wife Nicole Young in a song filled with angry, explicit lyrics calling someone in his life a greedy bitch -- DJ Silk previewed part of a new track from Dre full of digs presumably at Nicole, with whom he has been locked in a nasty divorce -- his lyrics include: Trying to kill me with them lies and that perjury/ I see you trying to f--k me while I'm in surgery / In ICU death bed on some money s--t / Greedy bitch take a pic / Girl you know how money get

* Hollywood Hookups -- Lorenzo Lamas is set to wed for the sixth time to model Kenna Scott, Justin Hartley and Chrishell Stause are officially divorced, Adam Rippon is engaged to Jussi-Pekka Kajaala

Page 17: Former Home Improvement kid Zachery Ty Bryan has pleaded guilty to two felony counts of domestic violence -- Zachery, now 39, has been sentenced to three years of probation and will also have to take part in a batterer intervention program

* John Mayer has dated a succession of famous singers including Katy Perry, Taylor Swift and Halsey and he hopes they write chart-topping songs about him and admitted he'd be jazzed if his exes enshrined him in song, saying sometimes a song is so good he hopes it's about him and he even scours their lyrics for clues -- Taylor already has several tracks that have been linked to John including Dear John

* Ruthless chef Gordon Ramsay said he's cooked up his own plan to keep his kids humble -- he has five kids with wife Tana: Megan, twins Holly and Jack, Tilly and Oscar but said he plans to leave most of his reported $200 million fortune to charity -- Gordon explained his kids must tidy up after dinners, can only fly coach and are expected to learn how to cook for themselves and he's forbidden them from taking costly taxis and the foulmouthed foodie insisted they don't swear

Page 18: American Life

Page 19: Roseanne Barr was blindsided by a humiliating new scandal after risque photos from the early '90s recently emerged which appear to show her teenage daughters licking her boobs -- Roseanne posed for the shots with her two youngest girls at a Glamour Shots studio in Iowa more than 25 years ago and the photographer who claimed he snapped the fake lesbian lovefest but did not want to be named dished Roseanne and daughters Jessica and Jennifer who are now in their mid-40s happily hammed it up for the camera but decades later Roseanne and her daughters are all mortified and embarrassed by these pics; they were horsing around years ago and never thought they'd see the light of day

Page 20: Cover Story -- Still recovering from agonizing back surgery, Tiger Woods was pushing himself to the limit when he flew off a California cliff into a career-crushing car accident -- lawmen said the golf legend was lucky to be alive after the horrific wreck that shattered his right leg -- the accident only added to Tiger's physical problems; his movement has been restricted since a fifth back operation in December and he was unable to play golf despite an appearance at a local tournament the weekend before the bloody wreck -- at a press conference days before cheating death, Tiger admitted he was worried about his physical condition and his ability to play again, saying a lot of it is based on his surgeons and doctors and therapist and making sure he does it correctly and he doesn't have a lot of wiggle room left -- Tiger could barely move, and it seemed to get him down and his back rehab has been brutal and he was hobbling around and distraught but he refused to give into his condition and his tough-as-nails mindset could have contributed to the crash: when a person is overwhelmed by physical pain, that dominates everything they do and if you're behind the wheel of a car and in physical pain, it can distract you and likely lead to this kind of disaster -- Tiger was eager to get to a TV taping on the morning disaster struck and he seemed impatient when he left the Terranea Resort in Rancho Palos Verdes, an L.A. suburb, just after 7 a.m. and although traffic cameras show he was driving within the speed limit, his Genesis GV80 SUV crossed the center median onto the opposite side of the road and flipped -- authorities said Tiger appeared lucid to first responders and there were no signs the recovering addict was under the influence of alcohol or drugs and they did not request a blood test when Tiger was rushed to the hospital from the crash site and the incident was an accident -- Tiger was taken to nearby Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, where doctors said his broken bones protruded through his right leg and they put a rod in his leg and used screws and pins to stabilize the break and his ankle -- it will take three to four months to heal and then eight months of physical therapy and it is unlikely he will ever run again and he may have a limp and in terms of golf, just walking for extended periods of time will be a big deal and recovery will be agonizing; it's a very real possibility that Tiger's taken his final swing

Page 21: Addiction experts warned Tiger Woods' recovery will test his sobriety after his stint in rehab for prescription painkiller use and it is very, very common for a patient in recovery to relapse after a trauma like the one suffered by Tiger and exposure to painkillers administered directly or prescribed after a physical trauma is highly likely to trigger a relapse -- Tiger will probably need painkillers to get through this, but he'll also need to be connected with like-minded people to keep him away from his old thinking that pills are the solution to his problems

Page 22: Desperate Ghislaine Maxwell has offered to renounce her British and French citizenships in a new bid to get out of jail -- the disgraced socialite's last two stabs at freedom including one package offering $22.5 million as bond money were rejected by a judge who deemed her a flight risk -- now according to her lawyers, Ghislaine will formally commence the procedure to renounce her foreign citizenship to satisfy any concerns the court may have that she may try to seek a safe haven in France or the U.K. -- Justice Department officials were concerned Ghislaine would flee to France, where she was born, since the country has no extradition treaty with the U.S.

* Woody Allen claimed his own words are being used to attack him in the bombshell Allen v. Farrow documentary -- Woody has repeatedly denied adopted daughter Dylan Farrow's claims he sexually abused her when she was seven at her mom Mia Farrow's home -- Woody blasted the documentary which rehashes the claims as a shoddy hit piece and a hatched job riddled with falsehoods adding the filmmakers stole from his autobiography

Page 26: Twice-divorced Ricki Lake's engagement to California attorney Ross Burningham has insiders fearing she may suffer yet another heartbreak -- she announced her happy news on Instagram but Ricki has seen far more than her share of bad luck in the romance department and everyone is praying this final shot at love doesn't end in despair and it's never Ricki's fault, but she's never found a man who could keep her happy

Page 28: A lurid landscape of drug-fueled orgies, suicidal thoughts and fake sexual enthusiasm will play out in a new television series based on model and reality star Holly Madison's X-rated confessions from her shocking 2015 biography Down the Bunny Hole -- Madison first exposed the sleazy details of how she and other young women were plied with drugs and coerced to participate in sex parties with Playboy founder Hugh Hefner in exchange for acting as his girlfriends and getting to live inside the iconic L.A. mansion along with a weekly $1000 stipend -- the limited series will star actress Samara Weaving as Holly, who was a member of Hef's harem between 2001 and 2008 -- Holly, Kendra Wilkinson and Bridget Marquardt became the notorious stars of the reality show The Girls Next Door which debuted in 2005 and focused on their seemingly glamorous life with Hef but glossed over the dark secrets behind the scenes -- in her bombshell confessions, Holly revealed the 22-bedroom manor was actually a foul pigsty filled with stained mattresses where Hef's live-in ladies were forced to perform weird bedroom rituals and look excited by it

Page 29: Jack Osbourne has listed his sprawling California home for rent at $16,500 a month -- the 35-year-old son of Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne is offering the five-bedroom, 5600-square-foot home in Studio City unfurnished -- Sharon was recently seen outside the home with moving vans helping Jack prep the property -- Jack, who suffers from multiple sclerosis, bought the home in 2014 when he was married to Lisa Stelly; the couple divorced in 2018 and share three children: Andy, Pearl and Minnie

* Heidi Klum has snipped all threads tying her to dad Gunther Klum after the cosmetics and modeling honcho skipped her wedding -- Heidi dumped her manager dad after he snubbed her August 2019 ceremony in Capri with guitarist Tom Kaulitz of the band Tokio Hotel and she has also ended her German enterprise Heidi Klum GmbH, originally overseen by Gunther -- Heidi and her dad had a falling out over Tom and Gunther never really approved of him and was dead set against the marriage and it drove a wedge in their relationship

Page 32: Health Watch

* Ask the Vet -- an African Gray Parrot with a feather-picking problem

Page 34: Barack Obama broke a buddy's nose over a racist remark -- he revealed the two classmates were playing basketball when his friend hurled a racial slur and he popped him in the face and broke his nose, Obama told Bruce Springsteen on their podcast Renegades: Born in the USA -- Obama said he doesn't think his pal even knew what the word meant, just that it was meant to be hurtful

* Country singer Keith Urban has shrunk to 140 pounds as the former addict is hooked on a bizarre diet of nuts and berries and even worse, the five-foot-ten crooner appears to be growing thinner and friends are worried the stress of his demanding career and his desperate desire to be a good husband to Nicole Kidman may push him over the edge -- no one sees him eating much more than handfuls of raw almonds or sunflower seeds and berries washed down with gallons of water -- though he's been sober since 2006, pals fear the struggle to avoid giving in to temptation as well as hearing Nicole purportedly mended fences with ex-hubby Tom Cruise may be weighing on the star -- despite his bony appearance, Keith thinks he looks great

Page 40: Evil ISIS terrorists are using the COVID-19 pandemic as cover while they rebuild their network and mastermind new attacks and both Iraq and the U.S. are in their crosshairs -- because the West has been focused on dealing with the pandemic, ISIS and new groups sprung from their shattered forces have been reloading and plotting revenge, according to Ryan Mauro of the terrorist-monitoring Clarion Intelligence Network -- the pandemic has brought decreased confidence in Western governments, which has emboldened the terrorists to launch sleeper cell attacks on foreign soil

Page 42: Red Carpet -- Anya Taylor-Joy

15 notes · View notes

hmsjiara · 4 years

Text

always a heart attack away from falling in love (jj + kie)

request by @shaymq7: Hi! I didn’t see an ask box so I hope this okay to submit a promt! I loved your other jiara fic, you nail there characters! I was wondering if you could write something about them revealing their feelings, John B and Sarah are alive but while they were “dead” JJ and Kie got really close and now everyone is back and everyone sees the change in their bond and they get into an argument and end up revealing their feelings?

ahhh this was so fun to write!! as always, i can’t write anything short lol. i hope this is what you wanted, i was going to include all of the pogues perspectives but then i just really liked writing for sarah. thank you so much for the prompt!!

summary: jj and kiara are in love and oblivious, john b and pope are 100% done with their shit, and sarah cameron (for better or worse) decides to play match maker. warning: brief/minor mention of abuse.

read it here on ao3.

REQUESTS ARE OPEN!! leave me an ask or message me :)

•••

A month ago, Sarah would have given anything to be where she was now: sitting around the fire at the Chateau with the Pogues, John B’s arms wrapped around her as they laughed and listened to JJ tell ghost stories.

