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#it's not new fans' fault before anyone feels like attacking them
triphimi · 1 month
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I used to kinda defend fnaf fandom as not being the most horrible before SB but holy shit i take it back, we're doomed.
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bonny-kookoo · 11 months
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Jungkook
W.D.Y.W.F.M [Lovebites]
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Jungkook could've adopted anybody else, really. He's gotten to know a lot of hybrids left and right during his time at the carecenter and foster homes- low maintenance ones, friendly ones, ones that are easy to be around. So why would he want you?
Tags/Warnings: Idol!Jungkook, Hybrid!Reader, Fox Hybrid!Reader, mentions of trauma, Reader isn't cute & cuddly in this at all, manhandling (not the spicy kind), sort of brat-tamer Jungkook but not in the kinky way if that makes sense? This is about four years AFTER the Prelude chapter!, slight angst, okay it's actually not slight, mentioned attempted violence against mc, mentioned panic attack, fluff, slightly suggestive towards the end but overall SFW
Length: 3.4k words
There is no taglist for this fic.
A/N: Have you forgotten about this because I didn't
-> Masterlist
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He remembers the day he'd made it public. Not only the fact that he had you, was living with you, legally.. well, owned you-
But that he was also in a relationship with you.
Jungkook remembers the immense wave of both support and hate clashing against one another, both sides aggressively trying to win a fight that was never theirs to fight to begin with. No one ever really pushed against or with him- it had always been about you. Fans trying to shelter and protect you, others attempting to use your past against you, slandering you or even attempting to scare you away from him.
From online threats against your safety, birthday projects all over the world to people actually attempting real life harm against you on airports, and others making signs specifically about loving you to hold up during concerts.
It's a constant push and pull- but after four years now, fans had to pretty much accept the fact that you existed and had this connection to him, or stay in their delusions and theories as to why it cannot be true.
It's like it's gotten simply boring. Old news.
He's kept you at his side, safe and sound, through all these years. Doesn't hide you when he's live, or outside, or taking the plane, or filming. You're a part of his life, and he doesn't ever attempt to keep you hidden. And neither does he ever want to back down and give anyone reason to think that he's not taking you seriously- neither as someone to love, nor as someone to keep safe.
He will do both, fully. Love you, and protect you.
Jungkook is currently live, talking to fans while you're on the couch next to him, tired but unable to sleep yet because it's something you've developed ever since staying with him. It's kind of his own fault- bad timing of him leaving the apartment every time you'd sleep making you wary of leaving him out of sight even to this day. He feels bad for it- but you're both working on that these days.
He doesn't want you to believe that he'd ever leave you alone.
"Is that foxy? Yes, she's right here!" He grins, leaning back a little to teasingly pull one of your ears into frame, showing that you're halfway laying on his lap. It makes some people upset in the chat, but most find it cute. "She doesn't sleep well alone, when I don't sleep she doesn't either." He explains to the fans watching. "Which is.. my fault, I kind of messed that up, but we're working on it." He nods, leaning back forwards to read the chat. "Calvin Klein? Huh?" He wonders why he reads the name of the brand in the chat considering he himself is wearing a simple white nike shirt- before he turns around, spotting you climbing over the back of the couch, seam of your pale purple underwear displaying the brand name. "Ah, yes! We got sent some stuff from their hybrid collection. Looks really pretty!" He smirks teasingly into the Chat, and he knows his management is probably holding their heads again in agony- so he can't help but make them mad just a little more, by reaching out behind him to smack your butt once, earning a squeak from your end and a wave of emojis in the chat.
They can't do much against his relationship or you, but that doesn't mean that they like it when he talks so easily and openly about it like this, or even dares to show public displays of affection towards you. He's not supposed to.
He does it anyways.
"Calvin Klein shooting when? Ah~!" He laughs, leaning back with arms crossed. "I'm not sure if I'd be happy with others seeing her in underwear." He jokes, though there's a hint of truth in it. He's painfully possessive over you- he doesn't like you even just playing around with the other members, for example, does everything for you before anyone else could offer. He doesn't like it when you're being taken care of by others, and he knows that's a bit childish. "But maybe normal clothes. Who knows. Maybe one day." He shrugs and reads the chat that asks him what you're doing- so he turns around to check on you in the kitchen-
Instantly jumping up over the back of the couch to run to you.
"Hey hey hey, no climbing that!" He scolds on his way, pulling you down from the counter before setting you down. "What did you want?" He asks, getting the bowl from the higher shelf for you before teasingly pulling your tail. "Don't do that again, yeah?" He shakes his head as he walks back to the couch, sitting in front of the camera again. "What happened? Ah, she couldn't reach something and climbed on the counter. But she could get hurt, so I don't like it." He explains. "Why? Ah, she doesn't do it usually!" He waves off. "She really doesn't. She's just having an episode these days, so she's a bit more trouble than normal." He says, trying to laugh it off- quickly changing topic.
He doesn't want anyone to really dwell on the fact that the most recent airport accident had sent you into an episode of all things.
Episodes in hybrids can vary in severity. Yours is a pretty serious one- it's been more than 24-hours since the airport incident, and yet you're still quiet, you're still regressing, and most of all- still terribly jumpy, as if you're right back to square one when he'd first brought you home, just ten times worse.
He'd been caught off guard this time. The same as security. No one saw it coming.
The airport had been crowded from the start, which had been normal. It's not unusual for him to draw in a large crowd- you never changed anything about that at the end of the day, if anything, you just increased it with many hybrids becoming fans of you, begging their owners to take them to the airports and other places where they could garner a glimpse of you. But this time, a crazed 'fan' had slipped through security, had grabbed after you- acrylic nails scratching hard on your arm, drawing blood and making you panic, as she yelled in a language he couldn't understand fully at you, hand raised to strike.
Jungkook had barely managed to pull you close, dash towards the car with security suddenly on highest alert, until you both had reached and entered the car.
He will never forget the sight of you, terrified, scrambling to crawl over the backseats, trying to get into the trunk area instead because in that moment, everyone had been an enemy in your eyes.
Him included.
It took him more than half an hour to get through to you, reassuring you enough with his strong hold and scent to push through the fog in your mind, and make you remember that he is safe. He's your person. He's to be trusted. And he's not mad at you for biting him in that moment whatsoever.
You'd thrown up the moment you'd entered the apartment due to the stress, before you shamefully hid in the furthest corner of the shower, cowering in panic, body trembling still.
Jungkook had wanted to cry so badly while the guilt crawled up his neck. Instead, he'd given you space, and had instead called a doctor to schedule an appointment asap for today, and one home visit later, you're all bandaged up and medicated to help your anxiety until you're able to think straight again.
He doesn't like that it has to be like that. But he understands that it's all that can be done to at least make your episode a bit more manageable and comfortable.
"Yeah, I'm gonna take some days off. I actually wanted to anyways, it's not just because of what happened, so don't worry." He reassures the fans concerned over your well-being- probably mostly because of the official statement from his company, which also announced his short hiatus from all activities, and a sharp increase in security measures moving forward. You simply crawl over his lap to lay down lazily, tail smacking around, your impatience the result of lack of attention. "Is she okay? Yeah, she has been prescribed some medication, she is okay." He offers, before he changes the topic again for a moment, until he can finally find a good opportunity to end the livestream.
The moment he does, he leans back, tension leaving his body as he watches you turn your head towards him. You've not said a word since the airport- and your gaze is hazy, not quite there.
He feels guilty just looking at you.
"I won't let that happen ever again." He promises, a hand on your head gently petting your ears. "I'll protect you more seriously." He mumbles, and you just watch him, happy to gain his attention even if you've got no idea what he's saying. Right now, you can't really comprehend anything- neither time, nor words, nor anything else.
You just exist, healing in silence it seems like.
And that's fine with him, as long as you'll be okay.
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You're biting on his curled up finger, while he laughs and wiggles your head around with it, no pain whatsoever in your bites.
You do that, occasionally, even when 'normal'. Though in that state, you typically recoil from your own actions, feeling bad for them even with his patient attempts at reassuring you that it's fine with him. But like this, still in your episode, you're a lot more open with what you're usually hiding when it comes to your natural hybrid behavior.
Love bites. That's what Jungkook calls them.
You bite his arm randomly when he stops paying attention to the movie you're supposed to watch together. You bite his neck whenever you cuddle, tangled up limbs and careful nips on his skin, well aware you shouldn't mark him up- even though he wouldn't complain. You bite after his hands when he tries to feed you stuff, though his reflexes tend to be better. And you bite at his clothes and pillows and toys- those you have a tight hold on though, testing his strength every single time.
He doesn't mind any of those things. He knew what you'd be like right from the start.
Your mind is slowly clearing up a bit, the second day into your episode- though it seems like you're still hiding away behind your hybrid behavior, taking your time to properly heal and collect yourself again before facing reality. And he's fine with that.
You can take as much time as you need and want.
He's brushing your hair for you while you sit on his lap, still tired form having just woken up. He can't really leave you alone like this- and you also still need to go to your regularly scheduled appointments to make sure you're recovering physically and mentally. Last checkup they've found some growing bruises near your hip, probably from the car door having accidentally swung into you in all the frenzy, and because you can't really tell anyone how you're feeling right now, everyone including Jungkook is being a little extra careful.
Though he can't say he doesn't enjoy moments like these, where he's truly got you all to himself.
He's opening a pack of wet wipes specifically for hybrid features, and you automatically move to lay your head in his lap as he cleans your ears for you- something back then, the shelter had told him to teach you to do yourself first things first since you hated having it done with a passion, but he's never had any problems with you. Sure, you can be a brat-
But you always have somewhat of a reason for lashing out if it happens, down the line. And he's learned to take a step back and look for that reason first and foremost, before judging or scolding you.
You wiggle around a little bit as he finishes up, putting everything away before he lets you go to lay down somewhere near the windows on a mattress he'd laid out. He chuckles as he walks back inside the living room, holding out your collar towards you, and his heart breaks a little when your ears clearly droop, probably still scared of leaving the apartment. "I know, but we have an appointment today that has to happen at the doctor's." He gently speaks, squatting down to where you're stubbornly rolling away from him, shielding your neck so he can't put your collar on. He clicks his tongue, carefully putting the collar down into his lap before he pulls your wrists away from your neck. "Baby please. I promise you, no one will ever hurt you again as long as I'm with you, okay?" He presses on, and at that, he can see your ears turn towards him, before you slowly give in to his hands pulling yours down.
He carefully places the simple velvet collar around your neck, both an Identification mark and a Yellow mark with the words 'Caution; Nervous' on it. He's received it from the doctor that checked up on you right after your episode had started- and he feels awful that you have to wear it like this.
But he'll do anything to make sure you're safe.
"…kook?" you ask, and he immediately perks up at hearing you speak again, arms open to let you crawl into his lap. "M' scared." You admit, and he nods.
"I know." He agrees, because he really does know that you're still fearful. It's only natural after what had happened. "But I'll do anything to keep you safe. You trust me?" He asks, and after a moment of thinking-
You nod into his chest, making him feel unbelievably proud of himself.
He won't let it go to waste.
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It's been a week, and Jungkook has to admit- he's never been happier that you're back to your old, chaotic self.
"You know you're in trouble." He states, holding up one of his sweaters-
The strings of the hood all chewed up, clearly because of you. You're just sitting on the floor on a random pillow, tail wagging, as if you're proud of your work. "People keep staring at you!" You complain, huffing in anger as you cross your arms. "You need my scent on you, so they know you're taken!" You say, and he sighs, shaking his head.
"It's not like I'm gonna wear this with those strings still in place anyways." He tells you, and you seem to become even more frustrated now. "In fact, I'm not really wearing anything top-wise in the most recent photoshoots-" He says, and suddenly, you get up, and dash past him, your shoulder hitting his body as you push towards your room- But he doesn't want you to just lock yourself in and 'sleep it off' like you always do. He wants you to explode into his face like this- he needs you to be honest for once. "No, you'll stay right here." He tells you, but you shake your head, trying to claw his hand from your arm.
"I don't want to!" You bark at him, now simply letting yourself drop down, hanging limp from his grip, and he just watches how you throw your little tantrum. "Let me go!" You hiss up at him, but he just takes in a deep breath, and continues to hold you.
"No." He denies. "And I can do this all day long, you know?" He shrugs, dragging you over the floor by your arm into the kitchen to get some water out the fridge.
And even as he can see your eyes start to tear up, he doesn't budge.
"You know, I'd really like to help you." He sighs, sitting down on the floor close to you. "I hate seeing you cry."
"Then let me go!" You try again, but he shakes his head.
"I won't." He denies once more. "I told you that's not how it works. Over and over again." He reminds you, his grip softening a bit. "I need you to talk to me, not just bottle things up and shove them into a corner inside your head." Jungkook complains, and you deflate at that.
"I don't like that.. no one takes me seriously." You say, and he tilts his head a bit in question. "People act like.. like I'm not even there." You say quietly, and he's unsure what you mean.
"What are you talking about baby?" He wonders, helping you sit on his lap, legs over his thighs wrapped around him just like your arms. "Many people love you. And by now, almost everyone knows you too." he reminds you, but you shake your head.
"They know me as your hybrid." You say, in a defeated manner. "But people don't see me as.. you know.. your mate." You complain into his shoulder, and at that he hums to himself, seeing the issue finally reveal itself.
"You're jealous?" He wonders, and you shrug.
"Sometimes." You admit. "When.. people how well this or that.. famous person fits you, you know." You finally say honestly. "And the worst is that they're often right. You do look nice with a pretty actress maybe, or-" You begin to rant, when a hand runs over your back, up and down.
"Mark me." He tells you, and you freeze.
"What?" You wonder, leaning away to properly look at him. But he just smiles, teasingly almost, and leans his head to the side a little.
"You heard me." He chuckles. "Wherever you want. Mark me up." He shrugs.
"But.. I'm not allowed." You shake your head, unsure if you understand him correctly. "I'm not supposed to."
"I do it all the time to you, don't I?" He asks, and you nod, a little shy now. "So? Only fair if you get to do it too. I'm sorry I didn't realize how.. that must've felt like to you, the fact that I always told you not to do it." He offers, a hand running over your tail.
"But they'll get angry at you-" You remind him, and he still denies it, instead leaning in to peck your lips once. You huff at that, even after the second, the third- but the fourth is when you melt, join in, and let yourself be swepped away by his love.
Jungkook knows best, you remind yourself. He knows what he can and can't do. He'll manage that.
You're mouthing at his neck on instinct, careful still- before you actually do end up biting and marking him, the evidence of this staying even the next day and the day after, causing his management to scold him numerous times- all of them Jungkook simply lets wash over him, not really taking it to heart.
He loves you, and therefore things like these are simply normal. They shouldn't be forbidden. He's not a child anymore.
And, at the end of the day, he doesn't need the fame, or money, or anything else.
He only needs you.
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saltynsassy31 · 7 months
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no cus i totally understand your frustration, ive also quit splatfests for the moment until they get an overhaul
i suggest if you feel close to getting hateful to either shiver or shiver fans then maybe quit for a while for your own sake cus ive felt a lot better after doing so, im still really sensitive to negative comments towards frye or rude ones about shiver winning but taking some time for myself has made me feel infinitely better
ive been close to hating shiver before bc of how cocky and rude them and their fans can be but it doesnt really do anything but sour your enjoyment of the game more, so its really not worth it
i do have to say though, anyone who says "its just a game" reaaally needs to understand the frustration of people OTHER than them, sympathy is something a lot of people forget about when it comes to things that arent real life. just because it doesnt affect you doesnt mean everyone can shut off their attachment to the game or a character like a light switch; a lot of the time you dont know whats going on with them. i myself am really attached to frye cus i am hashtag autism creature and he brings me comfort, so anyone being rude to me about shiver winning really REALLY gets under my skin. its not entirely (if they were serious, if they werent then its not at all) their fault, but nintendo fixing the frustration of splatfests constantly keeling in one direction (which theyre supposed to do anyways but they havent) would definitely fix the issue. we need to find a way to have nintendo fix this, not attack anyone else for what bundle of pixels and text theyre attached to.
not everyone has really thick skin and if we want splatoon 3 to be more hospitable then we should try to cut down on the general splatfest bullassery in public spaces (being overly cocky and rude/blaming others in a way with no basis or truth behind it). its not something everyone can always do since we arent all perfect, but if we make steps in that direction then we could help more people enjoy the splatoon community rather than being eaten up by toxicity and spite
i didnt word all of this entirely correctly so like interpret ad best as you can cus im eepy but yeah.
a fye for u to enjoy (also ur anon is off btw)
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u dont have to but for the sake of not being harrassed id appreciate if u didnt tag with public tags
👏👏 PREACH
I don't want to quit playing it, I do enjoy splatfests, to a certain extent, i like going with my friends and i made a lot of new friends through it, it's like, the online community that I'm having a problem with
I don't hate shiver, I thought I did but I can't, she is still a comfort character (tho Frye is like, my obsession besides being my comfort character cuz I am also part part the 'tism XD), in a way, I like her dynamic with the group at least, she annoys me, yes, very much so, but I don't hate her
And I don't hate people who like her either
Who I do hate is people being mean about it, I had turned off anon cuz of a stupid person who was going around every frye support account anonymously just saying mean stuff and praising shiver as the best, I just forgot to turn it on, so thanks for reminding me 😅
Saying that "It's just a game" is so annoying to, tell that to the football fans, they go just as crazy if not more so
Splatfests are ment to be fun! You should be able to enjoy the splatfest without having to worry about people fighting
I don't like fighting with people, I hate how angry I become, how mean I can sound sometimes, I usually just vent without interacting
At least she won in Japan, so that is one other win under her belt, I just wish she'd win more in the future 😔
Oh also I almost didn't participate in this splatfest either and I did only because I haven't had time to play and I haven't finished my catalogue yet 😅 I usually use splatfests to up my catalogue quicker lmao
Also, don't worry, I won't tag anything that could get you harassed, if anything does happen, please block for your health, I don't want anything happening to you, you seem very sweet ;w;
Edit: also YOUR FRYE PLUSH IS SO CUTE! I've been seeing people get her but idk where to buy her!!!! Where'd you get it? :0
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bardic-tales · 2 years
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Alone in the Dark
Novel: Fall of Darth Jadus
Pairing: m!SI (Darth Jadus / Darth Notkis) x f!IA (Cipher Nine / Cynthia Prescost)
Fandom: Star Wars, The Old Republic
Word Count: 606
Warnings: implied child abuse, implied rape, au:canon divergent
Rating: Mature
Premise: Cynthia Prescost, an Imperial Agent who goes by the moniker Cipher Nine, confronts her lover, Darth Jadus. A secret is spilled out.