And she was thrilled to be back— the three month long chase for the gold in the Bahamas had been exhausting, and she and John B had missed the Pogues so much that it hurt. But they’d done it— they’d found the gold, and returned to the Outer Banks a whole lot richer than when they’d left it. She’d testified to the cops, they all had, and now her dad and brother were being tried on all sorts of charges.

And it was hard, but she was getting through it. With John B’s help, and the Pogues.

There was just one problem: JJ and Kiara.

Well, maybe problem was the incorrect word to use. There was nothing wrong with them, but ever since her and John B had returned and reunited with the group, Sarah had noticed that they were acting... different.

She hadn’t even been friends with the Pogues for that long, so maybe the few whirlwind days of cop chases and treasure hunts weren’t enough to go off of, but Sarah couldn’t just ignore it.

JJ and Kiara were close, she knew that. Kie was close with all of the Pogues, they were her best friends. And Sarah knew that they’d all had a thing for her at some point, that John B had kissed Kiara during their hunt for the gold, but Kie had always insisted that she would never, ever reciprocate their feelings.

Personally, Sarah thought her best friend was full of shit. She’d known them for years— how could she not have feelings for at least one of them?

But she knew that conversation wouldn’t go over well with Kiara— and they were still getting used to being friends again, she didn’t want to rock the boat.

Still, she couldn’t prevent herself from noticing things.

Like how these days, JJ and Kiara were always touching, as if physical contact wasn’t just a want, but a need. It was little things— sitting a little too close on the couch to be normal, knees and shoulders brushing, JJ’s head on Kiara’s shoulder and her running her fingers through his hair. JJ helping Kiara into the boat even though she didn’t need it, grinding on each other at the Boneyard, finding them cuddling on the pullout after falling asleep there the night before.

And it wasn’t like they were trying to hide it. Even now, Kiara was leaning against JJ’s legs, her head on his knee and his fingers braiding her hair as she laughed at whatever Pope was saying.

It was painfully obvious, so how the hell was Sarah supposed to stay quiet?

She cracked when she found them lying in the hammock one day, fingers brushing as they passed a joint between them, an entangled mess of limbs that made it difficult to tell where JJ ended and Kiara began.

She asked Kiara if they could talk, watched as she murmured something in JJ’s ear that Sarah couldn’t hear. He grumbled, wrapping his arms around her waist when she tried to leave, and Kiara was smiling as she forced herself from his grip.

Sarah raised her eyebrows at her as they headed inside the Chateau, but she made sure they were far enough away before she said, “Okay, enough is enough. You. JJ. Spill. And don’t even bother denying it.”

She thought Kiara would deny it, scoff and roll her eyes and say Sarah was being delusional, or too romantic, or any one of her usual deflections. But instead, she froze, her shoulders sagging as if she’d run out of air.

The change in her mood was dramatic enough that Sarah faltered, suddenly regretting bringing it up all together.

“Kie, I’m sorry, I—“

“It doesn’t matter,” Kiara snapped, cutting her off, but she wouldn’t meet Sarah’s gaze. “It’s nothing, I’m not—“

“Kie, please don’t do that,” Sarah sighed, moving towards her, but Kiara took a step back. “Don’t pretend like it’s nothing, we both know that’s a lie. If you would just—“

“What, Sarah? What should I do?” She asked, and Sarah flinched at her sharp tone. Her gaze flicked towards the screen door, and Kiara must have been thinking the same thing she was, because her voice was quieter as she continued. “I’m not going to tell him, I can’t. Don’t bother trying to convince me.”

“But JJ loves you, it wouldn’t be a big deal,” Sarah told her, remembering all the times she’d caught JJ staring at Kiara when she wasn’t looking, the smile on his face when she was telling them a story about sea turtles or rode a wave better than he did, the heat and lust in his eyes whenever she danced with him. “Just tell him the truth.”

“It would be a big deal,” Kiara insisted, hands on her hips and fire in her eyes. “We’ve been best friends for years, Sarah, okay? Do you know how many times I’ve shot him down? It wouldn’t be fair to bring this up now, not when everything’s finally back to normal.”

“Oh, bullshit,” Sarah said, shaking her head. “You’re just scared, Kie. That’s normal.”

“Of course I’m scared,” Kiara hissed, her eyes suddenly filling with tears. Sarah’s heart twinged— fuck, this was worse than she’d thought. Because Kiara didn’t just like JJ. No, this wasn’t some schoolgirl crush, this was the real deal. The I’m in love with you kind of deal. “And don’t you think that I want to tell him? But you don’t get it, Sarah. After you and John B...”

She paused, her gaze darkening like any of the Pogues did when they mentioned Sarah and John B’s disappearance, her bottom lip trembling.

Sarah felt a familiar rush of guilt. They’d tried to think of a way to contact the Pogues for weeks, wanting to keep them safe and protect themselves as well, and they’d eventually decide to send a postcard with a coded message and a burner phone.

Kiara had cried for the entire call, and JJ and Pope hadn’t stopped talking, but none of them had mentioned what it had been like without them. Sarah had avoided asking, not wanting to push, but...

“Kie, what was it like when we were gone?” She asked, careful not to use the word dead. John B had made that mistake once, joking about it, and JJ had left the Chateau and slammed the door behind him without a word. Kiara had apologized to John B on his behalf, followed him out. They’d found them at Rixon’s Cove later, JJ’s hair wet from surfing and Kiara wearing his sweatshirt.

“Sarah, I don’t—“

“You can be honest with me. Please. I want to know—“

“Fine, it was awful!” Kiara screamed, and Sarah didn’t think there was anyway JJ hadn’t heard them by now. So much for being discreet. “We were all mess, we thought you’d died, for God’s sake. Pope was barely around, JJ was getting drunk by noon, beating up Kooks every chance he got. And I...”

She faltered, as if debating whether or not to continue. Kiara had always been like this, she’d noticed. She would be more than happy to help other people with their problems, but when it came to her own? Not so much.

Kiara shook her head, as if forcing herself to pull it together. “I was a mess, too. I could barely sleep, I kept having nightmares. And JJ was the only person who was there for me. We barely spent a minute apart afterward, you know? He’d sit with me for hours at the Wreck, and I stayed at the Chateau every night. You want to know why? Because I was so scared that he would go back to his dad, and that I’d lose him like I lost the two of you. And I can’t— I can’t lose him, Sarah, I—“

She was hyperventilating now, and Sarah wrapped her arms around her as Kiara buried her face in her shoulder, her tears wet against Sarah’s bare skin. She didn’t know what to do except murmur soft words of comfort, and curse herself for bringing it up in the first place. Kiara was right, she didn’t know, and she should have asked before now.

“Hey, is everything okay—“

Of course, JJ chose that moment to enter the house.

Sarah was facing the door, so she got to watch his facial expression change as he realized that Kiara was crying, saw JJ falter, his smile fading.

He was rushing forward in an instant, his gaze concerned but determined, obviously ready to comfort Kie if she needed it, but Kiara was already out of Sarah’s arms, brushing the tears from her cheeks and moving towards the door.

“I think I’m gonna call it a night, guys. See you tomorrow.”

Sarah didn’t mention that it was only eight, or that the Pogues had been planning to go night fishing. She stayed quiet, watching JJ.

“Kie, wait,” he said, catching her by the arm as she walked past him, pulling her close and talking so quietly that Sarah had to strain her ears to hear what he was saying. “Are you okay? What’s wrong?”

“I’m fine, JJ,” she snapped, and Sarah saw Kiara flinch at the harshness of her own voice. God, she was so freaking whipped it was hilarious. “I’m just tired, I want to go home.”

“Fine,” he said, his eyes narrowing even as his shoulders sagged and he raised his hands in surrender. “I’ll come with you, let me just—“

“No,” Kiara said, her tone cold and leaving no room for argument. Sarah wondered if JJ saw through it— probably not, boys were oblivious. “I want to be alone. Don’t follow me.”

With that, she turned and walked out the door.

It was silent as they listened to her car engine start, then the sharp sound of tires against gravel.

JJ‘s muttered fuck was quiet as he ripped his hat from his head and ran his fingers through his hair. He didn’t look at Sarah, grabbing two beers from the fridge and collapsing onto the couch. He turned on the tv, offered her the second beer after tearing the cap off with his teeth, and Sarah took it as a invitation, sitting down beside him.

It took her a few minutes to gather up the courage to say something. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“No,” he said, and while he didn’t sound angry with her, she knew there was no point in pushing it. She hadn’t known JJ for long, but she had already picked up on his dislike for being backed into a corner, literally and metaphorically. Kiara was the only person who could get away with it, or John B, but ever since they’d returned from the Bahamas it was no question who JJ was leaning towards more.

Screw staying out of it— Sarah was done watching her friends be miserable over each other.

She was going to do something about it.

•••

Their plan for finding the gold had flaws, that was undeniable. But, she had learned that the first aspect of any mission, no matter subject or scale, was reconnaissance.

So, Sarah did her research. First step: observation.

She didn’t push the matter with Kiara or JJ, and after a few awkward, clipped reactions, things were back to normal between them. Which was good; she already had enough work to do.

Sarah had been watching them before, but now she was paying attention. She noticed how JJ gravitated towards Kiara in any situation, the warmth and love that appeared on his face whenever she ranted about climate change, how when Kiara was dancing with a Kook at a Boneyard party he didn’t take his eyes off of them for the entire night, ignored the girls who were trying to talk to him.

JJ was obvious, but Kiara was a little more subtle. She laughed at his jokes, but JJ was funny, so that wasn’t that incriminating. She got pissed when JJ rode his bike without a helmet, but that was undeniably irresponsible, so it didn’t say much on its own. But Sarah learned that you had to read between the lines, which was new, because Kiara was typically an open book.

Rafe corners her at a party one night, out on bail, somehow having slipped his police detail. Kiara holds her own, slaps him across the face when he calls her a slut. But JJ is JJ, of course, so when Rafe shoves Kiara in retaliation, he makes good on his prior threat and punches him in the throat. Honestly, Sarah doesn’t know how he managed to move that fast— it was like he appeared out of thin air the moment Kiara screamed.

It was after, though, when she saw it— when John B and Pope had fallen asleep and she got out of bed to get a glass of water and found them sitting next to each on the porch. They were speaking too quietly for her to hear, but Kiara was bandaging JJ’s bruises hand with the kind of care Sarah had only seen her use on baby sea turtles before. She was wearing a crop top, and JJ’s gaze kept flicking to the bruises on her stomach from when Rafe had shoved her into the bar cart.

His hand hovered over the marks, and then Kiara nodded at him, as if giving him permission, and his fingers were brushing over them with a level of tenderness that Sarah knew JJ only showed a handful of people.

She left after that, because it felt like she was intruding, but Sarah had her evidence. Time for step two.

•••

The first person she questioned was John B, but he was no help.

She asked him if he’d noticed how different things were between JJ and Kie, and he just shrugged, said he’d noticed but that it was best to let them work it out on their own.

Pope, to her surprise, took less convincing.

“Wait, you and Kiara kissed?”

Apparently, Kiara had left more than a few key details out when she’d filled Sarah in on what happened while she was gone.

“Yep,” Pope said, nodding as he rung something up at the cash register. Sarah had caught him between shifts, insisted that she had something important to ask him. “After we sent John B off in the Phantom. I’d told her I loved her, but... well, it obviously didn’t work out, so.”

He didn’t sound bitter, so she decided it was okay to continue. “So... that’s why her and JJ aren’t together? Because she doesn’t want to hurt your feelings?”

“No,” he said, shaking his head. “Kie and I talked it out— we’re good. We just want different things, you know?”

He seemed unreasonably cool with it, and Sarah recalled Kiara telling her about a girl he’d met at his internship at the hospital. She was happy for him, Pope deserved it.

“Okay, great,” Sarah said, grinning at him. “So, JJ and Kie. I was thinking—“

“Oh, no,” Pope said, interrupting her. “I’m not getting involved with that. They can figure out their own shit, they don’t need our help.”

“So you have noticed,” she said, ignoring the second part of what he’d said.

“Of course,” Pope scoffed, rolling his eyes. “They’re not exactly subtle. But this is JJ we’re talking about— he’s been flirting with Kiara since the eighth grade, and she just kept rejecting him. He’s not gonna believe that she likes him until she tells him. Besides, Sarah, do you really want to get between those two idiots?”

Sarah sighed, shaking her head. “I can’t just do nothing. They’re gonna explode eventually, I can tell.”

“Exactly,” Pope said, giving her a look. “And you don’t want to be around them when it does.”

•••

The explosion happens sooner than Sarah thought it would.

John B and Pope are standing in the driveway when she arrives at the Chateau, like dogs who have been sent out to the yard. There’s screaming coming from inside the house— it’s mostly Kiara, but she can hear JJ’s voice too.

“What‘s going on?” Sarah demanded as she shut her car door and approached the boys, eyes wide as she glanced at the Chateau.

“It’s John B’s fault,” Pope informed her, cringing as Kiara’s voice started to rise in volume again. “He let it slip that JJ went back home, and then Kiara saw the bruises on his neck, and well...”

He trailed off, gesturing towards the Chateau with a helpless expression.

“So you’re just letting them go at it?” She asked, scowling at them. John B flinched a little, like he always did when she got mad. “They’ll kill each other!”

Pope shrugged. “Arguing can be a turn-on for some people. Maybe they’ll fuck instead and put us all out of our misery.”

“Pope, no,” Sarah hissed, though she did think he might have a point. “I have a plan— they’re ruining it.”

At that moment, the porch door slammed against it’s hinges, and JJ appeared, fists clenched at his sides and his face lined with a bitter combination of anger and guilt.

The source of his anxiety was right behind him. Kiara was in rare form: eyes flashing, hands on her hips, screaming at JJ to come back here.

If it had been anyone other than JJ, Sarah was sure they would have caved by now. Kiara was scary when she was angry.

“JJ, I’m talking to you!” Kiara screamed, kicking up dust as she stormed towards him. “Listen to me, for God’s sake!”

But JJ didn’t turn around, palming the keys to his bike and mounting it. Sarah saw him glance at the helmet on the back, as if contemplating whether wearing it would lessen Kiara’s fury. He didn’t pick it up.

“JJ, I swear to God if you—“

JJ revved the engine, drowning out the sound of Kiara’s voice. Sarah could see the tears in her eyes, how badly she was trembling. She was angry, but there was fear there too, and that’s when she saw the bruises on JJ’s neck, his split lip. Shit.

Kiara tried to say something else, but JJ cut her off. “What do you want me to do, Kiara? It’s my house, he’s my dad. I can’t just leave!”

“Yes, you can,” Kiara insisted, her anger fading, as if she was trying to get JJ to listen to her. “You can stay with John B, or Pope, or me. I’ll talk to my parents—“

“Your parents don’t want me within five feet of you,” JJ reminded her, something dark and bitter entering his gaze at the thought. “I’m not putting this on you, Kie. End of discussion.”

He put his foot on the gas pedal, but Kiara was standing in front of the bike, hands on her hips and a determined expression on her face.

“Kie, get out of the way,” he said, glaring at her, but Sarah still saw that his hands were shaking. “I’m done talking about this.”

“Well I’m not,” she snapped. “I’m sick of this, JJ! I’m sick of worrying about you, I can’t—“

“Why do you even care, Kie?” JJ shouted, and Sarah winced. Oh, he really had no idea, did he?

She didn’t expect Kiara to tell him the truth, but then—

“Because I’m in love with you!” She screamed, her eyes brimming with tears as the words passed her lips.

Sarah held in a squeal as JJ froze, his foot leaving the gas pedal as he raised his head to look at Kiara.

“What?” He asked, as if he hadn’t understood her, his mouth opening and closing like a fish gasping for air.

Sarah thought Kiara would stay quiet, or take it back, but her voice was firm and unwavering when she said, “I’m in love with you, JJ. And I can’t keep watching you do this to yourself, I can’t lose—“

But then Kiara stopped talking, because JJ’s lips were pressed against her, and she seemed to have more important things to do as he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer. She threaded her fingers through his hair, tugging at it, and John B wolf-whistled while Pope yelled at them to get a room.

Sarah just grinned. Pope had been right, she realized. JJ and Kiara hadn’t needed her help, it had just taken a screaming match for them to finally get their heads out of their asses. Go figure.

She’d thought it would be weird, different, seeing JJ and Kie like this. But it was the exact opposite— the look in JJ’s eyes when he stared at her was the same, and Kiara was shoving him in the shoulder and burying her face in the crook of his neck after he said something predictably idiotic. It wasn’t different, it was just them, JJ and Kie.

As they made their way over to Sarah and the boys, Kiara slid her hands into JJ’s, and she smiled at the identical grins on their faces.

Mission accomplished.

#outer banks #obx #jiara #jj x kiara #jiara fic #jiara fanfiction #jj maybank #kiara carrera #sarah cameron #pope heyward #john b #my writing

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iturbide · 4 years

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I have no brain so I can't ask any specific questions but I would love to hear more about Kintsugi!! Just anything, I am HUNGRY for that good good Golden Deer content of yours 🙏 (also I hope good things come your way soon, you deserve them! 🧡)

You are very kind friend I too am hoping that more good things come soon because the past couple weeks have Not Been Kind =v=

I am still so psyched about Kintsugi though because it’s my ultimate in Golden Routes. It’s got everything: Golden Deer base, Dimitri surviving, Ferdinand von Aegir...what more could we really ask for?

Might as well start off with a few incidental details. First off, while ‘Kintsugi’ is technically a work in progress title, it’s one I actually like how well the association fits. Kintsugi itself is a Japanese art form where broken pottery is repaired with a lacquer mixed with gold. The underlying philosophy of it treats the breakage as part of the item’s history, rather than the end of its life -- and as a story, that’s what this story aims for. Edelgard’s attack on the monastery and the war that followed was a shattering force on Fodlan...but it isn’t the end of its history. With Claude in the lead, the Golden Deer aim to repair the damage to the nation, rather than reforging it into something entirely different the way Edelgard does. Kintsugi as a concept really encapsulates everything that I want the story to do.

While it’s based out of a Golden Deer playthrough, with Byleth returning after five years and meeting Claude, deciding to take advantage of the monastery’s strategic location, getting Judith in the fold along with the reinforcements from her territory...things start veering off once we get to Myrddin. That’s where they face Ferdinand, who has arrived on Edelgard’s orders to keep the bridge from falling into enemy hands...and then, rather than killing him or pressing him into their service, Claude lets him go. Even beyond the fact that Ferdinand’s loss would give the Empire more ammo, either making a martyr of him should he die or naming him a traitor and enemy of the state otherwise...and beyond that, Ferdinand has people waiting for him. People who need him, who take heart from his optimism and strength of purpose: letting him go will, Claude hopes, save lives (and he’s right about that).

The next major change comes at Gronder, where the Deer find themselves on a familiar battlefield...and moreover surrounded by familiar faces. Dimitri is alive, and Gilbert managed to rally most of the other Blue Lions to the cause; meanwhile, Ferdinand returned to make his report to Edelgard, and she brought her own forces to the field of battle. Splitting their forces, Byleth leads the charge against Edelgard while Claude tries to talk Dimitri down...only to end up shot out of the sky as Dimitri hurls his lance hard enough to tear through his wyvern’s wing. The only thing that keeps them both alive is Byleth’s intervention: having defeated Edelgard and sent her fleeing the field, they arrive just in time to block Dimitri’s next attack...at which point the prince freezes up, believing Byleth to be yet another ghost. They put their sword away and offer their hand, which Dimitri tries to swat away -- only to scrabble for it as soon as he realizes that Byleth is real and solid. That’s where the battle of Gronder ends: with the Blue Lions standing down once Dimitri effectively surrenders.

They don’t exactly join forces after that, as much as Claude very much wants to. Dimitri is still in a bad place and agrees only to travel together, since they appear to be going in the same direction, and Claude’s willing to take what he can get. They end up attacking Merceus together...but when the ‘javelins of light’ begin to fall, Dimitri finally buckles and joins forces with the Deer, getting both Byleth and Claude out of the blast radius before the missiles hit.

Understandably reeling from whatever the fuck that was, the joint Deer and Lion forces backpedal to Myrddin, since Merceus is rubble and can’t offer protection and Gronder has no real fortifications. From there, Claude decides to switch gears: get the Empire to focus on the bridge, a location that they can easily fortify and stock with Alliance soldiers since it’s now in their control; while the Blue Lions and a small group of Deer (shored up by Claude’s Almyran allies) sneaks into the Kingdom to out Cornelia. This also puts them back in touch with Annette, who had stayed behind on her father’s orders.

I could go on but wow this is already getting long so maybe just a couple final bullet points:

When Claude offers to let Ferdinand go, the nobleman immediately swears that he will not spy on his homeland for Claude. Claude is confused because everyone knows Ferdinand would be a terrible spy. (After a moment’s thought, Ferdinand grudgingly agrees because they’re right, he really would be).