Source: Angst Prompt Generator
Tag List: @arrthurpendragon @perasperaadastrawriting @starryeyes2000
If you would like to to be on my tag list for notifications on my fan fiction, please let me know. If you wish to be taken off this taglist, feel free to tell me!
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ALONE IN THE DARK
1.
“I was alone!” she howled at the Sith before her. “When I truly needed you, you disappeared! So, you don’t know what I have been through! You. Don’t. Know!”
“Cynthia, I know — ”
“You don’t know! How could you know what happened to me?!” She cut Darth Jadus off as she dug her fingernails into her palm. This trick worked to distract her when her parents locked her in her childhood bedroom when she was younger. Presently, it did nothing.
As he bent down, Jadus set a holopad on the table next to them. She was too irate to see that he was carefully examining holo-news or read the breaking headlines about an attack on the distant planet of Bespin. Authorities said none survived.
She trembled, the shaking barely discernible to the naked eye, but Jadus knew all her idiosyncrasies. He immediately knew something was wrong. Her heart hammered in her chest.
“I knew they would hurt me,” she cried out, sobbing as those memories took hold of her as they often did now, “but I never thought that they would do that. How could anyone predict they would do that?”
“No one could,” Jadus murmured, his voice no higher than a melodic purr. He wiped one of her tears away with his hand, the moisture leaving a spot behind on the ebony-colored clawed glove. “You have experienced one of the worst things that a person could endure. You don’t need my permission to mourn.
“And you need not fear a punishment for this outburst either, Cyn. You’re not the reason that happened, but you need to do whatever you can to heal from it. Even if that means you must leave me and be by yourself for a bit. I have no use for someone who’s broken.”
Although his words were harsh, there was a gentleness to them. Cynthia couldn’t fault his reasoning. In her current state, they were no closer to realizing his glorious empire than they were after fate reunited them.
I can’t even look at him without remembering what happened. This was not Jadus’ fault. If she were honest with herself, every man reminded her of those who captured her, those who took torture too far. He was only a stand in for the ones who took part in her abuse.
She breathed in and out. Her breaths fell rapidly on each other, and each stopped with a choked sob. As time passed, her anxiety rose until it reached its tipping point.
I can’t breathe, Cynthia panicked. Again, her air was cut off with a choked sob.
“Be at ease,” he tried to soothe her as he pulled her to him and wrapped his arms around her. No amount of comfort would make it okay. “All who participated in such a plan will perish by my hand. I give you my word that they will not escape me.”
Although Imperial Intelligence was no more and Sith Intelligence rose to take its place, Jadus would hunt down all who were responsible for what happened over the skies of Corellia.
The Sith always reveled in the hunt. This time would be no different, and all of those she considered her friends were in danger from his never-ending rage.
I can’t allow him to figure out who was responsible. Shara was the one in most danger should he look into the plan that they all agreed to. He would murder the former Watcher Two and Keeper, but most importantly to Cynthia, one of her few friends.
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tfatwsiguess · 2 years
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For those of us who have seen Thor: Love and Thunder… (it was so freakin good!) Spoilers ahead!!! ⚠️
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• That opening scene after the daughter died and Gorr finds his god only to realize he was a collosal ass was actually so hard to watch- like this dude really just told you his people all died after worshipping you and you wanna laugh and throw shit at him 🙂
• Y’all. I finally get what you mean when you fawn over Thor, ‘cause man was looking FINE with his new look in the beginning of this movie. Like, yeah obviously I could look at him and see mans was attractive but this was the first time bro was actually doin it for me. 😂 Only other people who’ve managed to do that are Bucky and Marc (I’m asexual y’all sometimes I’m just slow to it lmao)
• Seeing the Guardians again was actually so nice. Made me realize how long it’s been since we’ve seen them with all the other post-endgame movies that have come out. Seeing Quill and Thor being friends was actually really nice. Was definitely expecting the competitiveness still bc of the trailer but Quill was even a fan of Thor’s whole act so I call that growth 😂
• Loved seeing my girl Darcy/Kat way too much and that’s probably because I just finished watching 2 Broke Girls. Character’s just so underrated and I want to see her Monica and Woo all back together. But omg I don’t think she even got to say goodbye to Jane 🥺
• The way I thought it was out of five stages of cancer and not four, it just made sense to me
• The first two minutes of Jane’s intro were already more interesting to me than anything she’s ever done in the first two movies. Not exactly a Jane hater am I, but I definitely didn’t think she was interesting enough on her own let alone to be Thor God of Thunder’s love interest (although I found the first two Thor movies incredibly boring too so maybe it’s their fault and not hers 😬) but I feel they definitely fixed that with this movie
• Actually loving them calling her King Valkyrie because yes it’s like making girl boss moves playing chess not checkers
• Jane’s move of splitting up the broken pieces of Mjolnir to attack multiple people at once is so badass???
• Sooooo NOW y’all wanna make me ship Jane and Thor?! Had three movies to do it before and gave me less than 0%. Why couldn’t they show us a glimpse of any of these flashbacks then 🤡
• The personification of Mjolnir and Stormbreaker were really a nice touch. Mjolnir actually heeding Thor’s wish when he asked it to protects her is pretty sweet and adorable
• Thor really has a thing with people copying his look. “I see you’ve copied the beard.” // “You’re wearing my look.”
• My God when he leveled up his armor with all those bright colors after he saw Jane’s he looked like a freakin Transformer to me
• Thor is not as skilled in giving inspirational speeches as ol’ Stevie was and I admire him for always trying and knowing that’s enough 🥹
• Jane and Valkyrie are actually extremely adorable and I love them, she’s like her goddess mentor
• “Eat my hammer” is giving… “get a face full of my hammer” and I’m down with it the way she delivers it lmao
• It’s the way I should’ve expected to see Thor/Hemsworth buns uncensored in this movie and I didn’t 😂 was completely surprised when my mom actually laughed at the women fainting she’s so conservative
• YES VALKYRIE WIELDING THAT LIGHTNING BOLT LIKE A QUEEN
• Okay Jane has such a flourish to her fighting movements and I freaking love it
• Jane actually staying in the hospital to let Thor take the reigns going forward was such satisfying character growth
• Holy crap the gifs y’all make of this movie are gonna look great- that rainbow bridge shot when the goats crash through the ceiling and the extension of Thor’s powers to the kids making a tree were so cool
• Did the wish granting space person thingy look like The Watcher to anyone?
• I’m really glad they had Gorr make the right decision to bring his daughter back. I thought it was gonna be the type of situation where when they break his sword he would stop being corrupted. Still not clear on why he was dying in the first place tho
• Thor having a DAUGHTER?! SO STINKIN CUTE AND PUREEEE 😭 Idk if y’all comic readers already knew about this but I never would’ve guessed that was where the movie would end up. (For X-Men lovers I went home and watched Logan right after that too so my heart’s been through the Daddy-Daughter ringer 🥺)
• My moments of realizing why it’s called Love and Thunder and why they kept using the song Sweet Child O’ Mine shown through emojis: 😯😱🙊🥺🥹
• Hercules?! Hell yeah
• I was hoping my good sis would make it into Valhalla with the died-of-cancer/saved-all-of-god-kind card. Certainly was nice seeing Heimdall again
That’s everything I remember off the top of my head but this really was such an exciting, funny and hilarious two hours of entertainment. Definitely see it in theatres if you can guys 🧡
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That’s Gonna Scar
Title: That’s Gonna Scar       Day: Febuwhump 2023, Day 5: “That’s Gonna Scar”   Fandom: Mystic Messenger Word Count: 1444   Author: aquietwritingcorner/realitybreakgirl Rating: T   Characters: Jaehee Kang, Zen     Warning: NA     Summary: After Zen jumps in front of an attack to protect Jaehee, Jaehee and MC wait to hear word of him at the hospital. But hospitals were never happy places for Jaehee, and she has to fight off her own anxiety and guilt as she waits to see how injured the star is.   Notes:  I have never written fic for Mystic Messenger before, and it’s been years since I either rped as her or played the game so here’s hoping I do this justice. For the purposes of this story, MC is not dating anyone, but is close friends with all of them. ff.net || AO3
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That’s Gonna Scar
“Jaehee—Jaehee look out!”
A push. Stumbling. A flash of white in front of her. Hitting the ground. Looking up to see a fight. Catching a glimpse of red marring skin. Blood hitting the ground. Screams. Lights. Panic.
She moved.
A hand landed on Jaehee’s shoulder, startling her and breaking her out of her thoughts. She looked over to the side to MC see smiling kindly at her. Jaehee blinked, trying to bring herself back out of the recent memory she had been in.
The other woman seemed to sense this and held out a drink to her.  “Tea?”
“Oh—thank you,” Jaehee said, more out of habit than anything. She took the tea, taking a sip of it. It was somehow both bland and bitter, and Jaehee decided she’d be better off just holding the cup in her hands. Perhaps the warmth would help her.
MC sat down beside her, looking up at the TV that was mounted high on the wall of the hospital waiting room. She nodded at it. “It’s all over the news,” she commented, it half sounding like a question.
Jaehee nodded, her heart tightening. “It is,” she said. “On most of the stations. I’ve not looked, but I’m sure it’s all over the fan boards as well.”
“Of course, it is,” MC said. “It’s big news, especially since there’s not been an official release on his state yet.”
Jaehee looked down at the tea she had in her hands, worry clawing at her. She knew how she had last seen him, but some part of her was panicking that it was worse than she thought. “I suppose so. I—” she stopped, not sure what she wanted to say, exactly.
“You what?” MC pressed.
“Nothing,” Jaehee said, giving MC her practiced smile, hiding her thoughts and feelings as best she could.
MC, unfortunately thought, was very astute—especially about her friends. “Jaehee, you’re not blaming yourself for this, are you?”
Jaehee’s chest tightened again, and she wondered if it wouldn’t be better to be drinking the tea. At least then she would have a reason not to answer MC. Instead, she held her silence, trying to figure out what to say.
MC frowned. “You know what happened wasn’t your fault, Jaehee.”
Jaehee’s hands tightened on the cup, a reflection of her feelings. “No, I know that they were the fault of that man. But perhaps if I had been more attentive then Zen wouldn’t have jumped in the way and gotten hurt.” She glanced up at the news, where the newscasters were still reporting on the attack and injury of the popular, upcoming actor. “He’s gaining so much popularity. His career is taking off. If this affects it, I…” Jaehee shook her head.
MC put her hand on Jaehee’s arm, holding it firmly. “Jaehee. It’s not your fault.” Her voice was insistent. “It’s not your fault.”
Jaehee didn’t say anything.
MC sighed, and fell quiet, settling in beside Jaehee.
For the next hour or so, the two women sat there. Jaehee kept her eyes on the news that was playing, steadfastly ignoring her phone. She knew that the chatroom had been active, but she had allowed MC to handle that. Jaehee didn’t want to deal with everyone’s concern—or, perhaps, the blame, even if no one else blamed her but herself.
And maybe Zen.
Jaehee didn’t know.
She hated hospitals. Or, more precisely, she hated being in hospitals. Her experiences with hospitals and being in hospital waiting rooms had not been good ones. Her father’s death. Her mother’s death. A time or two of sickness. Hospitals were where she got bad news, where she had spent time waiting for her world to come crashing down on her.
She didn’t know if she could stand for it to happen again.
“Jaehee Kang?”
A voice called out her name, and Jaehee’s head snapped up, anxiety filling her. A doctor was looking around the waiting room, and Jaehee stood up.
“Yes, here,” she said quickly.
“If you could come with me,” he said. “There is a patient requesting to see you.”
“Yes, of course.”
Jaehee spared a glace towards MC, who just waved her on. She quickly walked towards the doctor, following behind as he led her back through the hospital, towards a more private area. Finally, he stopped a door and gestured for her to go it.
Jaehee pushed it open, anxiety twisting her stomach. She had no idea what she’d find behind this door, and she felt sick just from the possibilities. “Zen?”
Zen looked up at her from where he sat on the bed, not even in a hospital gown and gave her a smile. “Jaehee!”
Jaehee felt both immediate relief that things weren’t worse than they were, and immediate concern. A large cut was stitched up on face, stretching from his forehead, down along the side of his face, to his jawline. She stepped into the room, her eyes glued on it.
Zen frowned a little, his eyes searching her. “Jaehee, are you alright? You weren’t hurt, were you?”
He was worried about her? He was injured and he was worried about her? She stepped forward, her hands clutching together tightly. “That’s going to scar,” she said softly.
He blinked at her, but then gave her a roguish grin. “Yeah, it probably will. But I think a scar will only make me look more dashing, don’t you?”
He struck a pose, and Jaehee knew it was supposed to make her laugh, but all she felt inside was a pit of guilt and shame. She looked down, shamefaced.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “If I had been quicker or had been paying more attention, then you wouldn’t have pushed me out of the way or gotten hurt.”
“Hey—wait, no, Jaehee.” Zen looked startled and reached out, taking her hands. “Jaehee, you didn’t do anything wrong. No one expected a crazy guy like that to come out of nowhere.”
“I should have been more aware,” Jaehee insisted. “Or at least moved quicker. I have training. I should have been able to handle him without the need for you to get involved.”
Zen’s expression turned hard. “When some man goes crazy and begins attacking me without regards to others around, I think I have a right to get involved.”
Jaehee blinked at him, confused. “I’m sorry, I don’t understand.”
Zen shook his head. “I’ve been talking to the police. Apparently, he’s targeting actors and singers. Something about undermining traditions and culture? They’re still looking into it. They say it looks like he would have come after me even if I hadn’t of gotten between you and him. The only difference is that he would have hurt you as well.” Zen paused. “You aren’t hurt, are you?” he asked. “You never answered my question.”
She had a few scrapes and some places that would probably bruise, due to the fact that she jumped into the fight, helping Zen to subdue the man with the knife. However, she had definitely come out on the better end, with Zen taking the most damage.
“I—no,” Jaehee said. “I’m not. Perhaps a bruise or two will show up, but I am not hurt.”
“Good,” Zen said, looking distinctly relieved. He dropped some of the silliness and presentation from his demeanor, turning serious. “Jaehee—look, I just want you to know that you really saved me out there. I might have pushed you out of the way, and gotten this cut, but you stopped him before he could do anything else. Thanks to you, he was subdued and didn’t get the chance to hurt me more than this or hurt anyone else. You jumped in and made sure that everyone was safe, and I can’t thank you enough for that.” He drew her hands up, looking her in the eyes. “You saved me, Jaehee. This cut is well worth the price—even if it scars.”
Jaehee stared at him, eyes wide and breath caught. She hadn’t been expecting this. She gave him a trembling smile back as she felt her eyes start to tear up. “I was only doing the right thing. But… thank you Zen. I was so worried. I’m glad that you’re going to be alright.”
Zen squeezed her hands. “All thanks to you. Jaehee, I couldn’t ask for a better friend.”