Upon returning to the Empire post-Myrddin, Ferdinand's life briefly flashes before his eyes when Hubert rises out of the shadows like some vampire from a cheap horror novel. The fact that Hubert offers to cover for him with Edelgard is almost enough to convince him that he really died.

Post-Gronder, Claude is stuck as a grounded infantry unit since his beloved white wyvern needs time to heal up from getting her wing shredded. Also when they return to the monastery, meetings need to be conducted on the ground floor because if she can’t find him she cries (and since she can’t fly, it’s impossible to find him while he’s in the second-level meeting room).

Dimitri getting Byleth and Claude out of Merceus before the missile strike is arguably hilarious since he more or less hauls them out under his arms like sacks of potatoes. This is very confusing but also they’re grateful for the assist, so they just kind of shrug and accept it.

On arriving in the Kingdom to deal with Cornelia, the first order of business is picking up Annette. Rather than checking every room in the place where they think she is, Claude tells Dimitri to walk with him...and starts singing ‘Creepity Creep.’ Dimitri is understandably confused until a door behind them flies open and Annette pelts out and takes Claude down in a full-body hug!tackle.

Also, whenever I do get around to writing it, I fully intend to make use of the coolest little dividers to indicate changes of scene based on which character we’re following, built out of these little guys:

#answered #vitunhienokivi #fire emblem: three houses #fanfiction #writing #kintsugi #honestly i love this one so much #and this is just the early elements #there's so much more going into later stuff #like a round table between byleth claude dimitri rhea and edelgard #and yes that is exactly as chaotic as you think it's going to be

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shadowthrone-ammanas · 4 years

Text

Ghost Kid Chapter Ten: Repairs

Hat Kid was getting close to finishing her attempt at repairing the ship. She wouldn’t know if it was successful until she finished and turned it on. Once on, its self-diagnostics systems would tell her if the ship could fly and if so, how well.

It was nerve-wracking being so close to an answer on whether or not she was stuck here or if she’d have to truly start to consider how people back home might react to her new form. Despite that she buckled down on it, taking breaks only to read her book in lieu of sleeping.

The Subcon history book was dense and thick, lasting her far longer than any of the fairytale books had. The images of Subcon before it had been cursed were the most interesting. It was just a normal small kingdom surrounded by normal woods. It seemed to be a peaceful place, a few wars had been fought over it but not many and none of them particularly bad, all ending in peace treaties. It was actually kind of boring, not what Hat Kid had been expecting at all. It kept her busy when not working on her ship so she kept reading, hoping for more interesting stuff to pop up deeper in the book.

But eventually she reached a point where she finally, at long last had done everything she possibly could to repair her ship with what resources she had. She’d had to cut a few corners but in theory it might work. Only one way to find out.

The ship fired up just fine. Maybe it took a few seconds longer than normal but that might’ve just been her anticipation making it seem longer. She sat at the command desk… where her body had been and thus where she’d died! … Nope, she wasn’t thinking about that right now even if she just realized she’d been avoiding this spot until now. But she had no choice, it was the ship’s command desk.

She quickly punched in some commands, starting the ship’s self-diagnostics. It took it a few minutes but the overall result came up yellow. More info revealed that it was functional but being careful was advised, especially when warp jumping. The computer also advised going home for immediate proper repair. But that was possible, according the computer which was rarely wrong, the ship could safely make it all the way back home. Meaning despite all odds she’d done it, she’d gotten her ship space worthy again. All she had to do now was fix the window and she was free to go home whenever she pleased because she already had all the Time Pieces back – she’d only been sticking around to do the Death Wish contracts.

It almost didn’t feel real. How long had she been working on this? Weeks and weeks for sure, months even. And now it was basically done. But… did she still even want to go home?

Would she be accepted back as a ghost? Would returning dead count as having failed the final test? If so, they’d want take her ship away. Did she want to risk that with how strict the Headmaster was? Her ship meant everything to her, losing it or giving it up was out of the question, it was hers. But… she’d worked so hard to go back home, both before and after her death. And it was home she couldn’t just abandon home without even trying even if it meant risking her ship, could she?

With a sigh, she exited through the broken window, floating down to the forest floor. If only she could take a nap, get away from thinking about this decision for a while. She could read, that helped a lot but… she wasn’t in the mood to slog through more the history book right now.

Instead, she went for a wander. Getting away from the ship and just looking around the forest was nice, especially now that there weren’t any hazards to her. Eventually she inevitably ended up looking for Snatcher. It had been a while since she’d talked to him, days in fact. She found him in his favourite reading spot in the giant hollow.

“Snatcher,” she said in way of greeting as she floated in.

“Hmm… hello,” he replied, not looking up from his book.

“Um… I finished repairing my ship.” That got him to lower his book and look at her. “All I need to do now is fix the window and I can go home.”

“That’s great news,” he replied with a smile. “I’ll finally be rid of you. I can’t wait.”

“Yeah, but…” Hat Kid lifted a hand to rub the back her neck, far too used to the feel of her own ghostly form now. “I don’t know if I want to go to back home.”

Snatcher’s eyes narrowed as he actually closed his book now. “Why not?”

“I uh… don’t know if… they’d let me back like this. They might… count my death as a failure and… take away my ship.” And without that, what was the point? She had no family, a friend yes, but… would Bow want her back like this?

“Who’s ‘they’?”

“The school. I didn’t teach myself how to fly and repair a space ship, you know, someone had to teach me.”

“Honestly kid, if you told me you did, I might actually believe you.” Oh! A compliment, that was unlike him. Exciting stuff. But before she could call him on it, he continued. “But why are they teaching children that stuff in the first place?”

Should Hat Kid answer this? She’d been told not to say anything about her home planet to any intelligent life she discovered. … He was her BFF though so it was probably fine, especially since he wasn’t likely to be able to do anything with the info even if he wanted to. Besides, the rule had been about intelligent life and Snatcher was not alive so telling him was technically not breaking the rules. So…

“Well,” she said, “most of the kids aren’t given a real ship to fly until they’re a bit older. I’m what they call a ‘prodigy’ though, meaning I’m like real smart or something. I went through the classes super-fast so I would be allowed to fly a spaceship.” Once she’d learned that that was on the table, she’d been determined to do it no matter what it took. “Some of the teachers complained about how fast I was elevated because like a lot of the pilot tests and training things are super dangerous and people get hurt during them. They quickly stopped caring though after I aced the first one.” And she’d never cared, danger was fun and more than worth dealing with if it meant she got to fly her ship.

Snatcher frowned. “That sounds like a major lawsuit waiting to happen. They’re going to get sued into the ground sometime soon, the fact that they haven’t been already is a miracle.”

Hat Kid shrugged; she didn’t know much about that kind of thing. “I don’t know if they can be.” She didn’t really care either. “I’m pretty sure they’re heavily backed by the government or some big important organization that wants more trained pilots for their space fleet. They’re into ‘exploring outer space and expanding their galactic influence’ which I’m pretty sure means they’re into conquering weaker planets and expanding their space empire.”

Now Snatcher actually looked offended. It was comical. “That’s even worse kid. What the peck is wrong with your home planet?”

“I don’t know.” Hat Kid hadn’t thought anything was strange about it, though she had grown up with it so maybe he was right? She didn’t care though, she just wanted to fly her space ship. But… “Why do you care so much?”

“I don’t.” Lies, he put on a calm demeanor now that didn’t change how openly offended he’d just been. “I’m just saying, a school training children and other young people to be part of basically their army is amoral. I have no doubt there’s a lot of brainwashing going on there. The fact that their training is dangerous makes it even worse, especially since they let literal children take part in it.”

“What about all your contracts? You forced me to work for you, doing some pretty dangerous things. And the Death Wish contracts are super-duper dangerous, I almost died doing them more times than I can count. So, aren’t you just as bad as they are?”

“That’s different.” Snatcher made a dismissive gesture. “I’m not in charge of your wellbeing. People who take on the responsibility of raising and teaching children should at least try to raise them well.”

“So, what you’re saying is if you adopted a kid, you’d be a good parent?” Hat Kid would like to see that. She couldn’t even imagine Snatcher trying to be good, it’d be hilarious.

“Oh uh… I guess I’d try to be.” Snatcher shrugged, examining his nonexistent nails. “I’m not going to adopt any children though. I hate kids, they’re the worst. There’s one in particular that won’t stop bothering me, she’s without a doubt the single most annoying person I’ve ever met.”

Hat Kid couldn’t help but giggle a bit. “I’ll take that as a compliment. You’re old so you must’ve met a lot of people, the fact that I’m the most annoying one is impressive.”

“I’m not old.” Despite his contrary words, his expression and tone were closer to being soft than he probably intended. “Or well… maybe I am old in a way. Nothing wrong with being old though. And it wasn’t a compliment, it was an insult. Being annoying is a bad thing kid, it makes people not like you.”

“Well, you seem to like me plenty despite that so I’m not too worried.”

Snatcher scoffed. “In your dreams kid.” He could say that all he wanted but she knew the truth, this conversation confirmed it. But speaking of that, the thing she’d come here to discuss with him wasn’t resolved, they’d got sidetracked.

“But uh… anyway,” she said. “I was tasked with visiting three planets to gather data and stuff, this one wasn’t really planned, as a final test. I was supposed to fly back home and graduate and the ship would officially be mine.” It already was hers as far as she was concerned. “But… since I died, they might view it as a failure and take away my ship. I… would rather not return if that’s what they’re going to do.”

“How likely is it that they’ll take your ship?”

“Uh… I don’t know but… I fear it’s high.” Was she just being paranoid though? Or was she judging them accurately? “And I don’t know much about ghosts on my home planet but… I know there are ghost hunters who hunt them. I don’t know what they do with them once they catch them though.” There was a very real possibility she’d find out if she went back. “So… I don’t know if I should go home but I’ve worked so hard to go back and it’s still home so… I’m not sure what I should do.”

“Hmmm… sounds like you’re in a bit of pickle.”

“Yeah, can you uh… help me? Give me advice or something? I know you probably don’t have any experience in this kind of thing but… I don’t know what to do.”

Snatcher was silent for a few seconds before replying. “Depending on the exact laws of your planet, you might be able to make a legal case for keeping your ship and graduating. You’re a child without a legal guardian though so that complicates things a bit on top of the fact that the school itself is already unethical so they wouldn’t play fair and they’d be able to get away with it because they have a lot of money and a powerful backer. And you’re a ghost, if they’re the kind who want to eradicate ghosts, then you’re probably screwed if you return. So, I would say, if you comfortable taking the risk, then go for it, otherwise, cut your losses and find a new home. You already said you don’t have any parents and the way you spoke about it suggested you don’t have any family either so there’s really nothing keeping you from not returning.” His tone suggested he thought that was the right course of action.

“Uh… okay. I need to think about it some more than I guess.” But really… she’d already decided, hadn’t she? She’d just wanted someone to tell her that that was the right choice or at least an okay choice to make. And she needed one more thing… “If I do decide not to go back though can I… stay here?” Because where else would she go? She was a ghost, a haunted forest full of other ghosts would be the most logical place for her to call her new home. With a bit of work – and probably with Snatcher’s help if he was willing – she could get a docking bay for her ship in the forest so she could take off and land at will. She could take her ship to the nearest spaceport to repair it fully before returning and then from then on this would be her home base. Assuming of course that Snatcher was okay with her staying indefinitely.

Snatcher opened his mouth as if to answer but grimaced instead. “Uh… you know what, fine,” he finally said, relaxing back into his chair. “Since you died, you’ve been less of a bother anyway, so I guess you can stay, provided you continue to stay out of my way.”

“All right, I can do that. Thank you!”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Go figure out what you want to do.” He made a shooing gesture towards her. “And then tell me so I know if I should expect you to stick around or not.” He picked up his book again, opening it and already ignoring her again.

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#My Writing #ahit #A hat in time #ghost kid #snatcher & hat kid #Talk of Hat Kid's past #ghost kid fic

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h0unds-of-h3ll · 4 years

Text

Sound of the drums

I apologize for such an inconvenience of not uploading, although hear me out I can explain. I originally wrote this days ago with the intention of uploading it Saturday. Since Friday, I had a dentist appointment; which I’m proud to announce I am in fact cavity-free. Anyhow this is the fifth installment of the legitimate story “Hopeless hearts intertwined from the start.” Which is a temporary title and one I wish to change in the future. I know my rambling has lost its purpose in this ‘Author's note’ so enjoy!

Girls. Millions of them. It was heaven itself in one room, well technically it wasn't a room but a field. It had sent a shiver up his spine as he examined them, different races ages all wrapped in one pretty bow. He was almost drooling at one of the girl's chest. God, the legs on that lass but the face on the other one was too striking to go unnoticed. Although there was one thing that they all had that except one. The one sheepish looking girl who sat on the ledge of a cliff not scared as the rest of them for just a little danger in their lives. A girl who didn't care about herself but would put up a fight if you push her to do something she didn't agree with. He adored that, he liked that, he wanted her. He became flustered, which was rare for him; he'd never let a girl touch him, it was always him touching her. He was the one in charge, always was and always is, but something about him told her otherwise.

So he gathered his mojo, put on his face that he claimed the ladies swoon over, and carried himself towards the broad. He thought it odd because whenever he thought of the word broad for her he had gotten a bad taste in his mouth it tasted rotten. He tightened his jaw pushed back his shoulders and started walking. His imagination running wild with the possibilities of getting to talk to her, the majority it would want him to take her to bed straight away. But with her it was strange he wanted to know her. His eyes clouded with the thoughts running as fast as the roadrunner his wrist then his arms and feet starting to be grabbed by the women around him. Confusion ran over him he started to yank to bulldoze from them but his efforts became weak as they became stronger. The girl never turning to see his form nor batting an eyelash he became frustrated and desperate to gain her attention just for a millisecond. As his body became weak he decided to bargain, except when he looked up at one of the once beautiful girls her face was no longer there except a skull. "I'm still pretty right, Dean?" The thing croaked out as it leaned in to seal his lips against it. Mortified, to say the least, he belted out to the girl "Hey!" she sat motionless as she was unfazed and careless.

He choked when he woke up and saw a girl lying next to him, her hair matted to the pillow, her skin glistening with a sheen. He groaned as he realized he'd have to wake her up, knowing that Bobby would kill him if he'd found out he let a girl into his house just to sleep with her. He placed a hand in his hair running it through the now sweat-soaked hedgehog. Curious, as to if the girl could be trusted or not by her face he peered over her shoulder careful not to touch her or as so much to breathe on her. He fell relieved against the pillow knowing that the girl wasn't a faceless tormentor, his head against his bicep using it as a pillow. Since the girl took the only pillow he possessed he smiled and let out a chuckle. Careful, to not awake sleeping beauty beside him.

An old memory played out in his head. Of her. It was the day that they had run to Bobby's he remembered that he had to carry her as if she was a freshly wed. He expected her to be heavier but she was a feather and he felt bad at the fact that he couldn't help her. He would never forget the night Dad left because of him not being able to fire that damn gun. How he got the bruises to Sammy and what the hell they're going to do with an unconscious girl. He didn't know crap about how to help the girl. He can't even raise Sammy or how to even keep himself alive, at that! he was proud of himself though, for the sheer fact that he didn't panic although he would when he realized all of them were becoming hungry. "Crap.''

As he saw a diner coming up as they were walking to a man's house, Dad had called Bobby a fellow hunter his Father had said. It was just a bunch of he said she said crap that he frankly didn't know what to believe in at this point. Dad said a couple of days then was gone for months now it was years. "Dean, there's a diner up there, do you see it?" Sammy piped up pushing his brother a little to knock him out of his trance he shook his head and looked down "you don't think I know that?" he spat out venom seeking in his words. Sam sunk his head trying to hide from the shame of rejection, he stuck his hands in his pajama pants then he remembered. He remembered the credit card Dad had given them for food and necessities but Dean just stole stuff saying the card was meant for the absolute rainiest day on earth. Today felt like that day. He stopped for a second Dean continued to walk in front of him, still in his trance the girls' bare feet bouncing with each step. His small hand rummaging through the duffel searching for the small piece of plastic, he became distraught after it felt like he had lost the stupid thing. Then his hand got poked by a sharp edge, his hope filling his entire form as he pulled it out, hallelujah, he found it. He started running towards the dainty conservative restaurant with a smile on his face.

He grabbed the duffel bag and positioned it where it would be easier to run with and he booked it. Dean's lengthy form came into view as his small legs carried him down the small concrete hill, the wind hitting his face making his cheeks a soft hue. He started huffing as Dean finally saw his brother running with his life in his small grasp, "HEY!, HEY!" Dean yelled out he became furious with the fact that he couldn't stop the boy with the girl in his arms. He started to jog a couple of steps then gave up as he soon realized how difficult it was to do so. "Son. of. a. bitch." He growled out in a huff, his anger not helping with his muscles tensing, the boy was in for it, no doubt it was just a matter of time and how to figure out how to get the girl off his back.

"Hey, delicious." The girl purred as she stroked his arm that was closest to her. She was wearing nothing but his shirt and her makeup ran looking melted from her face. He slowly looked over confused as to who she was and how she got her then he remembered and then he regretted. "DEAN!" A man with a southern accent roared out. Crap. He was done for and he knew he couldn't talk himself out of this one, he rolled his eyes and began to push himself off the small twin-sized bed. The girl had other plans. She lifted her left leg over his waist and sat down straddling his stomach and pushed his shoulder down.

"Aww, cmon baby. Just a few more minutes, please!" She whined as she pushed her bottom lip out, her line thick eyebrows darting in a slope as she put on her best puppy dog face. He knew he shouldn't have placed his hands on her hips but he couldn't resist the girl. His mint eyes a light blue in the moonlight they shown up into her dull ones "Sweetheart, I wish I had more time." He smirked his canine showing up behind his lip. He lifted her off him and did a 180 and pinned her down on the bed she let out a light 'umf' and arched her back biting her lip "Oh, but you do" She mewled his eyes drilling into hers. He got down on his forearms ``Oh, but I don't-" His lips brushed against hers barely touching her eyes fluttered closed. "Leave." His voice monotone and dead, showing no sign of emotion. Her eyes popped open and her mouth started to stutter but he pulled one of his hands down that was holding him up and pressed his index finger against her lips. "I said; leave." He now growled out more forceful than the last. He got up off of her and started to look for a fresh pair of boxers; since the ones he previously had on were discarded in the room and needed to be washed he'll make Sam do it later. She was flabbergasted and offended "What the actual hell is wrong with you?!" She sassily croaked out on the verge of tears. She gathered her things and leaped off the bed running to the door "Don't expect me to come back when you call me in the middle of the night, bastard." She spat as she slammed the door when she was done lecturing him for all his wrongdoings. He kind of laughed but it was more of a 'Yeah, tell me something I haven't already heard.'

She was waddled in his hoodie. Half her face covered by his hood trying to make her look less suspicious, one of Sammy's convenience store sunglasses he got from Dad one Christmas was on her. Dean eventually caught up with the small boy and was now sitting at a small booth. Said boy was sitting across from him devouring a sundae that was half off because guess this it was Sunday. How hilarious. Dean settled with an old fashioned bacon cheeseburger, but not without a few complaints because of Sams running off, of course. The majority of Sam's face was covered in the delicious treat, Dean smirked his mind making it seem like it was a different kind of treat sitting on Sam's face.

Although, the scrooges' eyes were narrow and his lips tasted a severe scolding when they were out of the public eye. "Shouldn't she eat something?" Sam asked, wiping his face on his pajama sleeve that had Wolverine on it. Dean's face contorted "You're disgusting." A full gulp down went the savory meal he was saddened to put it down. He let out an exasperated sigh and an eye roll annoyed at his brother. "Sure, you feed her Einstein." He shrugged his shoulder a bit making her head bounce a few times as he was gesturing to her, it made her look like she was a puppet, him being the controller. Although he already forgot about what they were discussing as he devoured his destined feast of fast food.

A few gulps and stomach rumbles from being full, there was a time where it had to come to an end. "Do you need to go to the bathroom, Sam? because I'm not going to listen to your whiny mouth all the way to Bobby's," Dean spoke with a demanding finger and an arched brow. Sam rolled his eyes. He already asked this question like a bazillion times, he crossed his arms and sunk into the booth "No, I don't know when to go. I don't need you asking me every time, I'm not a baby anymore!" He whined out trying to make his brother understand his struggles. Dean let out a breath "Mhm, sure." He laid the girl down and softly got up and walked towards the bathroom but not without muttering "Big baby." Sam hearing what Dean had thought was quiet enough that Sam wouldn't hear his statement but only to be sorely mistaken.

Sam had sat there for what felt like hours, he picked at the paint that was coming up off the walls. He started to stab the seats where the sewing was beginning to rip off from the many years it held. He gave up the boredom becoming unbearable, he laid down his back against the cushiony seat, his eyes boring into the popcorn ceiling. He didn't know whether he wanted to try to sleep or to buy more food behind Dean's back, he decided not to for the better part he already knew he was going to get the verbal beating. His hearing became fuzzy as his thoughts became louder, the beating of one's heart his own perhaps another.