“Nor could I,” Jaehee said. “After all, you protected me, too.”
Zen smiled at her, and despite the cut that they both knew would scar, Jaehee couldn’t help the warm feeling that grew in her. Perhaps this was one hospital visit where everything would turn out all right in the end.
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Asherah Q & A 1
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1.) Their pet goldfish dies 💛
Probably a little depressed, she wasn’t attached to the goldfish or anything and she was more likely at fault for killing it as she would forget to change its water or feed, or even overfeed it to make up for the days she forgot. But on the days, she did remember it, she did enjoy watching it swim around in circles, she probably whispered to it all her little secrets and emotions she wouldn’t share with anyone. She enjoyed giving it a fun name ~~probably named after one of her favorite k-drama actors or K-pop stars~~. When she finally figured it died probably a couple of days after she would remember she would need to feed it and find it dead. She would hold a small memorial for it and spend the rest of her day watching the fish swim around the sub.
2.) A robber has broken into their house while they are home! 💛
Grabbing the first thing she can use as a weapon. She isn’t letting the robber get away with anything and will take justice into her own hands. Depending on the strength of the robber and if she could surprise them or not, she would slam their head with either a ‘thick book’ ‘frying pan,’ or even an umbrella or baseball bat before calling the police to handle everything. She would act unbothered by everything but in truth, she feels violated and a little freaked out for a few weeks and sleeps next to Law or at Law’s place.
3.) A random person gives your OC a hug! 💛
She freezes up. She doesn’t like hugs; physical touch does make her uncomfortable. When their grip weakens she wiggles away and pushes them away. She isn’t a fan of physical touch from strangers and will visibly look uncomfortable as well before insulting the person who hugged her.
4.) Some idiot has challenged your OC to a bar fight! 💛
Ash will take on the challenge, depending on the person’s strength, she will either win or lose. She is tough and will use anything she can get her hand on and use it as a weapon. At times she will add fuel to the fire taunting the person hoping their anger will blind them when they choose to attack. She will try to make it a larger bar fight just to make things more chaotic and if she feels like she is losing she will try to get away from the chaos. If Law and the Heart Pirates are there, they will protect her before it gets bad protecting her from being attacked or hurt. After everything, Law will lecture her on her reckless behavior.
5.) Your OC has stumbled upon a basket of abandoned, adorable kittens! 💛
She will not leave the island till she finds a home for every kitten. She can’t keep the kittens, life on the high seas makes it difficult to care for animals and she isn’t responsible it would be the job for Law or his crew to help care for the pet. So, she would help trying to find a good home for them, asking questions to the new owners, and seeing if they are the right fit. Only after she found the right home would she feel a little sad saying goodbye to the kittens and feeling the weight of what it means to travel and not have a home to come back to.
6.) Your OC is faced with their worst fear! 💛
Ash’s worst fear is everyone she cares for and loves leaving her. She made so many mistakes in her life and feels like she is a person undeserving of love, when she finally finds love she is worried they will leave her. Worried her past mistakes would haunt her and she should be unforgiven. She will be in tears, tittering with her suicidal thoughts and trying to put a brave face in front of people. While asking her sister to forgive her.
7.) Someone has made your OC's favorite food for dinner! 💛
Ash would be delighted that someone did cook her favorite meal, not that she would show it, she would act nonchalant and eat the food treating it like another meal. Though she wouldn’t touch the food if she were to eat alone, sharing her favorite meal with friends always makes the food taste better.
8.) Sees a defenseless person being chased by a monster. What does your OC do? 💛
Ash would act like she doesn’t want to help, and it is a pain and an ass trying to help someone who doesn’t want to help themselves, but the guilt would get to her, and she would find herself helping the person to the best of her ability. She finds it difficult to leave a defenseless person, alone and in the end, joins their mission and defends them.
9.) A invading army is setting siege on the city your OC is staying at. What does your OC do? 💛
There isn’t much she can do; she doesn’t know the politics of the city or island she is staying at to get involved. She will pay for meals and leave before getting involved.
10.) Your OC sees that their crush or significant other is being Bullied. What do they do about it? 💛
Law is always getting bullied by the Straw Hats. She will sit and watch while he gets stressed out trying to get them to follow his plan or listen to him before giving up. He even gets taunted by Kidd or Luffy into doing reckless stuff. He is such a serious stoic man; she finds him falling for little taunts from other captains charming. Or how stressed he gets with the Straw hats human. She might join in a little, but he knows she will have his back when the time comes. He will bully her later for teasing him.
11.) Your OC is dungeon crawling with some friends and ends up falling through a trap door! Your OC then finds themselves in a torture chamber! 💛
She is freaking out a little….a lot. She is trying to figure away a lot while trying to stay calm and exploring the chamber. She is humming to herself and trying not to look at all the torture weapons. But also looking for cools and information in case it is needed when she does find a way out will she run out.
12.) Someone has stolen your OC's cookies! 💛
She actually doesn’t care, in fact she probably forgot about it.  Or handed It to the person. If not she gives an annoyed look and goes back to whatever she is doing
13.)Your OC catches their crush or significant other in bed with someone else! 💛
Ash has caught an ex cheating on her and has left her with deep emotional wounds where she feels she is not good enough. If she caught Law in another bed with someone else she would jump to the worst possible conclusion, it hurt much worse as she would feel she deserved it, and stupid for getting her hopes up.  Law has to corner her to explain the situation and win her heart back.
14.) OC's best friend is sick with a cold. 💛
She will try her best to help her friend, bringing in books her friends like. Checking in on her every once in a while. She is honestly a bit lost on what to do when her friend is sick at first, serving burnet soup and forgetting to bring heating pads or drink. She will call Law a lot to come to check on her friend being a doctor and all. He will sit with her and help her while her friend is sick.
15.) One of your OC's friends has stolen your OC's clothing while they were taking a bath in a lake! Your OC doesn't have any clothes! 💛
She is sitting in the lake trying to act unbothered, but she is embarrassed. She is sitting in the water, if she catches the person stealing her clothes, she will try fighting them naked, more blinded by anger than anything else if not she is sitting in the water. Not till another friend or Law comes and helps her out, he will give her his hoodie to keep her warm. He is fuming that a friend of hers did that to her, and Ash is planning revenge by burning all of her friend’s clothes.
16.) Its Christmas day and your OC finds coal in their stocking. 💛
Not that surprising, she has caused a lot of grief to people. She burned her ex’s bed, used harsh words to get on people’s nerves, and tried to hurt them to protect her feelings.
17.) The Zombies are attacking! 💛
Freaking out a bit, she isn’t a fan of Zombie moves as they do scare her. She will try her best to fight and stick with someone more prepared than her.  If she survives depends on if the people, she cares about are in danger or not. She will use herself as bait or to help her friends getaway.  If she does survive she tries to live like she normally would with her friends enjoying life the best she could.
18.) Your OC gets handcuffed to their worst enemy. 💛
Her worst enemy would be her father at the moment, understanding she is a disappointment to him and that she can never live up to his expectations. Conversations between them are difficult and curt. Ash loves her father. He feels the same but as both of them have hit the difficult part of their life Ash acting out and choosing the life of being a pirate. I am sure they will have a heart-to-heart to express all their hidden feelings before separating their separate way with more of an understanding of how they need to heal.
19.) Your OC finds themselves in a haunted house! 💛
Ash hates every minute of it, she is trying to act unbothered and brave, but she is scared, she can only handle so much till she is clinging to Law. He knows this and holds on to her, in fact, a few of his dates are around the fact she is scared and clinging to him. He holds on to her tightly and comforts her.  While she might be scared, she takes great comfort in being in Law’s arms.
20.) Your OC has received a nasty flesh wound from battle! 💛
She is in a lot of pain; she is trying to hide it, so she isn’t a burden on anybody. She will hold off as much as she can, ending the fight. She faints from the amount of pain she is in and after the long battle is over and she is the definite winner. Law catches her before she falls and takes her to his operation room, he is keeping a cool composer, but he will do ever he can to keep her alive and keep her safe. After everything is stable it will be a long lecture on her being reckless and to better take care of her health.
21.) Someone gross looking is hitting on your OC. 💛
Ash is annoyed, she isn’t a fan of people, and being hit on annoys her. She is enjoying her drink at the bar by herself, and some asshole is hitting on her. If she is in the mood, she will mess with the person hitting on her in an attempt to get free drinks or free food before choosing to ignore them. If the guy continues hitting her will she insult the person aiming to hurt and get rid of them. Law himself will get involved if she sees the person not backing down and she is in danger.
22.) Someone very important to your OC has just died. 💛
As it already happened, Ash feels it. She is forever haunted with survivor’s guilt as she tries to hide and act normal, but her loved one’s death will always haunt her. Always in the back of her mind. If she were to lose someone again, she would lose the will to move forward the guilt of still being alive while all her loved ones are dying would kill her. She would be a husk of her former self more withdrawn, and any progress she had moving forward would be gone.
23.) Your OC gets challenged to a drinking game! 💛
Bring it on, chances of her losing are high, but this is a challenge she will take and try not to lose also it is someone else’s tab. She will most time if she is chugging down the drink. If she thinks she is in danger or there is information she wants, will she refuse the challenge or accept and figure a way to cheat.
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wheelsup · 3 years
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kissing lessons
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summary: one of your classic movie nights with spencer turns into a learning opportunity
A/N: this is really fluffy, but the whole story centers around kissing. use your own judgement! i’d say it’s at worst 16+
category: spencer reid x gn!reader, fluff (with a bit of spice)  best friends to lovers (sorta)
warnings: just kissing, a brief implication at the end
word count: 3k
Occasionally, the team will spend an extra night in their hotel before heading home from a case. Be it due to poor weather conditions, or the fact that your case wrapped in the dead of night, the reasons for flying don’t ever matter. Because the majority of the times when you have to stay that extra night, you and Spencer have sleepovers.
The routine is pretty much the same. You’ll stock up on gas station snacks – sour peach rings for Spencer, salted microwave popcorn for you – and reconvene in one of your hotel rooms. Preferably, whichever of you got the better deal that week – a bigger tv, a room further away from the ice machine. And you’d rent the cheapest movie available on-demand, the options spanning from low-budget sci-fi to poorly written rom-coms. That night, the viewing fell under the latter category.
Spencer perched at the foot of your bed with both feet tucked under his legs, criss-cross style, while you laid against the headboard to watch. Every now and then, you tossed out your commentary and he’d ignore it. He always says you’re too critical of movies and you’re of the belief that he’s too forgiving.
“I don’t think they should end up together,” you mumbled, words slurring around your mouthful of popcorn. You pulled a face right as the movie approached the romantic climax, after spending the past ninety minutes actively rooting against the couple. Spencer ignored you, pretending to be engrossed in the movie to spite your disparagement of it. “They both suck.”
You groaned, slumped further against the pillows, and shoved your sock-clad toes under Spencer’s left thigh in a call for attention. He jumped at the intrusion, but ultimately, your efforts were futile.
And then the big kiss commenced, and your booing finally piqued his interest. “Gross! I feel bad for people who kiss like that.”
A small bell went off in his head and he took a curious glance at you over his shoulder.
“What do you mean?” he asked. He stopped chewing and the piece of candy in his mouth pushed out his cheek, giving him an adorably innocent look. His brows scrunched in the middle and his nose had a tiny crinkle in it, utterly confused.
You scoffed and matched his expression. “Are you serious?” You jerked your head in the direction of the television and Spencer whipped his head back, squinting. He couldn’t figure out what you were pointing out, what it was that was so obviously wrong to you. “Spencer, he’s swallowing her chin!”
Oh. He hadn’t noticed.
Feeling dumb, he muttered, “I thought that’s how you’re supposed to kiss…” It wasn’t the deepest confession to admit to you that he lacked some knowledge when it came to kissing, but he still refused to look at you as he said it.
“Spencer, please tell me you haven’t been kissing people like that.” You narrowed your eyes at the back of his head, sitting up straighter in bed. He shrugged and lowered his head, focusing on his snack as his fingers dug into the packet of gummy rings in his lap.
He popped another piece into his mouth, pretending to be occupied with eating so as to avoid your prying. “I dunno.”
It didn’t occur to you until that moment that Spencer might have learned everything he knows about kissing – among other things – solely through watching movies. How else could he look at that and think it’s normal? And you’re left wondering if he’s ever even practiced it with another living human. He clearly didn’t want to talk about it, but unfortunately, that only heightened your interest. You had to know.
“Have you ever kissed anyone before?” You kept your voice low, your tone implying that you were ready to exchange this secret with him. You wouldn’t judge him if he admitted he hadn’t.
He scoffed loudly, and though you couldn’t see his face, you’re positive he rolled his eyes too. “Yeah, of course.” Then quietly, he added on, “But it was only like… for four seconds.”
You nodded thoughtfully, considering how this new piece of information adjusted your existing view of Spencer. For some reason, you couldn’t tell if you actually expected him to be experienced or not.
He didn’t exactly scream that he’d… gotten around, for lack of better words, but you’re still surprised to learn that he’s barely done it at all. You supposed he was objectively cute, that maybe you could see it if he weren’t your best friend. And yeah, he’s a little awkward, but he’s smart and kind, so he has three great things going for him, and you’re surprised more people haven’t swooped him up yet.
Your lips curled down in thought, brows raised in curiosity. “And was it good?” It was a genuine enough question, because you’ve never really thought about Spencer Reid and kissing in the same sentence before. As it turned out, there was a lot of missing information relating to those two things.
“I don’t know! I didn’t get, like, a feedback form,” he grunted, angling his shoulder even further away from you. If you could’ve seen him, you’d notice his face boiling and turning red with heat. All this inquiring made him think harder about his … talents … than he’s ever had to before, and he’s not a fan.
You were prepared to do some more digging when the slump in his back made you feel a tinge of guilt. It was your fault he looked so defeated. You pressed too hard, disregarding his boundaries just because you wanted to know more. And now, he was wondering if there was something wrong with him, because you wouldn’t leave it alone.
He barely noticed as you swung your feet from under his thigh and rocked onto your knees, leaning forward to nudge his shoulder with your palm. It hauled his attention out of his thoughts and back into the room. You wanted to apologize, but instead you settled with “I’m sure you’re fine, Spence.”
He nodded unconvincingly. By the glow of the screen, you could see he was still gnawing on the inside of his cheek, focusing his eyes as he played with a loose hangnail on one of his fingers. It made you feel even worse. “Are you actually worried about it?” you asked, laden with concern.
“What if I am bad at it?” He whispered, like saying it too loud would make it true. “And that’s why it’s only happened once?”
A large exhale puffed out of your nose as you weighed your options.
You could go back to your original plan and apologize for setting him down this path of doubt. But that wouldn’t do anything to stop him from worrying, anyway. You could tell him there’s no correlation between the way he kisses and how frequently it’s happened; that you’re sure the reason isn’t because he’s bad. But you don’t know that for sure.
So, fuck it, you thought, grabbing a fistful of his pajama shirt and tugging him closer to you roughly, pressing your lips onto his.
This way, you’d at least have an informed opinion to be able to tell him if he was good or bad.
His lips were softer than you expected – not that you’d thought about them often, they’re just impossibly softer than they look – and invitingly warm. But they were completely stiff.
You could tell he was trying to kiss you back by the way his mouth ferociously moved over yours. He was trying to be a passionate, engaged partner, but he forgot about the aspect of tenderness.
His lips felt like two solid objects just sliding around on your face. They didn’t move in any sort of accordance with yours. There was no push and pull, your lips didn’t mesh perfectly together to form a solitary unit as they moved in unison.
It felt more like his lips were your opponent, putting up an attack and defense play against the actions of your own.
You pulled away, resisting a giggle at his bewildered face. “You’re not so terrible,” you swipe the corner of your mouth, smudged with Spencer’s flavored chapstick, “But it could use some work.”
He was at a loss for words, mouth gaping open as his eyes darted around the room and all over you. Maybe he’d find an explanation for what just happened carved into the walls somewhere or written across your forehead.
What happened was that you kissed him. And he was a little bit bad. Simple as that.
“I-I wasn’t ready!” he stammered, chucking up his hands defensively. He’d process the fact that he’d just made out with his best friend at a later time, right now the bigger concern was the slight cringed look on your face. He sulked and folded his arms.“What was so bad about it?”
“Well,” you scratched the back of your ear, trying to gauge if he’d react well to getting some advice, “my first tip would be to relax your lips.”
“Okay, I can do that.”
“And don’t think too hard. You should react to what’s happening in the moment, not worrying about what your next move is gonna be.” You could see the gears turning in his head as he tried to envision what that would play out like in a real situation. “You wanna try again?” you offered, figuring he’d learn much faster if he was more hands-on about it.
He nodded, and you leaned in close, waiting for him to go for it. His heart quickened under the pressure of performance, eyes screwing shut as he closed the gap. His mouth smashed into yours as he dove in hard. It was toeing on the side of too harsh, but you let that one slide in hopes it was just a byproduct of his nerves.
You had to tap his knee to remind him to relax, and he loosened some of the tension he had in his lips. He slotted his between yours, allowing them to be pliable to your movements and remembering to react, not plan.
He moved his mouth leisurely against yours, trying to match your pressure and pacing. They actually started moving in time with yours at some point. The kiss took on a shape of its own as he started getting out of his head, letting himself enjoy the kiss for what it was in that exact moment.
It was already better than before. Leaps and bounds better. But then he tried to deepen it, building on its intensity but adding more… something into it. You couldn’t even tell what it was he was trying to do.
“Okay, second tip…” you inhaled sharply, pushing him off of you with a palm against his chest. Whatever it was, it needed to stop. “You kinda do this thing like… where you’re blowing air into my mouth?” You scrunched your nose, punctuating your dislike. “That feels weird. Don’t do that. If anything, do the opposite.”
“I’m supposed to suck the air out of your mouth?” His face contorted, voice already slightly exasperated. He barely understood what the air thing was that you claimed he did. He didn’t realize in the process of trying to add pressure to the kiss, he was just forcibly blowing against your mouth.
“Not literally, no.” You laughed a little, rubbing your palm in a comforting pattern on his chest.”But you can use your lips to suck on mine, or my tongue… just nothing involving the exchange of breath. We’re not in CPR training.”
He eased up a little with your joke, adjusting to your advice he gave it another try. After a few moments, he latched onto your bottom lip with his own, sucking it softly into his mouth. “Yeah, like that,” you mumbled against him, voice pitching high in encouragement. He sucked on it with a little more greed, holding it for a second, then eased up, varying the pressure of his movements just like you did before.
You made a mental note to praise him for that at a later time, deciding to instead part your lips to see if he’d venture into further experimentation.
He caught on quickly. He parted them further, prodding his tongue against them as you opened to allow him entry. Just as you started to really enjoy it, he ran his tongue over the inside of your mouth, moving it fast and roughly like he was a washing machine.
“Stop,” you grimaced, tearing away quickly. You had to swipe your hand over your mouth to get rid of the excess saliva that really shouldn’t have been an issue in the first place, given how brief the frenching was. “Your tongue is way too aggressive.”
Overwhelmed, he tilted his head to the ceiling and let out a frustrated grunt, slapping his hands down to the top of his thighs.
There were too many factors to worry about. He had no idea how you looked at him with a straight face and told him not to think too much when there were a million things he needed to remember all at once; he needed to vary his moves to keep it interesting, but make sure he’s not ruining the flow by changing things up too much, and to be gentle but not timid.
All of this was second nature to you, but it was brand new to Spencer. Could you really blame him for not getting the hang of it right away? You decided to stop your list of critiques short for this round to spare him. He’d get there eventually, but not if he felt discouraged too soon.
“I don’t see why people like it in the first place,” he huffed, his head returning to it’s normal posture. In Spencer’s eyes, there truly wasn’t any appeal to kissing with tongue; it looked sloppy and unnecessary, and as you’d just confirmed, it actually was.
You thought about his statement for a second. There’s a certain allure to it, and you didn’t know how to describe it to him. So instead you cupped his cheeks in both your palms and slid your mouth over his again. As his jaw slacked its tension, you slowly pushed your tongue past his lips and gently pressed it against his own before swirling them together.
You sighed softly into his mouth, running your fingers through his hair and tugging carefully at the ends. He made a small noise against you, something like a whimper, and you swallowed the vibrations of it. As you retreated, you captured his bottom lip between your teeth and gave it a light, teasing tug. You soothed it again with your lips before releasing it, a proud giggle forming in your chest as Spencer chased after your lips as you broke apart.
“That’s why.” You smirked at the dazed look on his face. His eyelids remained closed longer than necessary, still feeling the ghost of your mouth on his and a tingle where your fingers were in his hair.
“Oh.” His voice came out meek as he slowly came back to reality, brows wrinkling up his forehead as he opened his eyes.
He put both his palms down on the mattress, one laying flat on either side of you, and dove forward to resume the kiss right where you left it. A surprised squeak left you as his mouth collided with yours with an insatiable hunger. You brought one hand back to his hair, and he was a goner.
He unfolded his legs from under himself and shuffled onto his knees, following his hands until he practically crawled into your lap. Each of his legs hooked onto either side of your thighs as he hovered over your lap, leaning his body entirely into yours.
The physics of it didn’t hold up; he’s taller than you are, and his chest was too heavy for you to carry. The balance was off center and it sent you tumbling back onto the mattress, bringing him down with you until his chest laid on yours.
It was the perfect force – the weight of him on top of you. He tasted like peach candy and sour sugar, and you found yourself craving more of it.
You shuffled higher up the mattress, giving him space to stretch out his body as he followed yours. One of his hands found your waist, gripping tightly, while he placed the other on the mattress beside your head, using it to steady himself. Sliding your legs out from under him, you wrapped them on the outside of his hips, using them to pull him closer down to you.
It only broke off in moments when both of you absolutely needed to get air, gasping as you pulled apart for brief reprieve before colliding again. He followed every word of your advice, getting better with each passing second until he exceeded expectations by leaps and bounds.
Your fingers weaved through his hair, passionately tugging the wavy strands to angle him against you and igniting his nerves under your touch. A soft moan leaves him and you’re encouraged to tighten your grip on them. His hips bucked reactively at the sensation, and he quickly pulled back, a slight embarrassment creeping up his cheeks. He got too carried away.
You took in his flushed face and swollen, kiss-bruised lips. They’d turned a shade of red brighter than you’ve ever seen them, and it was all you could do not to dive for them again as his tongue sweeped over them, soothing the burning heat you’d left on them.
Before he could apologize for his eagerness, you nudged your nose against his, your smile skimming against his lips. “So what else don’t you know how to do?”
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maximons · 3 years
Text
Tricks And Treats
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Summary: Pietro tries to get Wanda and Y/n to finally admit their feelings for each other and takes them to a haunted house. Too bad Wanda is a full on scaredy cat...or is that exactly what is needed?
Word Count: 2,915
Genre: Fluff
Requested?: Yes
A/N: Finally back with the Fluff! Here’s that one shot I promised like a week ago lmao Happy Reading!
Halloween was for sure your favorite holiday.
You knew you were in the minority with that thought, seeing most people picked Christmas as their favorite, but you didn’t care. You always loved the time of year that came with Halloween, your birthday fell pretty close to it, you get to dress up and pretend to be someone else for a day, and it’s full on spooky season! What wasn’t there to love?
Well apparently a lot, at least according to your best friend Wanda.
For someone who’s a witch, you find it very funny that she doesn’t like the holiday.
You first met Wanda during the whole Ultron situation, back then she took on a more ‘emo’ appearance. Don’t tell anyone you said this, but you wouldn’t mind if she adopted the look again cause damn, so you just assumed Halloween and all things spooky would be for her, right?
Wrong.
You quickly learned that Wanda was not a fan of scary. You remember asking her to go see this new horror movie with you, it was your first time hanging out alone together and you just figured it’d be something she was into.
By the end of the movie, her face was buried in her knees, and she didn’t believe you when you told her the movie was over. The poor teenager working the theater was pretty annoyed with you both.
Needless to say, you didn’t bother her about anything spooky related again.
So when Pietro came to you two asking if you wanted to go to the new haunted house in town, you were beyond shocked that she agreed without a second thought.
“Uh, Wanda are you sure?” You asked, very hesitant. “I don’t know if you’ve ever been to a haunted house before, but-”
“I know what they are, Y/n.” Wanda cut you off before you finished, seeming very enthused, which confused you more. “I think it’ll be really cool!”
“Yeah...Wands, I know this group. This isn’t your typical ‘few scary decorations with the occasional light jump scare’ thing. These guys are intense.” You tried again. You didn’t know what had gotten into the witch, but you were sure she was making a mistake here.
“Y/n/n, relax. I’m not a child, I can handle myself. Trust me, okay? It’ll be great!” The bright smile on Wanda’s face was always a sight you welcomed, but it confused you in the moment. Still, you knew once her mind was set on something...let’s just say it’d be easier to find all the infinity stones than to talk her out of it.
“Alright, if you say so.” You shrugged, deciding it was best to drop the topic. Besides, she was right, Wanda’s a grown woman who can make her own choices. You just get to wait to be able to tell her that her choice was a stupid one. “So Friday night?” You asked Pietro, who nodded excitedly.
“Friday night!” He confirmed.
“Okay, cool.” You took another quick sip of your morning coffee before setting your mug down. “I gotta get ready for training. So happy to be working with Steve today instead of Nat, he’s always a walk in the park.” You said sarcastically with a roll of your eyes. “Wish me luck.” 
The twins wished you luck as you left the room to go get ready. After they were sure you were out of earshot, the witch turned to her brother. “This is your plan? Are you crazy?”
“I know, I know, but trust me, okay?” He reassured, walking to the fridge to grab himself a drink. “Y/n loves this stuff, and as she is the love of your life-”
“Whoa, whoa, I-I never said-”
“-You should experience the things that she loves to do.” Pietro finished, ignoring his sister’s intervention. “I’ll do my best to stay out of your guys’ way, and you have the whole evening to yourselves. Sounds perfect to me.”
“Yeah, until I act like a complete, how do they say, ‘spaz’ around her again.” Wanda sighed, leaning on the kitchen counter in defeat.
“You won’t. You know what kind of things to expect now. And if you do freak out, all the more reason to be by her side. She will protect you.”
Wanda looked at her brother in confusion. “I can protect my self.”
Pietro rolled his eyes playfully. “Not what I meant. You will see, sestra.”
Friday night came before you know it, and you, Wanda and Pietro were waiting in the line to buy your tickets to enter.
“Holy shit, this is a long line.” Pietro complained, causing you to chuckle.
“Not surprising. It’s the week before Halloween, weather’s nice, and this group doesn’t come to New York a whole lot. More surprised it isn’t longer actually.” You shrugged.
“Why don’t they come to New York? I thought this was one of America’s more popular states?” Wanda asked.
“It is, but ever since Loki invaded and our merry band of misfits formed, tourism and things like this have been down a whole lot.” You leaned down to get closer to Wanda’s ear. “I guess we’ve been the scary ones all along.” You joked, but Wanda was more focused on trying to calm down and forget the feeling of your breath against her ear.
“Everything alright there, Wanda?” Pietro asked after a moment, teasing smirk on his face. Before Wanda could even fire back, a voice from in front of you spoke up.
“No way! You guys are Avengers!” The group in front of you turned around, one of the guys recognized you instantly.
“Uh, yes...we are.” Wanda awkwardly stated. You knew Wanda hated fan interactions, and to be honest you weren’t a fan of these situations either. They were unpredictable. The Avengers were either beloved or despised, and you’ve been on both ends of the reaction spectrum. Wanda and Pietro, unfortunately, have seen a lot more animosity than you and the others.
Honestly, you couldn’t even fault the ones that didn’t love you guys. You weren’t ignorant and knew your battles have caused a lot of problems for a lot of people. You could sympathize, but that didn’t mean you wanted to be on the receiving end of that anger. Especially not when you were trying to just have a fun night out with your friends. “Look guys, we’re really just here to have a good time. We don’t wanna cause a scene.” You said.
“Nah, nah, it’s cool. I think you guys are awesome!” The guy said, and it was clear to you then that the dude was baked out of his mind. “Especially you, with the red wiggly woos!” He pointed to Wanda as he gave a terrible impression of her hand movements. You smiled, happy to see a fan interaction go well for Wanda.
The joy you felt didn’t last long though, as another guy in the group turned to you, blunt in his hand. “Hey, you’re the fire one right? Can you do me a solid?” He gestured to you, asking you to give him a light. You sighed, the twins chuckling at the situation.
“Yeah, but don’t ask again.” You ignited the tip of your finger, gently placing it on the end of the blunt. The group turned around in line and continued to go about their own conversation. You felt Wanda elbow your side, and you turned to see a smirk on her face. When you heard Pietro’s snicker, you groaned.
“Shut up.”
“Look at you, helping delinquents. Aren’t you supposed to be a superhero? Bringer of justice and all of that?” Wanda teased and you rolled your eyes playfully.
“Yeah, but I’m the fun one. It’s just weed.” You said confidently, but the witch saw through it and you dropped the act. “And the last time that happened and I said no, the dude burst into tears.” You said under your breath.
“There it is.” She smiled, and you couldn’t help but smile back despite you being the subject of mockery. You loved seeing her smile, you didn’t care about the reason why.
Before you knew it, Pietro announced that you guys were next in line to buy tickets. He bought his and stepped aside so you can go next. “Hi, two please.” Wanda turned to you with her eyebrows scrunched in confusion.
“Wha- Y/n, I can afford it.” She chuckled nervously, flattered by the action.
“I know, but when I have to drag you out of here cause you’re paralyzed in fear, at least you won’t regret dropping forty bucks on it.” You shrugged as you handed the cashier your credit card.
Wanda’s face reddened, something she quickly tried to hide from her brother who was enjoying this way too much. Her flustered state faded quickly when she processed what you said. “Hey!” You chuckled before thanking the cashier as she returned your card.
“Please go to the table to sign your waivers, entrance is down that hill. Enjoy your night.” The monotone voice told you that the poor woman’s been working all night. You didn’t have time to dwell on that though as you felt a panicked tapping on your arm.
“What’s wrong? We haven’t even entered yet.” You teased.
“W-what did she mean by waivers?” You chuckled at the panicked tone in the witch’s voice.
“Just means if you have a heart attack or something, you can’t sue.” You shrugged nonchalantly, but Wanda took it very seriously and turned to you with even wider eyes.
“That can happen!?”
“Well, it happened at least once if the thought of doing a waiver.” You answered, once again, nonchalantly. You looked at Wanda and could swear you saw her blood run cold. You laughed, which resulted in you receiving a glare. “Relax, Wan, you’ll be fine. You’re an Avenger, you’ve faced off against killer robots, stared death in the face time and time again!” You exclaimed dramatically as you waved your arms. You noticed Wanda start to smile and relax her shoulders. 
“Thanks, Y/n.” She gave you a sweet smile, and you couldn’t help but melt.
“Yeah, anytime.” Your eyes locked with Wanda, you were about to look away but couldn’t. ‘Wow, were her eyes always this green? They’re beautiful.’ You thought.
A blush appeared on the witch’s face as she tore her gaze from you. You were about to ask what happened, but were interrupted. “Let’s go slow pokes!” Pietro’s voice shouted, effectively breaking the moment.
“Yeah, yeah Sonic, we’re coming!” You rolled your eyes as you shouted back. Wanda giggled at the banter between you and her brother, she loved that you two were close. With that, you and her headed down the hill towards the entrance.
After about a half hour, it seemed Wanda was holding up well. The three of you walked out of the corn maze, and she had a triumphant smile on her face. “I thought you said this place was scary.” She teased causing you to roll your eyes playfully.
“Congratulations you survived the corn maze, you get to join the hall of fame with the other twelve year-olds.” As if to emphasize your point, three twelve year-olds ran out of the maze in giggles, clearly unaffected. Wanda pouted. “Aw, don’t worry. I thought you were very brave.” You teased yet again, which resulted in an elbow to the side.
“You’re a jerk.” Wanda held back a smile as she strutted forward. You laughed as you jogged forward to catch up.
“Alright, are you guys ready for the big one?” Pietro asked and your eyes widened.
“Oh, Piet, I don’t think that’s a good idea.” You said as you nudged your head towards Wanda, hinting that you didn’t think she could handle that. Unfortunately, she caught on.
“Aw come on, Y/n. I’m not a baby.” 
“I know, but you can’t go from the corn maze to...that.” You gestured towards the haunted maze entrance, a giant purple demon with smoke blowing out of it’s ears looming over. You guys turned at the sound of screams, and saw a group run out of the maze in fear, which then dissolved into laughter.
“They seem to be having fun.” Wanda gestured towards the group.
“Yeah, after the screams of terror.” You shot back. “You can’t go from walking around the block to running a marathon.”
“Oh yeah? Watch me.” Wanda strutted forward towards the entrance, determined to prove you wrong.
You groaned as you looked over to Pietro, who watched the whole ordeal with a cheeky smile. “Your sister’s insane.”
“Yeah, but you love it.” Pietro said under his breath, but you still heard it.
“What?”
“Nothing!” With that, the man sped forward, catching up to his sister at the entrance. You stared after him for a moment in shock before joining them.
The three of you walked the path, and everything seemed to be going well...for all of five seconds. The first jump scare happened behind Wanda. The loud screech startled her, and she jumped with a scream. She stumbled into your arms, and you wrapped them around her in order to keep her from falling. You chuckled, and Wanda looked up at you with the intention to glare. However, when your eyes locked again, Wanda couldn’t help but stare.