Boom, Boom, Boom. Drums it was too rheumatic to be human, too synthetic and artificial of a sound to be someone's anatomy. It turned into whispers, the voices he looked around trying to see if it matched along with the presence of the other people. No, it didn't match the ones that were possessing his mind. He scrunched his face up in agony and cupped his hands over his ears. He wanted to cry. He could already feel the tears coming in behind his eyes. His nose burned his skin tingles then it stopped.

The noises, the talking all of it. Well, he thought it did although there was one breathing creature torturing his hearing. He didn't notice where he was facing after his episode but he faced on his side when he opened his eyes he saw the girl. The girl's lips parted and huffed air in and out of her lungs, her eyes moving behind her eyelids. Terror struck in his heart as he watched her face, the face porcelain and pale as one he never saw before. Seconds that felt as if they were minutes flew by then she flew her eyes open her irises enlarged almost devolving into her whole eye. Sam flew from the chair trying to escape her gaze, he was done for he could taste it. Her body lifted from her resting place her hair in all different directions of a campus. Her mouth wide and open it appeared as if she was screaming, but for what? yet he sure as well wasn't going to stick around and find out.

Then he remembered something. Dean. He was in the small room over, he can help him, yes! his stance was currently behind the last booth. He began to army crawl towards the bathroom hopeful to not be seen. Once he got to the destination he laid on his stomach wailing and pleading. His voice at the soprano level of an opera singer. "Dean! please, help! I promise I'll never take any of your magazines ever again, And yo-, you can pawn as many of my figures as you want! Just please open the door. Please! I'm begging you!" His voice drowned in desperation. A few moments passed then he heard the soft turning on of a sink.

He breathed out a sigh and relaxed with a smile 'Dean is almost at the door, then I'll be saved and we can exile all of this.' Although then he realized how the hell can Dean save me? He ran his hands over his face not realizing the sticky thick crimson of red on them. He took them from his face, his sight appearing red from the substance getting into his eyes. Panic started to flood into him as he saw where his hands had gotten the substance, It spilled underneath the crevice where the door was separated from the cement of the floor. His gaze lowered to his stained shirt and bottoms, his eyes widened in horror. His calm relaxed complexion soon replaced with a worried and fearful one he shifted his body and started to bang once again on the wooden door. "Dean!" With that, the door opened.

#dean winchester x reader #dean winchester #dean winchester x reader fluff #dean winchester x reader angst #sam winchester #sam winchester x reader #john winchester #supernatural #fanfic #xreader #fluff #angst

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edwardslostalchemy · 4 years

Note

ohh for the character list thing, can u do todoroki, iida, and/or uraraka?? - c

You both know me inside and out ahhhh

@alartes-draws @midoriyaizukustan

This is under a read more bc it’s so long alfajfalk

Shouto

favorite thing about them

GOD he’s my absolute favorite so like everything is my favorite thing about him. But my #1 thing that I absolutely adore is that he is very willing and open to grow and to like accept criticism. I know for a fact I don’t like receiving criticism. But him? Izuku has yelled at him to like basically get him to see that he had to make the fire quirk he had his own rather than associate it with his father. That’s TOUGH to do. That’s YEARS of self-hatred and abuse and repressing his power and just looking at it as a way to see his father. But he took Izuku’s words to heart, that he could do with his fire quirk what he wanted because it was his. And he grew so much because he accepted his words. I would have been like “You don’t know me! You don’t know what I’ve gone through! You have no right to tell me that!” But not Shouto. Shouto has taken other types of criticism from Aizawa as well, telling him he depends on his quirk and that’s why he went after him first during his final exam. And then he was able to realize “Huh, I really should have given Momo a chance to tell me her plan, she had something to say.” And then he has her tell him her plan. And then during Kamino, (yes, Tenya got on his case, but he was like “we aren’t gonna fight, we’re gonna sneak around, my dude”) when they were against the wall and Izuku is like “I have a plan!!!” He’s like “TELL US YOUR PLAN”. Like he is not the only one who gets to take charge and share his plans. Also when in*sa was being very passive aggressive towards him, Shouto went up to him and asked if he’d’ done something to him and when he told him about their past, Shouto was like ah fuck I fucked up, but I liked that he was willing to confront this very large guy to resolve this issue. He is like very accepting and open to new ideas and he makes mistakes and still goes off on his own (provisional license exam where you at), but he is still able to take these like criticisms and examples and learn from them. He’s a great character and his growth has been so progressive and amazing and I am so thankful to Horikoshi for this character holy shit.

least favorite thing about them

I hate that he calls k*tsuki his friend despite k*tsuki being a God awful character. Shouto, sweetie, you deserve better friends. k*tsuki has been compared to endeav*r, your abusive father. Please please, you have the whole izucrew and class 1A (except m*neta) right there. You can have Momo and Izuku and Tenya and Ochako and Eijirou as your bffs. Please honey, please, I’m begging you. Please stop calling him your friend. He is not a friend, he is bitch ass gremlin.

favorite line

[softly] “Midoriya”

brOTP

OOF I love him with Momo (rich kids bitching about shit), OCHAKO (brother/sister dynamic where they bicker and talk in code, thank you Redd and C), Tenya (such a wholesome friendship), Izuku (they would be super close best friends come on), and of course him with Fuyumi and Natsuo having a nice sibling relationship with a hilarious group chat to boot (have you read make this feel like home by carolinaa? If you haven’t, go read it, it’s so good and the group chat they have, that is what I’m talking about, that’s the good stuff.) I like him with class 1A in general (except k*tsuki and m*neta ew gross).

OTP

TodoDeku!!!! This has got to be my favorite ship I’ve had thus far in my fandom experience. Like I’ve had OTPs where I’m absolutely wild for them (fr//–//uk, haru//–//michi, ever//–//lark, ed//–//win) and I’ve given my 110% like I am giving this ship, but like….this ship……..is so damn SOFT. And it gives me the warm fuzzies and it makes me so incredibly stupidly happy and I want them to be happy and they’re just so precious WOW.

nOTP

Mmmm every other ship BUT SPECIFICALLY todoyikes (aka todonono aka todo//–//momo), todo//–//baku, ina//–//todo. These three ships really give me the Stroke^TM feeling like I need a squeeze toy and happy messages when I come across them. Big No Nos. Never mention them to me unless you want to hate on them with me. I would say every other todo ship is my notp, but I can tolerate them, like I’ve seen ships like iida//–//todo and shou//–//chako (went into the tag bc I’m not a fucking coward *five minutes later* haha lmfao never mind), and they’re okay.

random headcanon

I have so many, but one of my favorites is that as a pro hero, he has so much Dad^TM energy and adopts all of his interns and treats them so kindly. He is supportive of their education and growth and basically just wants to see them succeed in life. He loves his interns. they’re all his children.

Another random headcanon is that Shouto has a beautiful singing voice and he got it from his mother. He sings when he feels particularly sad or when he wants to cheer up (himself and his friends and siblings), and he also writes lyrics at times. He is also good at playing guitar, but is shy about expressing these talents, until the izucrew catches him singing in the kitchen while he was cooking one time.

unpopular opinion

I like that he’s oblivious, but also I believe that once he gets older, he is not as dense anymore and learns to pick up on social cues. BUT he likes to pretend to be dense and fuck with people.

song i associate with them

I listen to the OST more often than not and I really like Nevertheless, Go Beyond. That song comes out when he arrives at the battle vs. HKS. It gets me hyped. As for a song with lyrics, I like the song Weak by AJR. It’s really good. There’s an AMV that I’m just like bruh…yes.

favorite picture of them

I love whenever he is on screen because he is so pretty, so basically all of the series is my favorite picture of him.

BUT ALSO

AND THERE’S MORE

DO IT FOR HIM

Tenya

favorite thing about them

HE’S SO EARNEST AND REALLY INTO THINGS LIKE HE GETS ME TO DO THINGS. HE’S ALSO REALLY PROPER??? I LOVE THIS SQUARE BOY. Also his dedication to everything he does, absolutely everything he has ever done has had so much enthusiasm, he’s so passionate. Also him standing up for the girls when m*neta wants to harass them. We stan an icon.

least favorite thing about them

I don’t like that he punched Izuku in that one episode when k*tsuki gets kidnapped and the kids are like “We’re gonna go save him yeet”. I understand where he was coming from, but I still didn’t like that.

favorite line

[To Izuku, holding him back from leaping into danger against AFO] “I will…protect you!”

brOTP

Izuku, Shouto, Momo, Ochako, Aoyama, everyone in class 1A can be in a bromance with him (except k*tsuki and m*neta bc he deserves better).

OTP

Iichako! I love love love them so much. He really cares about her!!! And she really cares about him!!!! I also like him with Momo!!! And Mei!!! And Aoyama!!!

nOTP

With Izuku and Shouto. I just cannot. I think he sees them as brothers more than anything.

random headcanon

He helps his classmates train to improve on their speed and he gives them tips as well as stretching exercises and routines since he knows what to do with speed.

Also when he’s a pro hero, he owns an agency with his brother and they are both the bosses and he takes care of a lot of administrative things, so he may not get to do a lot of hero work like the heroes that work for them, but he does get to go out into the field often and trains interns.

unpopular opinion

Tenya with long hair and an undercut is good. Give it a chance.

song i associate with them

Runnin’ by Adam Lambert is a great song!!!

favorite picture of them

Look at how precious he is!

Ochako

favorite thing about them

I like that she is figuring out how to be her own kind of hero. She also is into self-improvement and I admire that she went to intern under someone like Gun Head to learn hand-to-hand combat! That’s really rad! She’s here to kick all of our asses!

least favorite thing about them

I hate how everyone tells her she has a crush on Izuku instead of her figuring it out on her own without prompting. Like please let her have her character arc without it including her feelings for a guy. Let her have her character development. Let her shine without this coming up for God’s sake. She is such an amazing character and I love her so much. Please I am begging. She deserves her own background and history. I don’t want it to focus on just her feelings. That’s just ugh. it leaves such a bad taste in my mouth, it’s really personal.

favorite line

I can’t remember the lines exactly, but when she’s talking to her dad, that scene really hits me in the heart. That entire conversation, I really felt that. Thanks for the feels, Horikoshi.

brOTP

MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE IS SHOUTO AND HER AND I THINK WE ALL KNOW THIS, BUT LET ME JUST SCREAM ABOUT IT FOR A LITTLE MORE. I LOVE THESE TWO SO MUCH WHAT THE FUCK. THEY HAVE THAT DYNAMIC I DESCRIBED ON MY SHOUTO BROTPS AND LIKE JUST PICTURE THEM HAVING REALLY FUNNY, AGGRESSIVELY FRIENDLY CONVERSATIONS, PLEASE OPEN YOUR 3RD EYE AND UNDERSTAND WHAT I’M SAYING HERE, THEY ARE A GOOD BROTP, THEY ARE BFFS, THEY WOULD LEGIT TAKE A HIT FOR EACH OTHER. I’M ASCENDING I LOVE THEM SO MUCH.