You, of course, had to ruin the moment. “Not too late to turn back, y’know. This is just the beginning.” Wanda groaned and pulled away from you, continuing forward. You laughed. “You can hold my hand if you want!” You don’t know what compelled you to say that, but you knew you weren’t entirely joking.
And you didn’t regret it when Wanda reached out and held your hand without another word. You smiled, squeezing her hand.
What you didn’t see was Pietro giving Wanda a thumbs up as you both walked past.
At some point, you guys lost Pietro in the dark maze. Wanda wasn’t even worried as she still held your hand tightly, and you knew the man would be fine and he’ll meet up with you at the exit. 
Wanda had been holding up better than you thought. You wouldn’t say she was good per say, seeing as she screamed and practically jumped into your arms at the slightest sound, but she hadn’t collapsed on the ground in tears yet, so you’d count that as a win.
“Gotta say, Maximoff. I’m impressed.” You said as you two walked down the maze hand in hand.
“I’m just being that super brave Avenger like you said.” Wanda giggled, and you couldn’t help but melt at the noise.
“Well you’re doing an awesome job. Even if the last three guys almost made you pee your pants.” You laughed loudly as you took in the shocked reaction the woman gave you.
“Y/n!” She scolded, but before you could even respond, the worst jump scare yet occurred. 
A large animatronic growled and lowered from the ceiling right behind Wanda. The witch turned to look briefly as she screamed loudly and jumped to you again. This time, however she literally jumped into your arms. You quickly braced your hands under her thighs, catching her, as she wrapped her legs around your waist. The force from the jump caused you to stumble back into a darker corner of the maze. Your back hit a hay wall, and you and Wanda laughed at the moment. Your laughter continued for a moment, and Wanda lifted her head from your shoulder to look into your eyes. Both of you got quiet as you continued to stare, sensing the moment shift.
“You okay?” You whispered, almost as if talking to loudly would shatter the moment. Wanda nodded, eyes still locked onto yours. After a moment of silence, she spoke up.
“Y’know...I think a distraction would help.” Your eyebrows shot up at the insinuation. You doubted you heard her correctly, but when you saw her eyes shift down to your lips, you knew what she wanted. And you wouldn’t lie and say you didn’t want it too.
“I...Yeah, I think I could help with that.” You barely got your sentence out when Wanda smashed her lips to yours roughly. You tightened your hold on her thighs as she wrapped her arms around your neck. You stood there, making out roughly against the wall of the maze. As wild and sudden as this was, you wouldn’t trade this moment for anything.
Pietro noticed you two were gone for a really long time. He was beginning to get concerned, and pulled out his phone ready to call one of you. Turns out he didn’t need to. 
You two came out of the maze, only you weren’t alone. You and Wanda each had a security guard holding your arm. After you two were out of the maze completely, they let you go and walked off. It was then that Pietro noticed both of your disheveled states. And he could swear he saw two or three hickeys forming on your neck.
“No you didn’t-” He started, but you cut him off.
“Not a word.” Your hand found it’s way to Wanda’s as you guys walked towards the exit of the park, figuring it’d be bad Avengers press if you guys stayed any longer at this point. You had an awesome night anyway, and didn’t care if it ended a little early. Besides, you had a feeling you’d get to have some more...fun when you got back to the compound.
You didn’t notice Pietro high five Wanda’s free hand.
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the-bau-quinjet · 3 years
Text
One Misunderstanding
Bucky x Reader
Summary: You struggle to fix Bucky's first impression of you. Bucky struggles with his own feelings.
Warnings: angst, Hydra things- like brainwashing and torture, a few curse words, panic attacks, anxiety
Word count: 5609
a/n: this idea came to me very suddenly, but I'm in love with it. Hopefully whatever I just wrote does it justice.
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"Everyone, meet Y/N. She's the newest member of our little group, bringing in a whole new level of hacking and tech skills. Y/N, meet the team." Tony introduced you to everyone, eager to share your skills.
You turned to the group, getting ready to introduce yourself further, but instead tripped. You shrieked as you fell down the small set of stairs you were at the top of.
Sam, being the closest, caught you. "Good thing you've got tech skills." He chuckled as you righted yourself, firmly planting your feet on the ground.
"Haha, yeah. I'm not a big fan of violence." You winced as you said it, wishing you could take it back. You didn't want to get into the reasons as to why you don't like violence.
To your surprise, nobody asked why. You would have guessed they would have questions, but maybe they weren't interested in your past. They all had their own issues to deal with afterall.
"Eh, we don't need anymore people for fighting anyway. Welcome to the team." Steve greeted you warmly, as you would have expected from America's golden boy.
You gratefully shook his hand, glad to not have to talk about anything yet. Unfortunately, you tripped again when you tried to move back, falling into the one and only Bucky Barnes.
His hands steadied you, dryly laughing at your clumsiness. "You really are clumsy."
You did you best to not show how embarrassed you were. You couldn't deny the claim. Unless you were fighting, something you vowed to yourself to never do again, you were clumsy.
Being abducted and tortured by Hydra may have made you a competent fighter, but your aptitude for tripping over nothing never left.
"Right, sorry!" You greeted everyone else quickly, eager to get situated in your room. "I'm just going to unpack everything." You waved as you backed out of the room, bumping into the wall as you left.
-
You had just finished putting away your stuff when you heard a knock on your door.
"Come in!" You figured someone would have questions for you.
Unsurprisingly, Natasha was the one to step into your room. Of everyone there, you expected her to have learned about your past. It comes with the territory of being a spy.
"Hi, I was hoping to talk to you." Her tone was friendly, but clearly she was skeptical of you. Again, you weren't surprised.
"I thought you might. I'm assuming you read my file? Honestly, I thought everyone would." You laughed gently, shaking your head at yourself.
"I did. Your file is pretty bare bones though. I did some extra digging... Not everyone else is as nosy as me." She grinned, already pleased with your openness. "So, why'd you pretend to be clumsy?"
"Oh, it wasn't pretend. I've always been clumsy. When everything happened, and I learned how to fight, I thought my newfound agility would help. Turns out, it didn't. The only times I'm even the slightest bit coordinated are when I'm fighting or training, but I wasn't lying about that either. When I escaped, I promised myself I wouldn't hurt anyone else."
"Why join the Avengers at all then?" She looked curious, still unsure if she could trust you.
"I wanted to help people. I just didn't want to use the skills they gave me to do it. So, I learned how to code, figured I could help behind the scenes."
She smiled, letting down her guard. Clearly it would take some time, but you could easily see the two of you being close friends.
"So, nobody knows about what you went through?" She couldn't help but be curious about your past.
"Nope. I don't talk about it much, but it's not a secret. I'll answer anything you want to know." You smiled, eager to try and make a real friend here.
You spent the next few hours answering every question Natasha could think of. You told her about being abducted and experimented on.
That lead to even more questions, basically boiling down to the fact that you're not a super soldier, but you do have enhanced senses- and seemingly enhanced clumsiness for when you're not using them.
You told her about learning how to fight, and the punishments you would endure if you got it wrong. The two of you bonded over the shared experience.
Finally, you told her about how you escaped. When the Winter Soldier escaped, every Hydra effort possible was made to find him. That included you. Resources were spread thin, trying to cover more areas. It was the perfect opportunity for you to get out.
"Really, I owe my freedom to him. Even if he doesn't know anything about me." You felt the tears in your eyes, too many emotions swirling through you to keep it all in anymore. "Since then, I've learned everything I could about technology and coding, which pretty much brings you up to date."
Before she could ask anymore questions, there was another knock on your door. Quickly wiping the tears from your eyes, you called another "come in!"
Steve poked his head in the door, cautiously looking between you and Nat.
"I've been sent to stop the interrogation." He grinned, stepping farther into the room.
Nat rose from her spot on the bed, kissing him on the cheek while rolling her eyes. "It wasn't an interrogation. We were bonding."
"Yeah, over what?" He chuckled, trying to figure out what the two of you had in common.
Maybe it was the look in your eyes, or maybe Nat just likes knowing more than everyone, but she smiled conspiratorially at you before responding. "Girl stuff, babe. Just girl stuff."
You smiled as the couple left the room, grateful for not having to explain everything again.
-
Over the next few weeks, the team constantly teased you for your clumsiness. Well, not the whole team. Nat knew the truth, so she never said anything. Peter never teased you either, although that is likely due to the teasing he endures as well.
Weirdly enough, you bonded with the kid over it, eventually telling him about your past as well.
Normally you could shake it off. They clearly didn't mean anything by it. Except Bucky.
Whenever he said anything, he stared you down. His eyes felt like they were piercing your soul. You're not sure exactly why, but he didn't seem to like you much.
Which wouldn't be an issue if you didn't have an embarrassing crush on the man.
Really your infatuation started when you first escaped Hydra. His own escape lead to your freedom, so you admired him. When you found out he was working with the Avengers to help people, you admired him even more.
Watching him on missions is really what caused the infatuation to blossom into a full blown crush.
You, however, would adamantly deny that if anyone ever asked. Which is what just happened.
"What?!" You nearly tripped, again, with how quickly you turned to look at Wanda and Nat.
"You heard me." Nat stared at you, a neutral expression on her face. "When are you going to do something about your crush on Barnes."
"I, I don't- I don't have a crush on Bucky." You stuttered, a lackluster job at denying the truth.
"Please, Y/N. It's so obvious!" Wanda joined in.
The three of you hung out a lot around the compound. It was nice to have a support system to lean on when things got hard.
"Well, even if I did, which I'm not saying I do! He doesn't like me. I don't know what I did, but his eyes feel like daggers whenever we're in the same room." You started out strong, but quickly morphed into a sad resignation. It genuinely upset you that Bucky didn't like you.
"I think I might know what that's about..." Wanda bit her lip, immediately feeling guilty at having said anything.
"What!?" You eagerly turned to her, needing answers. You shuffled your way across the room, never fully rising from your seat on the ground.
"I don't know if I should tell you! I'm not even supposed to know, but sometimes his thoughts are really loud!" Her guilt multiplied.
"You have to tell me now! Then I can fix it!" You were practically begging at her feet from your position on the floor.
She looked at Nat, who just shrugged in return. "Not my place, although I would love to hear it."
"Ugh, fine. But you can't tell anyone I told you!" Wanda glared at the two of you, unable to say no to your pouting face. "The first day we all met you, do you remember what you said?"
Your face scrunched as you tried to remember. "I'm not a big fan of violence?"
She nodded, looking at you as if she just told you everything.
"So?" You asked incredulously, unable to follow her train of thought.
She rolled her eyes, having to spell it out for you. "He kind of took that personally..."
Immediately, you sunk completely to the floor. "Oh, god. Fuck! That's not what I meant at all! I just meant I don't personally like using violence! Shit, shit, shit." You continued to mutter to yourself as Nat and Wanda shared a look.
"Why don't you like using violence?" Wanda asked, intrigued by your reaction.
You thought back to your conversation with Nat the first day you got here. You told her it wasn't a secret, it just wasn't something you brought up.
"Can you just look in my head? I don't really wanna explain it, but I want you to know." You asked, glad to share you past with another friend.
Wanda nodded, seemingly doing nothing until realization dawned on her.
"Oh shit." She whispered, not even realizing she said it out loud.
"Yeah." You huffed out a dry laugh.
"Y/N... I'm so sorry." You smiled at her, having worked through most of the trauma already. "You totally have a crush on Barnes though."
That earned a real laugh. "Hey, that's not what you were in there for!"
"It's not my fault! You were thinking it really loudly!"
The three of you laughed together until you sunk back into a pit of despair.
"What do I do? How do I fix this?" You whined, laying back on the ground like a child.
"I think you just need to talk to him. Explain what you meant." Wanda shrugged, unsure of any other advice to offer you.
"She's right. Just talk to him." Nat nodded along as you whined on the floor.
-
After a few days, you finally worked up enough courage to try and talk to Bucky. He had just finished training, so you knew exactly where he'd be: in the kitchen.
Walking in, you were glad to see him pulling ingredients from the fridge.
"Hey Bucky, can I, um, talk to you for a minute?" You stuttered through the words, nervous about what he would say.
He barely looked at you, nodding his head for you to continue.
"I just, I wanted to apologize." You trailed off when his head snapped up.
"For what?" Well shit. How are you supposed to explain this one without ratting out Wanda.
"Oh, well, um... I just thought maybe I said- I did something that upset you. Uh, you just don't seem to like me very much, which is totally cool, you don't have to like me if you don't want to. I just didn't want it to be my fault... Fuck." That went horribly. Taking a deep breath, you started over. "I didn't mean it."
Bucky is looking at you like you have three heads. "Didn't mean what?"
"That I don't like violence."
"So you do... like violence." He'd somehow grown more confused.
"Well, no." You paused, unsure of how to explain yourself.
"Then you did mean it." His soul piercing stare is back.
"I-"
"It's fine, save it. Some people get to choose not to be violent." And with that, he left the kitchen, abandoning his post workout smoothie.
You stared at the doorway, in shock over how poorly that went. You stood there , unaware of the 25 minutes that had passed, trying to figure out how it could've gone better when Steve found you.
"Y/N? What are you doing?"
You didn't hear him, too lost in the memories. Memories of Hydra, forcing you to do things you never wanted to. This happened from time to time if something triggered you into remembering, otherwise you had a handle on your emotions.
"Y/N?" Steve said your name again, concern evident in his voice. He gently laid a hand on your shoulder, trying to get your attention.
Everything happened so fast after that. The feeling of someone's hand on your shoulder caused you to panic. With all the memories of Hydra in your head, your training kicked in instinctually.
You grabbed Steve's arm, pulling him closer to you for better leverage. Before he could question your moves, you flipped him, pinning him to the ground.
The second you made eye contact, you realized what just happened. Horror and regret flashed in your eyes.
In an effort to get off him, you threw yourself backward, knocking into a cart full of pots and pans. The clanging of metal hitting the ground echoed through the small room.
Steve sat up slowly, trying to register the turn of events. You sat in a ball on the floor, tears pooling in your eyes, mumbling apologies over and over again.
Sam, having heard the commotion from the pots and pans, ran into the kitchen ready to fight.
"What- What happened?" He asked in confusion, lowering his arms from their defensive position.
"I don't know." Steve looked at you, still trying to figure it out.
"Y/N?" Sam's voice was gentle, but it still startled you.
You jumped from the ground, rushing to help Steve get up. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to. I never wanted to hurt anyone again." Your breathing was picking up, short bursts of air leaving your lungs. Your hands were shaking as you pulled him from the ground.
Your panic increased as you took in their concerned expressions.
"Hey, look at me." Steve's Captain voice, came out, urging you to make eye contact. You followed orders, breathing rapidly, your whole body shaking.
"I'm going to touch you now, is that okay?" His words were gentle, but commanding, causing you to nod in response.
He pulled you into a tight hug, rubbing soothing circles on your back.
You wanted to explain, to tell them what happened, but all that came out was a pitiful "Bucky".
"Do you want me to get Bucky?" Sam asked, trying to understand you.
The idea of Bucky coming back caused your panic to increase. You shook your head rapidly, "No! No no no no no." You kept repeating the word, shaking in Steve's arms.
"Okay! Okay, no Bucky." Sam reassured you, voice calm and soothing.
You’re not sure how long you stood like that. Sam moved around the kitchen, cleaning up the pots and pans you had knocked over.
When your breathing steadied, Steve asked, "Do you want to talk about what happened?"
You nodded, leading the two men to the couch in the adjacent common area. You sat for a minute, unsure of where to start.
"Why don't you just lead us through it all?" Steve suggested, still rubbing your back.
You nodded, grateful for the starting point. "I went to the kitchen to apologize to Bucky."
"What for?" Sam interrupted, already confused.
"Sam! Just let her talk." Steve muttered, slightly annoyed.
"Sorry!" He glared back at Steve before turning to you, "Sorry, please continue."
You couldn't help but laugh at their banter.
"Right, I wanted to apologize for what I said the first day I met you all. I realized how it sounded, so I wanted to try and fix it." You paused, waiting for the recognition to hit them.
It didn't take long. The two men nodded, silently urging you to continue.
"Honestly, Wanda told me that was why he always seems mad at me. You have to know, I never meant for it to come across that way! It's more of a personal, 'I don't want to be violent' than shunning others for doing what's necessary." You took a deep breath, not eager to relive the conversation.
"Anyway, I told him I didn't mean it. I just couldn't explain it right, and he got upset, which makes sense!" You turned to look between them, not wanting them to think you were insulting Bucky in any way. "I don't hold what he did against him. It wasn't his choice, and I completely understand that. I just couldn't put that into words when I was talking to him, and I made everything worse."
Tears popped into your eyes again, upset at what he must be going through. You weren't with Hydra for but a tenth of the time he was, and you didn't endure the same level of brainwashing.
"He said something about some people not being able to choose not to be violent, and then he left. I don't know how long I was standing in the kitchen replaying the conversation, but it brought up bad memories for me." You sighed again, working up the nerve to tell them everything.
"Wanda and Nat already know, but I guess it's your guys's turn. This was so much easier to just have Wanda read my mind." You laughed at your own joke, the two men sharing a concerned look.
"I was taken... by Hydra. They experimented on me, gave me enhanced senses, trained me to fight, and punished me when I did something wrong." Again, tears sprung into your eyes, occasionally falling down your cheeks.
"Why wasn't this in your file?" Steve questioned, more to himself than you.
"I haven't got a clue. I guess nobody knew about me? But, I escaped. They didn't brainwash me like they did Bucky, because I don't have the serum. Or, at least, I think that's why." You shook your head, refocusing on the important parts.
"When every available Hydra agent was tasked with searching for the Winter Soldier, I took it as on opportunity. Their resources were spread thin. I was able to getaway."
You went onto explain your reasoning for joining the Avengers as a tech specialist, trying to convey the same earnestness you did with Nat.
"You can ask Nat or Wanda too. Nat found out day one, Wanda a few days ago." You wiped your tears, hoping they believed you. "Actually, Peter knows too."
"I was stuck in all those memories when you came into the kitchen. I didn't even register that you were in the room, so when you touched me I freaked out. I never meant to hurt you!"
You looked at Steve fearful that he would be upset.
"Y/N, I believe you." You cried tears of relief at his statement, genuinely exhausted from the day. "It's not your fault, and you didn't hurt me. Just caught me off guard. You're surprisingly agile when you want to be." He tried to lighten the mood, glad to hear you laugh.
"Well, I train in the middle of the night sometimes. I- I want to be able to get out if I'm ever forced back there." Your voice was quiet, admitting a secret you hadn't even told Nat.
"We won't let that happen." The sternness of Sam's voice surprised you.
"Thank you." You wiped your tears a final time, looking between the two men. "Now, what do I do about Bucky?" You refocused your energy on fixing your relationship with the super soldier.
"He never would have said what he said if he had known." Steve started the conversation, defending his friend.
"I know. I don't hold it against him, I just wish I could explain. I get so nervous when he looks at me like that." You rambled, too tired to filter your thoughts.
"Like what?" Sam asked, eager for more information to tease Bucky with.
"Huh? Oh, I don't know. Like he can see into my soul." You deadpanned, earning a laugh from both men. "I just want him to like me." You nearly whined, upset by your poor relationship.
"Like you, huh?" Steve grinned. Nat and Wanda chose that exact moment to walk into the room, eagerly joining the conversation.
"Barnes? Did you tell him how you feel?" Wanda squealed with excitement.
You buried your head in your hands, avoiding the knowing looks the four of them were surely sharing. "Not exactly." You gestured to your head, hoping Wanda would figure it out and share with Nat.
"Ooh... It didn't go well, basically Barnes got upset, Y/N flipped Steve and had a panic attack, then told these two everything." Wanda explained to Nat quickly, trying not to make you relive it.
"We need a plan." Nat declared.
"No, I just need to learn how to have a conversation with the man." You rolled your eyes at yourself. "I'll try talking to him again." You went to leave the room, turning around to glare at them. "And none of you can say a word of this to Bucky."
-
Despite you request, Steve still tried to talk to Bucky.
"What's up with you?" Steve questioned, trying to subtly pry into Bucky's thoughts.
"Nothing. Why?" Bucky answered in a questioning tone, trying to figure out Steve's motives.
"I heard you talked to Y/N is all. How'd it go?" He gave up on the subtle approach pretty quickly, knowing Bucky wouldn't answer a question that wasn't asked.
"How did you even hear that, punk?" Bucky deflected.
"Not the point. Answer the question."
"Not great. I messed it up." Bucky sighed, annoyed at himself for barging out of the room. "She said wanted to apologize, that she didn't mean what she said." He ran his hands through his hair, struggling to explain where it all went wrong.
"Would've been fine if I could follow what she was saying. She was rambling about me not liking her, which you and I both know isn't true. Ugh, i've never been mad at her. I'm mad at myself! At Hydra for making me a monster! How could she ever like me if she doesn't like violence? My entire past is violent." He huffed, having worked himself up again.
"You're not a monster, Buck." Steve started gently.
"I know you think that." Steve gave him a pointed glare. "I know, okay? But what does she think?"
"Maybe you should try talking to her. You might be surprised by what you learn." Steve clapped him on the shoulder, trying to reassure him, before leaving the room.
-
Everytime you tried to talk to Bucky, something got in the way. The first time, he was called in for an emergency mission before you even got the word hello out.
The second time, Tony walked into the common area, completely oblivious to the tension, and put on a movie.
The third time, Steve and Nat interrupted you. You were just about to apologize again after an awkward greeting when the elevator doors opened. The sounds of the cheerful laughter and stolen kisses didn't really set the mood for confessing your past with Hydra.
The fourth, and final time, was the most embarrassing.
You walked into the room on a mission. You were going to talk to him, no matter who decided to walk in.
"Bucky, I really need to-" and you tripped on a toy Morgan left out, causing you to tumble to the ground. That would have been embarrassing enough, but there's more.
In your effort to get up, you tripped again, hitting your head on the coffee table, causing you to bleed profusely.
"Shit." You cursed yourself, holding your hand up to your bleeding forehead.
"Are you okay?" Bucky rushed to you from the other side of the table, concerned with the amount of blood spewing from your head.
"Yeah, I'll be fine." Unfortunately, you chose that moment to jokingly reference your past.
Some of the people who tortured you had a sick sense of humor. Whenever they would hit you hard enough to make you bleed, they said something about only having one head. A play on words because of the greek serpent with multiple heads.
"Head wounds bleed a lot, I'm lucky I only have one." You froze instantly, unsure if he would have had a similar experience. Slowly, you looked up in an effort to make eye contact.
Bucky was also frozen in place. Clearly he understood the reference.
"Wh- where did you hear that?" Bucky struggled with his sentence, trying not to flashback to his time at Hydra.
"Oh my god. I'm so so sorry." You instantly started apologizing, trying to backtrack. "I really need to learn when to stop fucking talking." You said more to yourself than him.
"Where did you hear it?" He asked again, putting more power behind his words.
"Um, well, i've been trying to tell you for weeks now, but um, I also kind of, have, um, well, you see-"
"Just spit it out." There was the slightly miffed Bucky you were used to.
"I was taken. By Hydra. 9 years ago. Um, they forced me to learn how to fight. Tortured me if I did anything wrong. Forced me to do things..." You trailed off, realizing you didn't need to give him many details. He has first hand experience.
"Y/N, I-" You cut him off before he could say anything else.
"That's why I don't like using violence. I only know how to do that stuff because they made me learn it. I didn't want to use the skills they gave me." You took a deep, grounding breath.
"I don't blame you for anything you were forced to do. It wasn't your choice. You're not a violent person, and your past actions don't define who you are. You're here to help people. That's what you chose. That's who you are."
You made eye contact before you continued. "I've actually wanted to thank you for the longest time."
"For what?" He was incredulous, wildly caught off guard by everything you've said.
"The only reason I had an opportunity to escape was because 2 years ago, you escaped. If Hydra's resources hadn't been spread so thin trying to find you, I probably would've never got out. So thank you. For being strong enough to fight back."
You smiled at him, still unsure of how he was feeling.
"I... I'm so sorry." To say you were stunned was an understatement. What the hell could he have to be sorry about? Sure he was a little rude, but from your point of view he was completely justified in hating you.
"Bucky, you have no reason to be sorry. You didn't know, and I couldn't get out of my head enough to tell you. You just make me nervous." You clapped a hand over your mouth, shocked at having said what you just said.
You could see his face fall ever so slightly, causing you to jump back into your explanation.
"Not because I'm scared of you or anything! Hell, I could probably take you in a fight." You winked, trying to lighten the mood. It seemed to work, judging by the slight smirk on his face.
"I just, I've looked up to you for so long. Your determination to do good after everything you've been through is really inspiring. It's actually why I wanted to join the Avengers in the first place. I never would have-" You would have kept rambling if he hadn't stopped you.
"Y/N, I am sorry, and I do have reason to be. There's no excuse for what I said to you in the kitchen that day. Even if I didn't know, I threw everything you've been through back in your face. If someone had done that to me, I probably would have had a panic attack." He tried joking, but by the way you froze he could tell he struck a nerve.
"You had a panic attack? I'm so sorry! God, I just left you all alone and-"
It was your turn to cut him off. "Actually, I was kind of frozen in place until Steve touched me and I maybe threw him to the ground... Then I had a panic attack..." You smiled, trying to convey the joke. "So, I wasn't alone. Sam was actually also there. If anything, it made me better friends with both of them because I told them everything. So I have you to thank for that to." You playfully nudged his side.
He ran his hands through his hair, then down his face, clearly trying to deal with his own guilt.
"Hey, don't beat yourself up about it. You didn't know. It happened. We're good now, so we can move on." You smiled, trying to cheer him up.
"How are you so relaxed about all of this? You were tortured for years... I..." He was genuinely curious, trying to find a way to cope with his own pain.
"Well, even before that I always thought therapy could be helpful for me, so I really jumped in full force when I was free. Plus, if you can't joke about something, you haven't really moved on. Some days are harder than others, but I just try to appreciate the people I have now and the good experiences I've been lead to." You kept the tone light, trying not to get too emotional.
He just stared at you for a few minutes, making you questions everything.
"I mean, it's totally different for you though! I was only there for 7 years, you were forced into all that for like 10 times as long. I didn't mean to belittle-"
"I think you inspire me just as much as you say I've inspired you." He cut you off again, a small smile growing on your lips.
"Well, in the spirit of our newfound friendship, can I be totally honest?" You bit your lip, nervous about telling him the truth.
He looked nervous as well, but nodded anyway.
"I kind of, maybe, sort of have a crush on you." You watched his expression carefully, although there was really no need. His face easily gave away his surprise.
"You..." He stuttered, moving his fingers between the two of you. "Me? But, I was so mean!"
"What can I say, I saw through the facade... Well, really Wanda accidentally read your mind and told me why you were so upset around me when her and Nat teamed up to get me to tell you how I feel." You rambled again, realization dawning that you accidentally outed Wanda.
"But you can't tell her I told you that! She didn't mean to! She just said you think really loud sometimes and it's hard not to hear it! She did it to me too actually, I mean I told her she could look in my head so I wouldn't have to explain everything again, I know so lazy, and that's how she confirmed my crush on you." You said it all with wide eyes at a rapid speed, unable to control yourself around Bucky.
You slapped your hands over your mouth, forcing yourself to stop talking. Bucky looked on in amusement, slowly reaching to pull your hands away from your face.
"I won't tell her, if you get dinner with me tonight." He smiled cheekily, relishing in your blush.
"That's a deal I'm willing to make." You reached your arms around his neck, kissing his cheek before running to get ready.
***
Bonus:
Sam whined playfully as he looked at the high scores. "Whose username is 'God is a spoon' and how did they get so good at this game?"
He looked around the room, eying any suspicious candidates. Everyone denied it, throwing out accusations left and right.
It was another of Tony's team bonding nights and he chose VR games on the oculus. Obviously, Beat Saber was a top contender amongst the group.
You walked in with Bucky, unaware of the conversation going on, but immediately joining it.
"Peter! I bet it was him!" You playfully nudged the younger Avenger, having formed a close friendship in the early days. "What am I betting on?" Everyone laughed, happy to see you in a good mood after being so stressed for so long.
"Whose username is 'God is a spoon'." Sam chuckled after filling you in. You and Bucky settled on the couch, cuddling next to each other.
"Oh, that's me. Why?" You looked around curiously, trying to figure out what they wanted. "Is it a weird username? It was actually one of the catchphrase things in Just Dance on the switch, I didn't just think of it." You tried to justify yourself, causing more laughter.
"You?! How did you get all the highscores on this game? I thought you were the clumsy one."
You made an exaggerated face to show how offended you were, playfully swatting at Sam.
"I'll have you know, 7 years of Hydra 'training' and experimentation has its perks." You joked with the room. "One of them being I can beat your ass at pretty much any video game."
"Oh, you're so on." Sam smiled, glad he could joke around with you about it.
Meanwhile, Tony looked incredulously around the room, being the only one in the room who hadn't heard about your history, he was rightfully confused.
"I'm sorry, 7 years of WHAT?"
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hanyusan · 2 years
Note
Hello! I’ve been following fs for a while and want to ask - what is so special about Yuzuru Hanyu? Not trying to hate or smth, it’s just that I don’t get why people seem to so idolize him, call him perfect and occasionally talk shit about other skaters to highlight how he is the one and only, because there seems to be many really good skaters out there, Nathan Chen or Shoma Uno for example, but he really has the biggest and most active fans, so that’s my question out of pure interest to see perspective
Hello!
Y’all really be waltzing into the inbox of a person whose URL is “hanyusan” and asking what’s so special about Hanyu-san. I love it. Hope you have a drink and some snacks, because this is going to be a long and slightly bumpy trip.
To me, it kind of feels like you’re asking two related but different questions: 1) why do some people like Yuzuru Hanyu so much and 2) why are some people so unhealthily obsessed with Yuzuru Hanyu that they will hiss at any other skater that approaches? I’m a bad-news-first kind of person, so I’ll try to address the second question first.
Fact: Yuzu is both very goodlooking and very good at what he does. People like goodlooking individuals and individuals who are good at things. Yes, it sounds super dumb and overly simplified, but the barrier to entry of starting to like him is just that low. But, you might say, other skaters are also goodlooking and also good at what they do. True, which is why first impressions are just the beginning.
From my perspective, I don’t think most of the "fans” you’re thinking of (the toxic kind, basically) view Yuzu as a human being. That sounds awful, but I really don’t know of a nicer way of putting it that wouldn’t be a watering down of the problem. You used the term “idolize,” which is a very accurate descriptor of what’s happening and exactly why a portion of his fanbase can be so problematic, to no fault of his own.
I have a personal vendetta against the concept of “idols,” mainly because prior to being a Yuzu fan, I spent a good number of my teenage years in a hormonal, K-pop boy group phase. Maybe you know this already; K-pop stars are commonly referred to as “idols.” Their job is not just to sing and dance, it’s to sing and dance and build relationships with fans that oftentimes become parasocial in nature. That’s their literal job. (And before anyone misconstrues what I’m saying as an attack on their favorite idols, I’m criticizing how some idols are marketed as commodities, not the idols themselves.) If a fan gets sucked too far into the void and truly “idolizes” these people, the subject of their affections becomes less human and more...idol-like. Through the eyes of a fixated fan, they are put on a pedestal that makes them shed all their flaws.
How does Yuzu fit into this if he isn’t an idol? But is he not, to some people? If we’re talking about looks, he falls into that category of being fit and handsome. He also has an extremely clean public image and is all-around respected within his field. Other skaters may possess some of these traits, but his longevity and consistency have also aided him in garnering more fans than his peers.
When it comes to a public figure who checks so many boxes, you will definitely have people similar to teenage-me, who are constantly being exposed to this person, grow interested, and subconsciously develop a borderline—if not outright—obsession with them. Many of these fans are young and impressionable and don’t know to draw boundaries. It’s not pretty, as you can tell. The intense idolization and worship is a problem that goes beyond Yuzuru Hanyu and figure skating.
As for the hate toward other skaters, I have no justification. But I can say that in a sport like figure skating, which is fraught with corruption and barefaced political interests, there’s going to be a lot of angry fans out there. Much of that anger is unfortunately misdirected toward other athletes just because they’re easy targets – they have identifiable names and faces. Then, when you have those who idolize Yuzu, that becomes a part of their identity and one that they can go to unreasonable lengths to protect.
Let’s take it to the much-more-fun question #1. Why do (reasonable) fans like Yuzu so much?
Allow me to introduce: my mother and her official Yuzuru statement (these are close to direct quotes, just translated from Chinese to English):
He’s a good kid. If you listen to the way he talks, he’s always supporting the other skaters and saying nice things about them. He is kind from the bottom of his heart. He is well-spoken and the type of person who always comforts others. And he has great manners.
All of us old ladies really like him. We all want our sons to be like him and hope that our daughters can marry someone like him.
I don’t think I could ever make my son do all the things that he does. To work that hard must be so exhausting. But he must make his mother proud, still. Oh, but [my brother], you’re great, too.
Ever since he was little, he’s been skating. Even though his body was not the best suited for it [referring to his asthma], he still kept at it. He is determined and persistent. And you can tell by the way he performs and acts that he’s experienced many difficult things. Someone who hasn’t gone through a lot cannot be as kindhearted as he is.