I also love her with Izuku, Tenya, Eijirou, Tsu, Momo, the rest of the girls, Mei, Aoyama, Tokoyami, pretty much everyone except those two characters I keep mentioning that I don’t like.

OTP

Iichako! But I also like her with Tsu and Momo.

nOTP

Izu//–//Ocha (I have talked about this on my blog and it rings a personal chord with me so I cannot bring myself to like it, plus it feels so forced and I just can’t get into it and I don’t care for it), k*c//–//chako (just no, she deserves so much better than that)

random headcanon

She becomes the combat specialist for the agency she works for in the future. She is very skilled in hand-to-hand combat and trains the heroes and sidekicks. Nobody can beat her. She is the best fighter in the agency. RIP villains and anyone that takes her on. She can even beat Izuku, Shouto, and Tenya, who are arguably super strong and big burly men. She is not smol though. When she’s a pro, she’s ripped, she’s muscular and very agile and quick. Beware of her. Once she enters a fight, she comes out victorious. She will come for your kneecaps.

unpopular opinion

Ochako is fucking feral. Did you see her fight k*tsuki??? She really came for his throat. She should have won. But Horikoshi is a fucking coward. What a shame.

song i associate with them

I like Fight Song by Rachel Platten for her.

favorite picture of them

A PRECIOUS BABY

#shouto todoroki #tenya iida #ochako uraraka #there are ships mentioned here so like yeah be aware of that #bnha #anonymous #alartesdraws #asks #thank you two ohmg alfkajfl #Anonymous

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in-tua-deep · 5 years

Note

Does Reginald ever get ahold of Five in your Responsible Luther AU? And how does he plan to stop Five from causing the apocalypse once he does? I just really want to see a scene where the siblings team up to save their little brother and stop their father once and for all (and possibly the commission by extension).

good question!! i haven’t decided lmao but I mean probably?? Reggie has four years to try and get at Five after all and Hazel and Cha-Cha are professionals (though at some point Hazel defects and is probably adopted as the weird murder uncle who on at least one occasion babysits bodyguards Five while the sibs are off doing stuff - Agnes things he’s a sweet young man while Hazel has vivid flashbacks of the time Five consumed a boatload of sugar and made his powers go on the fritz right before a kidnapping attempt which was,, not pretty to say the least and Hazel is somewhat traumatized)

awful bold of anyone to assume i actually have this au mapped out when it’s literally a bunch of asks duct taped together whenever inspiration hits my fragile muse with a sledgehammer and tbh just typing my way through asks helps me figure out things like later on in this ask lmao

While the most intelligent thing for Reginald to do is hire Hazel and Cha-Cha to assassinate Five, this is also the man whose grand plan to stop the apocalypse was a task force of superpowered children that he abused so i’m not assigning him any brain cells at all BUT he does think that he’s all powerful with his plots and tends to assume everything is going to go according to his plans and overestimates his own intelligence so

he thinks he can contain Five which probably would involve using the same drugs (or a modified one because idk if it would affect all the kids the same) that he used on Vanya since that’s a more long term solution that just restraints after all and then?? probably a lot of mind games and messing with Five’s reality to try and make sure that Five is not going to be ending the world

of course, given the chance Five would probably point out that his power is jumping and he’s pretty sure he doesn’t know how to end the world with that power?? unless he like? managed to jump himself into some place he could use,,, idk,,, nuclear launch codes or something?

though now that I think about it, it’s entirely possible that Reginald isn’t the one who wants Five alive. It’s entirely possible that it’s the Handler who smiled with too many teeth as she told Reginald that Five was the catalyst for ending the world. After all she’s with the Commission who help the timeline. Of course they don’t want the apocalypse to happen. Why, then there would be no people to help! But if Reginald handed Five over to her, over to the Commission - well. He’s young, he’s already half-trained, he knows how to survive, and he has the ability to jump through time without a suitcase which is very interesting to the Commission.

and Reginald doesn’t really want to kill anyone and get his own hands dirty otherwise he would have disposed of Vanya years ago so he’s down to grab Five and do some gentle experimentation regarding drugs and then hand a Five (with an off switch) over to the Commission and save the world! yeah that makes sense to me we’re going with that because it also gives the Handler a dog in this race so we get to see her

honestly probably the culmination of everything is Five getting finally Officially Kidnapped and handed over to the Commission and finding out at the Commission about the apocalypse, the Commission’s role in it, and probably the Handler monologues about it not being the end of everything and Five getting in the way but with him removed the family will fall apart and Vanya causing the apocalypse will be back on track blah blah blah all they have to do is pull some strings, get Harold Jenkins released from prison right on time, and bam we’re back on schedule ladies and gents

(plus some general weirdness a la the handler plus a deeply uncomfortable and not-inclined-to-be-very-cooperative Five who might not have his powers but he doesn’t exactly need them to be dangerous thank-you-very-much)

and the squad 100% run down weird-sort-of-honorary-uncle Hazel who is in possession of one (1) suitcase that is capable of taking the whole squad on over to the Commission building with a sort of reluctant Hazel because Agnes is attached to the kid now (Agnes is the best honorary aunt and you can’t change my mind) so he guesses he has to help out

someone send me an ask about weird uncle Hazel and aunt Agnes that is 100% an avenue I need to explore at some point

but yeah team up to invade the Commission and wreak absolute havoc and Five probably ends up worming his way into some air ducts because he’s a skinny little thirteen year old with narrow shoulders and then no one has eyes on him including the Handler/Commission agents so just picture a really comical series where the squad are trying to find Five and keep only just missing him while Five isn’t really sure why all the alarms are going off but he’s trying to figure out more info about the apocalypse as well as figure out a way to get home (find the suitcase room??) while also having a panic attack at the same time!! fun times!

eventually what probably happens is they catch the Handler and try interrogate her and she’s giving them non answers and then Five literally falls out of the ceiling with like, a whole bag of files that just scatter around and everyone just stares at each other for a solid minute before Five is pulled into a frantic “YOU’RE ALIVE” hug by the closest person who isn’t Hazel

but Five ALSO has a whole bunch of explosives and weapons that he may or may not have obtained from the Handler’s office because he’s a secretly petty little shit and he’s been using them to take out Commission agents along his way but the point is the whole squad blow the Commission sky high?? or perhaps Five discovers another aspect of his power

after all, the Commission sits outside of time. It’s a pocket, and Five is capable of tearing through space and time, but most importantly he closes that tear after him. It’s not an aspect of his power that he thinks about often, in fact no one thinks about it. He doesn’t just make tears, he also repairs them. And what is this pocket but an open wound in time, sitting outside the time stream as it is? The Commission is not supposed to be and Five has the power to fix that

(he’s been on edge since he arrived, a crawling feeling under his skin. he assumed that it was because of the kidnapping, because the Handler kept touching him and making comments, because he just saw his father who scares him more than even the apocalypse, because his power is out of reach and reminding him of when he pushed and pushed amongst the rubble and there’s an itch under his skin from the drugs. there’s a million reasons for him to feel off that he doesn’t realize that it’s the wrongness of where he is, the rip carved into the world that begs for him to close it, to heal it)

so i think that might be a cool climax, destroying the Commission and then making sure it can never return ??

Vanya would absolutely fuck up the entire commission first though looking for Five it would be hilarious and mildly terrifying and Klaus is just behind her like “yeah i’m going to say training her powers was a good thing otherwise we (the other hargreeves plus Hazel) would probably be paste right now” while Ben frantically zips through the walls trying to find Five while the other losers are limited by walls (of course, Ben probably doesn’t think to zoom up in the vents whoops)

and then, when they go back with the one remaining briefcase (that they probably all destroy as the last remnants of the commission idk) they get a confrontation with Reginald

because I really liked Klaus’s whole thing with Reginald (“We were just little kids.”) and feel like the rest of the family?? probably needs that closure as well tbh

and i mean,, also the general spite of them informing Reginald (with proof a la the documents Five obtained) that it was Reginald’s fault the apocalypse happened in the first place due to his abuse and drugging of Vanya which caused her to have no support network and be influenced by Leonard Peabody/Harold Jenkins and that lmao Five was never the reason the world ended and in fact there was a lot riding on removing him from the equation so that it could happen in the first place

the satisfaction of telling the man behind the curtain, the man who thinks he holds all the cards, the man who thinks he’s the puppeteer, that he was played like that’s satisfying

(Reginald, verbally eviscerated and pale as milk in the face of the kids accusations and revelations

Five: hey so like if we’re all saying our piece then uhhh I want mom in the divorce. the disowning? whatever this is

Diego: seconded

Five: and also dad?? i never want to see you again

Luther: also seconded

Five: also i want us to be able to get our stuff like luther’s records ‘n stuff

Vanya: you know what let’s just put Five in charge of the official family split seems like he’s got all the right stuff in mind)

but yeah this is all vague story climax stuff that I haven’t gotten anything down in concrete yet?? i should probably put together a timeline since it seems like i’m eventually going to be actually writing this au and probably making a whole ‘verse to do little side stories for as well goodness

so yeah keep the questions and suggestions coming y’all i’m slow at responding but they do very much help me figure things out and since nothing is concrete by any means i’m always open to suggestions on what people do and don’t like about any directions I take or suggestions on how to make it better/make more sense ;3c

#responsible luther au #far tua long #i'll add tags later #i'm very tired rip #which makes no sense bc i napped most of the day with the foster cat oof #ask me #anonymous

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engekihaikyuu · 6 years

Photo

Hyper Projection Engeki Haikyuu - The Strongest Team

Stage Grand Prix Vol. 5 Interview with Kosaka Ryoutarou and Miura Kairi

Full interview translation under the Read More! Please do not repost this translation, and please do not repost my scans.

The two of you have been playing Tsukishima Kei and Yamaguchi Tadashi for three years now, but what were your impressions of each other when you first met?