He’s a true sportsman – he competes only against himself. He’s already won so much that now he prioritizes pushing the sport forward. That shows how much respect he pays to his field, to keep going and aiming for longevity while constantly trying new things.
人很乖,滑的乖,跳的乖 = “a very good/sweet person, sweet when skating, sweet when jumping”
Arguably, the above is the closest thing to an objective analysis of what makes Yuzu so likeable. I say this with utmost confidence because my mother is the type of person who otherwise finds great joy in nitpicking and criticizing people. Source: over two decades’ experience of being nitpicked and criticized.
Anyways, I would be dumb to not use this as an opportunity to talk about some of what I think, too.
He cute. Sorry, I can be superficial, too.
He goes out of his way to help people, whether it be filling in holes in the ice alongside rink employees or donating tons of money (and Pooh bears!) to charity. 
Skating hasn’t always been kind to him, but he is loyal to it. He also warns his fans that the journey won’t be easy for us, either; which is great because I like planning ahead for stressful situations.
He wrote his thesis on using AI to implement fairer scoring, AKA simultaneously the most thought-through and petty form of revenge anyone’s ever had on this sport.
His skating is simply different. It might not be to everyone’s taste, but the reason that it’s my preference is because he’s performative. On his best days, his emotions flow through every movement of his skating and you just get sucked into it and the story that he’s telling on the ice. Yuzu is not the only skater that has made me emotional through their skating, but he is the only one who has done so consistently.
This got quite long, even when I tried to make it more succinct...I did warn you beforehand, though. Hopefully it offered enough insight!
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folkloreguk · 3 years
Text
🍒Cherry Ice Cream (2)🍒
A/N: Part two is here! There won't be another one after this. I just wanted to split it into two little scenarios with one being cute and the other not so cute lmao...I hope you enjoy - as always I appreciate feedback a lot!
taglist: @lovely-ateez
genre: smut, optional bias (m) x reader (f), lifeguard!au, pool sex, unprotected sex
words: 3.4 k
PART 1 (fluff, both parts can be read independently)
It was the middle of the summer holidays and you had never been happier. Sunny weather, swimming, lots of free time and as much ice cream as you wanted were only a few of the reasons for your luck. The main cause was the boy of your dreams. A few weeks ago, you had met. It had been the most chaotic, embarrassing day at the public swimming pool – or so you had initially thought. Turns out being a walking disaster could not only attract negative attention. When the otherworldly handsome and kind lifeguard had pulled your clumsy figure out of the water and even bought you ice cream to make you feel better, you had a feeling things were about to change. And you hadn’t been wrong. Maybe you were seeing things through rose-colored glasses and a mix of lovestruck hormones, but you suspected he might just really be this great.
Ever since your first ice cream date, the two of you had been inseparable. Looks were one thing – and you had made yourself aware that though he was a picture of perfection, he could still have turned out to not be your type at all. But the inside reflected on his outside. Every day you found out a new enrapturing detail about him. He was a never-ending book that you were utterly unwilling to put back down.
Your days were spent at the public swimming pool, watching your lifeguard boyfriend do his job and questioning if this was all some sort of hidden camera prank. During his break he came running straight to your spot under the trees and plopped down on your towel, ready to spend the most time with you until he had to go back. Although your streak of bad luck was over, he still took care of you and made sure you were okay in the heat. He reminded you to drink enough water and sent you a good morning text every day. When he had first asked you to help him put sunscreen on his shoulders, you had hesitated with cheeks hotter than the sunlight that day. Now it was a daily thing, and sometimes when his hands were on your back, rubbing in the lotion, you caught yourself wishing there weren’t a hundred families around you. But it was hard scoring alone time with him at the pool. Even later at night, right before closing time, there were always one or two diehard swimming fans there.
“I love watching my cute girlfriend swim,” he would keep telling you.
“You better make sure you’re paying attention to the rest of the visitors, too,” you would reply, but secretly love his flirty remarks. Perhaps he wasn’t even so far off. After your first encounter, it was apparent that maybe you were the one guest who didneed the closest monitoring. Even his co-workers knew of you. They had made it their life mission to remind him daily how whipped he was for you, but he never cared about their teasing.
At night, you rode your bikes home. Towards the candy cotton clouds on the horizon, through the small suburb, you rode side by side, still damp hair flowing in the wind. Outside your home he cupped your face then, the sun kissed skin of his hands still warm to the touch. Like he was the slowly setting sun himself, he kissed you goodnight. You were addicted to his lips. He made you fly, brought back all your fondest memories as if he himself was in them, and let you forget every worry you’ve ever had in the world.
One evening at the pool, you lay on your bathmat, headphones in your ears and your favorite summer playlist taking you to another world. Suddenly, two hands grabbed you by the shoulders. You jerked up in surprise.
“Oh my god, we could have hit our heads together!” you scolded your boyfriend, who was smiling at you like an innocent five-year old.
“Guess what. My boss just told me that I can close the place up tonight. You know what that means, right?” he said.
“Tell me more,” you smirked.
“Technically, we can stay here however long we want. And do whatever we want. As long as no one finds out,” he whispered the last part into your ear. Chills ran up your spine despite the heat in the air.
“Do whatever we want, huh?” you said. “I thought you were being a model employee?”
“I am,” he shrugged with his child-like smile. “And the model employee needs to go back to work now. I have a reputation to uphold. You’ll be waiting for me, right?”
“Of course,” you nodded, watching his figure as he jogged back to his seat by the pool. The next hours seemed to go by extra-slowly, to your dismay. After his announcement, you only found yourself staring in his direction more than on any other day. Truly, you could never get used to his handsomeness. You thought of his voice that made you melt like ice and his hands when he kissed you. Too often they remained in innocent, safe territory. Maybe that was about to change. It was a Friday, meaning the opening hours were longer than usual. By 10 pm however, even the last person had left. The public swimming pool was closed. Officially.
You had to admit, you could get used to having an enormous swimming pool all to yourself. Blissfully, you dived through the water, not having to worry about crashing into anybody’s legs or losing track of your surroundings. You had always felt as though swimming was a little like flying. Not that you knew what flying would be like. But if you had to make a guess, feeling weightless and small in a seemingly endless space probably came close. All your life, it had remained the same. Playing pretend in the water, acting like a mermaid scavenging for the most precious treasure of the seven seas – all your loveliest ideas lingered in your memory like it had been yesterday.
The pool had a shallow end, about the depth which allowed your head to reach above the surface, and progressively deepened towards the other end. You took a gulp of air and descended into the darkness. Taking long strokes, you dived towards the white light at the wall of the shallower pool end. With the brightness ahead of you, you failed to notice the shadow behind you.
As you were in the process of coming up from the water, a pair of arms suddenly wrapped around you. For the second time that day, you jolted in surprise and quickly gasped for air.
“You scared me out of my wits! Will you stop that!” you said, but you were already smiling. It was hard to carry grudges against the boy behind you. Not when he held your waist and rested his chin on your bare shoulder, grinning as if it was a crime to even suspect him of such things.
“Hi, there,” he said and pecked your cheek sweetly. “I missed you.”
“So did I,” you admitted. Only months ago, you had made fun of how lovestruck your friend had been. You weren’t one to speak now. His hands let go of you while you turned your body to face him. Then they were on you again, and although it was a small touch, your lack of clothes created a tension between you right away.
“Wanna race me?” he whispered into your ear, as if there was anyone around to listen in. Was he serious? Did he really think you wanted him to let go of you now? His voice on your neck rendered you wanting him so bad, you had to take a deep breath to compose yourself.
“I’ve been swimming all day,” you said. “Besides, didn’t you say we could do whatever we wanted? We can swim whenever we want, during opening hours.”
“Oh, sounds like you have better plans?” he asked. For a moment, he touched your forehead with his. If you bent forward slightly, you could have kissed him. His hungry eyes were on your lips when you had finished the thought.
“I was thinking you could kiss me, for starters?” you coaxed him. He chuckled.
“So you’ve been thinking about it too, the past few hours,” he realized. “You know, I was trying to be subtle about it.”
“Forget about being subtle,” you said. “Let’s just make out, please?”
“I’d like nothing better than that,” he smiled, and then your mouths touched. His gentle lips tasted faintly of chlorine and salt, a taste you had come to associate with him and magnificent things. You held his face in your hands tightly and pushed your body against him yearningly. Reacting, he sighed and deepened the kiss. His wandering hands found the small of your backside as you arched your back into his frame. You hummed quietly, hands burying in his wet hair and playing with it at the nape of his neck.
All your childhood you had been searching for your treasure under the water. Now you understood. He was right there in front of you. Little you would be proud you had found someone this precious and incomparable. And hot.
“Jump,” he said. You did as he suggested and wrapped your legs around his waist. The proximity of his body made your heart hammer against your ribcage with such feverishness, you worried it might jump through your chest. With the way he touched every curve of your body, you almost forgot how to kiss. Luckily, your instincts did the job for you as you sipped on his lips and sighed every so often. He caught your bottom lip between his teeth, and you felt his smirk when you moaned in surprise. Every inch of your skin burned with desire for him.
As he carried you over to the side of the pool, you pulled away shortly. You took the liberty to attack his neck with frenzied kisses. It felt just as you had imagined a thousand times. You couldn’t possibly recount all the instances when you had found yourself staring at his neck and shoulders in the past weeks. He was easily the biggest distraction you had ever known. But it wasn’t your fault his tanned skin was so inviting and his strong presence ever so alluring. Returning his teasing, you bit into his shoulder, kissing and sucking on it right after.
“Fuck, baby,” he said in a throaty tone. “You’re amazing.”
Softly, he rubbed his nose against yours before your lips locked again. The kiss was all but soft. Your tongues meddled as if you were starved people and you could barely keep your hands in one place. Not that you would want to. You wanted to glue his hands onto your body or better yet handcuff him to your wrists. What was the opposite of a restraining order called? You were about to invent a word for it. Never before had you been so intoxicated, so in ecstasy with another person.
He pulled aside the fabric of your top momentarily and cupped your breasts in his hands. You gasped and melted into his touch and the way he played with your nipples. He attacked your neck in kisses and you shut your eyes, enjoying the sensation of his lips.
“I really want you.” He had his hands on your ass and all you could think about was the growing bulge in his swimming shorts. Your hard nipples rubbed against his chest, the thin fabric of your swim top doing little to nothing to separate your bodies. How could somebody’s whole existence be so titillating? He pulled away, just far enough to speak but barely. “I’ve wanted you like this for a while. But I didn’t want to unsettle you by making you think I just want sex from you. Truth is, I don’t want you to be just some summer romance, Y/N. Every day I hope you’ll still be here when summer is over.”
“Why would you think I’m going anywhere?” you asked. “You’re the reason I’m the happiest I’ve ever been. I ask myself every day how I managed to end up with you in the first place.”
“That’s easy. First, threaten to demolish the turnstile with your stubbornness, second, offer your head to a bunch of kids with a water ball, third, square up against a bug in front of a hundred people, fourth- “
“Okay! Enough,” you said. “Don’t bring up my clumsiness. That’s just about the least sexy thing in the world.”
“Baby, I think there’s nothing not sexy about you,” he spoke. He kissed you deeply and all your embarrassing memories vanished at once. “So, you’re cool with this?”
His sudden change in tone caused your breath to hitch in your throat, as his hands lingered by your hips, just above your bikini bottom. You only nodded, the motion getting more eager as the words sunk in. He slid his fingers along the inside of your thigh, and you squirmed under his touch in desperation. Swiftly, he pushed aside the material above your center. His digits slid through your wetness, catching the nub between them, and rubbing ever so slowly. An overwhelmed gasp spilled over your lips, and you closed your eyelids.
“Fuck- ,“ you muttered under your breath. He teased your core, nearly sliding his finger into you, but then pulling away to find your nub to toy with.
“You look so beautiful,” he said. At his words, you looked at him through fluttering eyelids. He was one to talk about beauty. The luminescence from underwater sharpened his features, and his eyes had something magical, something enchanting about them. Like he could have you – or anyone – without saying a word. He reminded you of a merman, or rather a siren. Ready to drag you along with him, deep under the surface. And you were so willing to let it happen. For all you knew, you were long lost and under his spell anyway.
“Have you ever done it in public?” he asked. You were too distracted by his fingers on you at first, head hanging back in ecstasy, until you snapped out of it.
“No, but – fuck – I guess I can strike that one off my sex bucket list after tonight, can’t I?” you said.
“You have a sex bucket list? Interesting, tell me more about it,” he smirked. His eyes darkened and his tongue licked over his lips once. As if on command, his lazy ministrations on you quickened, rubbing your clit in small, circular motions until you were a moaning, stammering mess. You suspected he did so just to see your immediate reaction, and you gave him just what he wanted.
“Can we postpone the – the talking…on later?” you murmured, feeling like collapsing against his broad shoulders. “I’m kind of too busy to – to talk.”
“I can see that,” he teased you, kissing you gently. The delicacy of his lips only made your head spin more. “You’re so sweet, baby.”
“Don’t you want to get busy too?” you asked. You reached for his swimming trunks and wrapped your hand around his hard member through the material. “I don’t want to wait any longer.”
“Shit- me too.” His arousal echoed in his moans, and he sucked in a breath. There was a sense of power in knowing you could make him react so gravely by doing so little. You tugged on his trunks and pulled them down a little to reveal his full length. Palming him, you felt how painfully hard he must have been for a while now. He groaned and it was the best thing you had ever heard. Eagerly, you slid your bikini bottom off and watched for a moment as it sunk down into the depths of the pool. Your legs wrapped around his waist again as he aligned his cock with your core.
At this point you supposed you were both out of words. Hunger had taken over and you barely managed to form a sentence. He kissed you and you hummed and nodded, wanting him to know you were ready. Easily, he entered you and you whimpered at the way he stretched your velvet walls after all the wait. Your senses were overcome with everything around you. The warm water enveloping the both of you, the soft summer breeze caressing your faces, his hands on your hips as he guided your body into his thrusts and the sound of your breathless moans and sighs – it was pure bliss. Night had almost fallen, with the sky being a deep blue, almost black by now. It was a perfect setting for a perfect night with your favorite person.
You gazed into his dilated pupils and the coil in your stomach tightened in the most delicious way possible. Now you recounted a myriad of dreams you’d seen him in. Not always, but occasionally he showed up in your dirtiest of dreams, with his gorgeous, addictive smile and strong arms. But now he was right there, in front of you – inside of you – and you apprehended how weak your boldest imaginations had been. Your nails dug into the skin of his shoulders as you clenched around his cock. He moaned your name huskily and it only clouded your head further.
It was crazy how loving a person could magnify everything. Even with closed eyes, the mere idea of him fucking you, at night in a public pool, could beat every single other experience you’d ever had. You felt like you were blessed with the audience with a god. A god, who had manifested on earth only to scoop you up and show you the finest things in life. You definitely couldn’t think of a finer thing than his cock dragging through your walls, hitting your g-spot repeatedly, while he had you cased against the pool tiles. Moans and little whimpers fell from your lips, and you were glad there wasn’t a single soul close by who could have heard.
He was jaw-dropping. With the way he pounded into you hard, using the poolside wall as support on your back, you felt your head spin as your eyes rolled to the back of your head. Your skin seemed to prickle wherever he touched you and you pushed your chest against his. Just a little closer, you told yourself, even though you were running out of space already. It was body against body while he whispered naughty things into your ears, telling you how incredible you felt, how lucky he had gotten with you and how sexy he found you.
“You’re the fucking best I’ve ever had, baby,” he said. His teeth grazed your neck as he kissed your sensitive skin messily. You could have counted every single drop of water hanging from the strands of his hair and adorning his face. Could have taken notice of every single eyelash and even the tiniest speckles of color in his irises. But you could barely command your eyes to stay open.
“So- close,” you said. In your ecstasy, you clawed at his back as another wave of pleasure went through your entire body.
“Together, hm?” he said, lips brushing over your cheek with every thrust. You hummed and nodded, as he picked up his thrusts to a toe-curling speed. With every touch of your sweet spot, you felt reality slip away a little further, and you were doing nothing to fight it. You invited the feeling in, resting your forehead against his, breaths coming out in short puffs. And then it overcame you. Your orgasm jolted through you like electricity, and you clung to him as if you might have sunken otherwise. It made your shared moans high pitched, and he followed you, pulling you into his arms like it was alone you who was keeping him afloat.
The splashing of the water softened as he drew out your highs for as long as possible with slower thrusts. Eventually, he halted completely. He cradled your face in his hands and when you finally opened your tired eyes, he was watching you with full adoration. His charming smile caused an eruption of butterflies in your stomach. This was only the beginning of your time together, yet you could barely fathom your fortune. And as it seemed, this time fate was on your side.