Kairi: Actually, the very first time we met, I didn’t have a very good impression of him at all (laughs). At the auditions, I thought, wow there’s a crazy noisy* guy here. That turned out to be Ryoutarou. Then at our introductory meeting, when it had been a while since we’d last met, I thought, “Uwahh, this guy’s Tsukishima!” And I was a little worried actually as to whether or not he could play him and play him well (laughs).

Ryoutarou: Well, at the place where we had auditions, I saw someone I knew so I was just talking to him was all! Since my acquaintance was auditioning for Yamaguchi too, I had said to him, “It’d be nice if we could both be cast.” But when I saw Kairi’s acting, I had a hunch like, “It’ll be this guy for sure.” He was the only one that had this totally different atmosphere to him, because he was bright while being ordinary.

Kairi: Really? I was actually really nervous though... (laughs).

Ryoutarou: Well I didn’t get that feeling at all! That’s why when I saw you again at the introductory meeting, I thought to myself, “I knew it.”

*Funnily enough, the word Kairi uses to describe Ryoutarou from auditions is うるさい (urusai), the same word Tsukki always uses with Yamaguchi to tell him to shut up or to say that he’s being too loud.

Do you remember if there was anything in particular that helped close the distance between the two of you?

Kairi: I think it was when we happened to be going home together? We were talking about all sorts of things, and I realized that we actually had a lot of things in common.

Ryoutarou: Yeah yeah! We’re the same age, born in the same place. And on top of that, in our school years, we did the same extracurricular activities. I remember when we just instinctively high-fived each other on the roadside (laughs).

Kairi: It was then that we suddenly felt like kindred spirits. In one go, my impression of him had changed to a good one (laughs).

Is that what happened? Well from meeting each other to now three years later, how do you feel about each other now?

Ryoutarou: Kairi might seem like he’s easygoing, but he’s actually really serious and diligent. He’s like that with his acting too, and I think he’s a deeply passionate person.

Kairi: What I think is great about Ryoutarou is, he’s so casual with everyone he meets. I think it’s amazing that he can always say what he thinks to anyone regardless of their experience or their age compared to his. ...I’m kind of embarrassed now (laughs).

Ryoutarou: Also, Kairi gets along with everyone really quickly, and that’s great. It’s easy for the senpai to like him too. It must be nice to have such a likable* face. Since I have a tendency to be seen as cheeky on a first impression, I’m jealous!

Kairi: Well if you’re gonna say that, then I’m jealous of Ryoutarou’s height (laughs).

*The particular word Ryoutarou uses to describe Kairi’s face means a face that inspires others to like him. It has connotations of being charming, attractive, polite, and entertaining.

Talking with you this much, I can really feel how well the two of you get along. Incidentally, when you muster up the full force of everyone in Karasuno, what’s that atmosphere like?

Kairi: It feels exactly like you’re in a school club. Usually we’re really unruly, but we get serious when we need to! When we switch on, it’s like the atmosphere changes completely. We’re good friends but we’re also all rivals, so it’s not just fun, there’s a good sense of competition too.

Ryoutarou: Our leader is definitely Kenta-kun. Since the two of us are the youngest, in the beginning he was constantly guiding us along, but now we’ve gotten to the point where we can even argue with our senpai too.

Where do the two of you stand when compared with the other Karasuno cast members?

Kairi: Ryoutarou’s gradually become the clown, I think (laughs). I’m the opposite, I’m more the one that watches over everyone from a little ways away.

Ryoutarou: It’s true, you do watch over us! But when it’s just the two of us, you’re assertive almost like you’re taking charge, so why?

Kairi: Because at rehearsals we have a mass of clowns (laughs). You’re the main one, but everyone’s always trying to get a laugh out of everyone else!

A mass of clowns (laughs). Miura-san, does Kosaka-san try to make you laugh too?

Kairi: I was sitting in front of the mirror, and Ryoutarou came up behind me and suddenly stripped (laughs). Then he started posing like a bodybuilder! Even though he’s so lanky (laughs). That was pretty hilarious.

Ryoutarou: I remember that (laughs). But Kairi too, even though he’s always so cool before we go up on-stage, patting my shoulder and going, “Let’s break a leg,” the second we get on-stage he becomes all, “Tsukki, Tsukki!” and I think that’s pretty funny.

Kairi: But that’s the part I have to play so there’s no helping that! Don’t lump that in the same category as your nonsense (laughs).

With the upcoming tour, “The Strongest Team,” we turn toward the graduation of the Karasuno cast. Would you please tell us how you feel about that, frankly speaking?

Kairi: Generally speaking, I’m sad. Especially for me and Ryoutarou both, Engeki Haikyuu is our first full-scale play. This production is my starting point and my home. When I think that I’ll be losing a place I’ve always been able to return to... But honestly, it still hasn’t really sunk in.

Ryoutarou: Right now we’re switched over all our emotions to focusing on the play, but when I first heard about our graduation, I honestly couldn’t really believe it... I can’t really imagine how I’ll be once the tour actually ends, but I think that Kairi and I will both cry a lot.

Kairi: Of course we’ll cry! But in actuality, I wonder how it’ll turn out...?

Ryoutarou: But, anyway right now, let’s think about how we need to see “The Strongest Team” through to the end!

Kairi: Ryoutarou, that was a nice answer!

Engeki Haikyuu is a very precious place for the both of you. To the two of you, what sort of presence is Suga Kenta, who’s served as the cast leader for these three years?

Kairi: When I first heard, “Suga Kenta will be auditioning,” I had a lot of mixed feelings. I mean, I had no experience acting, I was basically the same as an amateur, but my competition was the famous Suga Kenta? I’m definitely no match for him, and it was almost frustrating... But when I actually saw Kenta-kun’s acting, those feelings just sort of flew away. Because he just towered over the rest of us. And then when I first met him at the introductory meeting, Kenta-kun was unbelievably modest. Even though I’m younger, he used formal speech when greeting me. When I look back, it’s because Kenta-kun was our cast leader that I could come to love the Karasuno High Volleyball Team as much as I do now.

Ryoutarou: For me, I absolutely just love Kenta-kun. We’re like family, I basically want to live with him, that’s how much. He was someone I’d always admired, so when it was decided that we’d be co-stars, I was crazy happy. With him as our leader, I could trust in him completely. How can I say it, he’s someone with an overwhelming presence. Before the curtain goes up, we always huddle everyone together in a circle, but whenever I hear Kenta-kun’s words, I feel like I gain more confidence, and I can feel that improvement on stage.

Suga-san really is a grand figure, isn’t he? Can you tell us about a time when you’ve gone out somewhere with everyone in Karasuno?

Kairi: After rehearsals we go out to eat a lot. Actually when it come to Karasuno, we don’t actually talk that much about the play at rehearsals. Rather than discussing it, first we just try moving around and acting it out. So after we all get a feel for a scene, we usually compare and adjust things over dinner.

Ryoutarou: Yeah, yeah. Our “Karasuno Parties” are where we really strengthen our relationships and our solidarity. We get pretty fired up talking about the play, but it’s also just fun messing around and laughing together with everyone!

I can just picture what it’s like when everyone gets fired up! Have you ever gone out together for fun just the two of you?

Kairi: Now that you mention it, I don’t think I’ve actually gone out with just Ryoutarou before!

Ryoutarou: We’re basically always together during rehearsals, so I think we’ve never made the effort to go out together just the two of us. But maybe sometime during “The Strongest Team” we’ll go out together for a drink!

Kairi: That’s a good idea, I’m looking forward to it!

And lastly, with regard to the new show, please give us some of your enthusiasm for “The Strongest Team!”

Kairi: Engeki Haikyuu is the show that was my origin as an actor. Although I’m sad about our upcoming graduation, as the culmination of the past three years, we’re definitely going to make an interesting show. Please come see us!

Ryoutarou: Starting with “Summer of Evolution,” and adding “Start of the Giant,” Tsukishima and Yamaguchi have matured in their own ways, and the relationship between them has changed little by little too. That’s why “The Strongest Team,” should be a very special production for Kairi and myself. I want tons of people to come see our majestic figures on-stage!

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Ryoutarou’s Photo Page

What’s something about yourself where you can say, “I’m the best!” I don’t really have anything I can really boast about but... I’ve never lost to anyone when it comes to the length of my legs. I have the decisive lead when compared to the other Karasuno cast (laughs). And I’ve tried comparing with other tall cast members on other teams, but I’ve always won!

What’s something that a fellow Engeki Haikyuu cast member has said to you that’s left a lasting impression? It was when our cast leader Suga Kenta said to me, “Ryoutarou, it’s ok to tell us more and more what you’re thinking.” It was like he gave me a big push. At that moment, I felt like I came to understand my role and my place within Karasuno.

A memory from the regional tours? When it’s time for the regional tours, everyone always looks forward to going out to eat. It really does have a training camp atmosphere. We give it our all for every prefecture, of course, but for me the Miyagi tours have left an impression. It’s like the audience’s expectations of us are especially high. So there’s relief when we can get decent applause from them.

A message to your past self when it was announced you’d be cast for the first production: It’s really great, isn’t it?! Congratulations ♡

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Kairi’s Photo Page

What’s something about yourself where you can say, “I’m the best!” I’m really positive, so even if I’m depressed, I’ll forget about it after I get a good night’s rest. On the whole, I’m pretty strong mentally. The only time I let it drag on was when I had an unrequited love in middle school (laughs). At Engeki Haikyuu rehearsals, I may be the type to watch over everyone else’s silliness, but really, I’m the type that doesn’t let it get to me even when I slip and fall in front of other people!

What’s something that a fellow Engeki Haikyuu cast member has said to you that’s left a lasting impression? Back during the first show, as a total beginner as an actor, I was honestly cowering. When I did, the Kageyama Tobio from back then, Kimura Tatsunari said this to me: “On-stage, it doesn’t matter how old you are or what career experience you’ve had.” It was thanks to those words that I could always stand on-stage, so I remember it even now.

A memory from the regional tours? When it comes to our regional tours, the atmosphere of the audience changes a little with each place we go, and that’s fun. But our tours in the home of Haikyuu, in Miyagi prefecture, were always very special. There’s pressure, and I always get unnecessarily more nervous there. But the audience always received us so warmly, so it was a joy.

A message to your past self when it was announced you’d be cast for the first production: To the Miura Kairi of three years ago: You were really happy, weren’t you? But stop fist pumping in front of the station!! (laughs)

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#engeki haikyuu #hq stage #hyper projection engeki haikyuu #the strongest Team #kosaka ryoutarou #miura kairi #translation #interview #interview translation #scans #this had me laughing from the very first answer #i almost just stopped there #HARSH KAIRI #stage grand prix

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