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cemeterything · 3 years
Note
Yeah I know what you feel I see stories popping up every so often about people saying horrible things in twitch streamers chat and they do nothing to stop it and I’m like I’d have a nervous breakdown if there was so much racism in my chat and then at the same time I see people that Stan creators and I’m like shit even if the creator doesn’t turn out to be horrible it’s still like almost a cult but the creator didn’t even want to make one. No need to answer this ask just wanted you to know others have a similar opinion on the situation
yeah. the issue with addressing parasocial relationships
is that they're extremely complicated to discuss, because everyone involved in them past the point where boundaries get blurred and ignored is in some way a victim because they're not healthy for anyone. and anything you do as a content creator feeds into them. and no matter what you say or do some people will continue doing things you've said you're uncomfortable with because it doesn't match up with the version of you they've formed a relationship with in their heads. or to get a reaction out of you because the possibility of receiving your attention, no matter how realistic, is a major part of what fuels a parasocial relationship. (which is not me saying content creators shouldn't address things like racism and other forms of bigotry in their fanbases, but there's only so much they can do and even if they try to block or ban as many people as possible to discourage them there's always some people who'll slip past because there's just too much for one person or even a team of mods to keep up with 24/7).
and at the same time content creators do use these relationships to make money through fan meetups, selling merch, random interactions online, etc. which in a way can't be helped because that's how they make their careers but does arguably exploit people who've fallen off the parasocial deep end and need help and support getting out of that mindset. but also any creator with a platform cannot bear responsibility for or offer support to every single person who claims to be a fan of them and in fact could cause more harm than good by feeding into that desire for attention.
parasocial relationships can drive people to do increasingly desperate and unreasonable things in pursuit of that (entirely human, but often unreasonable and unhealthy in parasocial relationships) need to receive validation, which is unfortunately just the nature of online spaces to develop because we all post and interact with each other at least partly to receive the validation of other people liking our content and, by extension, especially in parasocial relationships, us.
i'm speaking from experience. i used to be addicted to receiving validation online (and i am a former addict, so i don't make that comparison without understanding the implications) because there is a high that comes with seeing the numbers of likes and shares and positive comments on your content go up and it is possible to get addicted to that rush. i did, and it took me the better part of a year after realizing how negatively it was affecting my life and therapy - no, i'm not kidding - to start to make progress and no longer be obsessed with pleasing strangers online who know very little about me and don't really care about me even if they think they do (and this is not in any way an attack on my followers, i'm sure many of you are good, kind, helpful people, but at the same time the concept of me that exists in your minds and you care about is a parasocial one.)
this is even harder if you're a content creator who has a career online. i don't make any money from posting on tumblr. so it doesn't matter if i produce less content or don't consistently interact with the people who follow me for that content. but if you do, it's not easy to step away from that and try to recover from and distance yourself from parasocial relationships and set boundaries when your whole career relies partly on them. even if it gets to a point where, like me, they're harming your wellbeing. it took me months of obsessively checking my social media and follower count and having panic attacks when i couldn't or my activity dropped, struggling to sleep and having anxiety attacks because i couldn't think of enough fun new content to share, struggling in classes and at work because my attention was elsewhere, and feeling despair to the point of having depressive episodes brought on by people saying hurtful things about me or criticizing me about things that weren't my fault and i couldn't control, before i even considered that i needed to do something about the parasocial hell i'd dug myself into. and i don't make a single cent. if i did, it would have been a lot harder. maybe even impossible.
this is really just a ramble with no conclusion but it just frustrates me and makes me really sad that parasocial relationships can cause so much lasting harm to people, both content creators and their fans, and there's not really any solution except seeking therapy one day and hopefully being able to heal from the damage. although i do think talking more openly about and spreading awareness of parasocial relationships would also help people find support and think more carefully about how they interact with people and consume content online (without ruining the fun!).
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emilysshortstories · 3 years
Text
Paul Lahote Part One
trigger warnings: ??? Nothing yet but not promises that will keep in later parts
words: 1543
It’s in those moments of deep desperation that you find hope. Or it seems to find you. When I left home to live with my uncle, miles away from my home, desperation was the only thing on my mind. Desperately running away, I didn’t want to face that part of my life that I already felt as though I was behind. I wanted to start fresh. I still do, so why does the reason I came here matter? My uncle, Charlie, agreed that he wouldn’t tell a soul about the events that lead me to his home, not even his own daughter. Who never really dropped the subject of course, but knew it wasn’t any of her business. I wasn’t naive enough to actually believe that I wouldn’t have to face problems here, but I think that’s what drew me here. Different problems, and that’s what I got. 
When I first moved here my cousin, Bella, had a boyfriend who she spent most of her time with. She still introduced me to everyone and showed me around, but when he moved things shifted. Bella completely shut down, she was always quiet and reserved, but this was different. She was numb. It took her a really long time to talk to anyone, and when she did, it was only me, Charlie, and her friend Jacob. They were always working on these two motorcycles together, sometimes I would join them. Jacob was nice, clearly had a massive crush on Bella even though she always denied it. 
One day when I tagged along I met Quil and Embry, they also seemed nice but I didn’t talk to them much. I didn’t talk to anyone that lived on the reservation actually, not until I had to stop Bella from doing something stupid. Feels like I’ve been doing that a lot lately. 
She was pissed. I’ve never seen her this angry before. I was a little scared to get in the car with her, but the fear of what she was going to do with this anger overpowered me. I stayed in the car when she stormed into Jacob’s house, but practically leaped out as I saw her approaching “Sam’s cult”. I was too far behind her and couldn’t reach her until she had already slapped one of the boys. “ALRIGHT” I yelled at Bella, getting in between them and seeing the boy start to shake in anger. “What you’re NOT gonna do is pick a fight with Mr. Mc steroids over here.” I continued while looking the boy up and down. We made eye contact. I didn’t want to but I froze and felt something turn in my gut while he immediately stopped shaking. I quickly shook it off and turned back to my crazy cousin. “Lets leave. Get in the fucking car John Cena”, pointing to her truck. I heard a bit of laughter as we walked away, but didn’t turn around. I didn’t even dare look in the rear view mirror as I drove off.
After Bella calmed down she admitted that slapping a 7 foot Greek sculpture wasn’t the smartest move. “They did something to him, I know it. Jacob’s too scared to tell me what’s going on but I’m gonna figure it out.” Bella said with gritted teeth. “Listen, you know Jacob better than I do so it’s your call, but maybe consider the idea that it’s none of your business? You and him have been friends since preschool. I feel like if it was necessary for you to know, he would have told you”. By the time I finished my speech Bella had already shut down. Just like she was before. Broke my heart seeing her like this. Maybe I should talk to Jacob or the “cult”, just be civil about it. 
So that’s what I did. The next day I drove to Jacob’s house, but Billy said he wasn’t home and to try Sam’s place. Well, he said Jacob wasn’t home and I begged him to tell me where he might be. For some reason he caved and told me where to find him and not Bella. I tried not to think about it too much or let my anxiety get the best of me while driving. 
When I knocked on the door, I didn’t expect a small, sweet woman with a huge scar across her face to answer the door. “Hi, can I help you?”
“Yes, I was looking for Jacob?”
“Are you Bella?”
“No, I’m Y/N, Bella’s cousin.”
“Oh. OH!” She seemed really surprised to find out this information. “Jacob it out with Paul right now. Working. They will be back soon though if you would like to come in, the rest of the crowd is here. I’m Emily, Sam’s fiance.”
“Oh I can come back another time, I don’t want to intrude.”
“Don’t be silly, we are all friendly and we are dying to get to know you.”
What does that mean? I walked in and saw everyone I saw yesterday but Jacob and the boy Bella slapped. Paul. “Hey Embry, how have you been?” I asked, seeming he was the only person I recognized. “Good, You?”
“I’m ok, just worried about Bella. Wanted to give Jacob a bit of grief for leaving her high and dry. She’s taking it a bit hard, but I also wanted to apologize for how she acted yesterday. Slapping who I assume is Paul wasn’t cool at all. I’m sure she feels really awful about it.”
“It’s not Jacob’s fault for leaving Bella. You don’t have to apologize for Bella, I think we have all wanted to slap Paul at some point in time.” Sam said.
“Got it, but is there anything I can do to get Jacob to talk to Bella again?”
“Jump in line, we all want him to talk about it so we don’t have to hear him monologuing all the time about it.” Embry said, before the third and last boy elbowed him really hard. 
“So none of this is your doing?” I asked all the boys.
“Not exactly, no.” Said Sam. 
“Ok. That’s some clarity at least.” I said with a smile.
“Why don’t you sit down, muffin, before the beasts attack them?” Emily offered a bowl full of muffins the size of Ohio to me.
“Thank you, that’s really sweet of you.” I said while taking a muffin and sitting next to Embry. Emily was right that the boys would attack the food, holy shit. “So why don’t you tell us about yourself?” Emily said, seeming excited and sitting across from me. “What do you want to know? I’m pretty much an open book.” 
“What brings you to Forks?” The ONE question I hate.
“Running away from my problems, if i’m being honest. I’ve always loved the rain, needed a change, and my uncle, Charlie, offered me a room. So I took it.”
“I like that, where are you from?”
“Austin.”
“Texas?” said the only boy who I didn’t know.
“No, actually it’s a small secret base on Mars. I’m an alien.” This made everyone laugh, especially the strange boy. “Sorry, I never caught your name?”
“Jared, you always that sarcastic?”
“Yes, humor is my only likable personality trait.”
“I hear that” said Jared while raising his muffin. “What do you like to do for fun?”
“I write, read, and love watching movies and TV shows. I'm a big music lover but I think that’s just a side effect of being born and raised in Austin. Since moving here I’ve really taken up hiking though, it’s so beautiful here. Not just flat desert like in Texas.”
“The only TV show I watch is New Girl, nobody here seems to watch it.” Said Jared and before I even thought it through my favorite Schmit quote fell out of my mouth.
“You would have been my nightmare. We were on very strict instructions from Rabbi Schmolli not to say anything until the very last christian kid found out about Santa Claus. Ruining Christmas? Very bad for our brand.”
Everyone seemed to like me after that and conversation flowed freely. I really liked spending time with everyone and lost track of time until I saw that the sun was going down. “Oh shit, I gotta get going, I’m not used to driving on ice yet and don’t want to drive on these roads when it's dark. Thank you so much for being so nice to me Emily, it was really nice talking to everyone.”
“Oh but Paul isn’t back yet” Emily said quickly. “And Jacob.”
“I can give Jacob shit anytime and I’m sure Paul isn’t my biggest fan after what Bella did so I think it’s a good idea to head out now. Thanks again though.” I said and started making my way to the door. 
“Of course! No problem, please come by again. I liked talking to you too and I’d love you to properly meet Paul.” 
We walked out just as Jacob and Paul emerged from the trees, but as soon as Paul made eye contact with me, that same flip happened in my gut again before he took off running back into the woods. Guess that answers my question on if he’s mad at me. 
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silv3rswirls · 3 years
Text
Rockstar
No one requested this I just really want bad boy Jungkook to ruin my life.
Lord save me I love the whole vibe of this Jungkook.
Summary: At a time like this, the last place you expected to be was some seedy bar downtown, but here you were drinking shitty beer and making eyes with the live band’s drummer. 
Warnings: Female reader, dirty talk/degradation, public sex (y’all fuck in an alleyway), alcohol, smoking/marijuana use, unprotected sex, slight strength kink, hair pulling, slight breeding kink? (not sure if this can qualify as that)
Word count: 4k
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When you and your boyfriend broke up, you had imagined yourself laying around at home and drowning your sorrows in take-out and sappy romance movies. That’s what you had planned at least, but your friends had other plans. They had come to your apartment with plans to go to some little bar downtown. A small underground place that had been the talk all around campus lately. They had cheap drinks, live music, and seemed to be the perfect party setting lately. You decided to go after they pestered you enough, encouraging that this is what you needed after the breakup.
It wasn’t that you hated going out to these kinds of things, you just weren’t much of a partier. Sure, you drank at times, but never really let yourself go like a lot of students did. You had never seen anything wrong with this, but apparently, your boyfriend had. He broke up with you and cited his biggest reason as being that you were just too boring to date. And he did it over text no less. This guy had been your high school boyfriend and the relationship had carried on into your college years, you really hadn’t thought you would break up at this point. You thought, maybe it was for the best. He seemed way more interested in spending his college years partying and hooking up anyways, but it didn’t stop the hurt you felt over the breakup.
You knew he was a bit of an asshole and maybe that’s what you had liked so much about him, but besides that, the two of you had been together for so long. He had been your first boyfriend and kiss, he had taken your virginity, the whole shebang. He had been your only boyfriend as well, so your experience with anyone else was next to nothing, and in a way it made you feel a bit nervous about getting back out there. 
But, your friends usually didn’t steer you the wrong way so you thought why not? Maybe going out would be fun like they said. You would be going to a bar single for the first time, exciting right?
Honestly, it wasn’t.
You were currently sitting at the bar alone while your friends had found others to distract them. You didn’t mind, just wished you weren’t the weirdo sitting alone like this. You were taking a break from dancing as your feet were beginning to hurt and the crowd left you a bit lightheaded. The bar hadn’t been what you envisioned when everyone told you about it. It was a small place, some kind of obscure dive bar or something. The walls were packed with signs and posters, neon lights illuminated them in color. The stage was towards the other end of the place, relatively small with lights shining onto the crowded- they were currently red, bathing the whole place in its hue. A few tables and chairs had been pushed more to the side, but a few people sat and talked, played cards, or snacked on the stale chips left out. Fans spun lazily above you, doing nothing in the way of cooling the stuffy place off. Smoke moved around the dance floor fluidly, mingled with the stench of alcohol and sweat as people danced and crowded at the stage in excitement. There was laughter and smiles all around the bar, some intoxicated and others conversing with vigor. There was a wall of muted bottles glittering behind the counter, stacked with dozens of things you hadn’t even heard of before. Some looked intriguing, but you were content with the admittedly watered-down and cheap beer. 
The bar may have been a little rundown, but it soaked in the ambiance of a night of rock music and mistakes. 
You held your head, nursing the small headache coming from the dozens of conversations being had over the bass of the live band- some group you had never heard of and couldn’t even remember their name. It was good music though, not necessarily what you thought you would be partying to tonight. They dominated the atmosphere as the young crowd, made mostly of university students like yourself you assumed. You took a bitter sip of your drink, not quite drunk, but feeling it enough to slip into your feelings. You wondered if your ex would find this boring or not. Maybe the fact that you were sitting alone instead of enjoying yourself was enough to prove you weren’t exactly the life of a party. If only your friends would come back, you thought before finishing your drink and hoping down from the bar. 
“Hey, come dance with us!”
A group of girls around your age called you to follow as they made their way back into the crowd. You thought for a moment, before smiling and tailing after them. One held your hand as you pushed your way through the crowd, muttering sorries you knew no one could hear as you bumped and pushed. They took you to the front of the crowd, laughing and giggling as they accepted you into their group without a thought. You couldn’t help but smile as well, looking up at the band as they played. It felt a little unreal to be so close to them, the music pounding in your ears and the lights blinding you and staining your whole being in a red hue. Music filled the air so easily, the sound reaching everyone in the bar. Some let go and listen while others continue chatting, but it speaks out to them all in some way. You didn’t know the words but sing anyway. You yelled, so loud and raw as you got lost in the feeling; the anger and upset you felt over your ex fueling your desire to let go and have fun. It felt right, that moment. Intense and freeing as the vibration of their playing made your head tingle and your body want to jump up and down with everyone else. 
As you let yourself get lost in the atmosphere your eyes drifted across the young men playing before you and you catch one of their eyes lingering on you and between the brief breaks between songs you spare him looks that are barely glances and it feels like he’s doing the same. By the time their set ends you feel some accidental bond lingering between your shared glances and disappointment drowns you when you realize it’s time he leaves. 
“I can’t believe this'' You mutter as you step outside into the cool night air. You couldn’t find a single sign of your friends, so you assume they left you behind. Maybe it was your fault spending your time at the front with a new group of girls, they probably hadn’t been able to find you. Checking your phone you found a few missed texts from them and sighed. They had been your ride back home, but it looked like you would be calling an uber instead. Pulling at the hem of your dress as the cold breeze nipped at your thighs, you walked down the street a bit in search of a bench or something you could sit at since the bar had kicked the remaining customers out.
You jumped slightly at the sudden flick of headlights turning on as you walked past the alleyway between the bar and some closed-down restaurant next to it. Squinting a bit you spotted the guys from the band loading the equipment up. “Looking for an autograph?” You mustered a nervous smile as one of them looked over at you, his eyes locking on yours as you had with the drummer on stage. You hadn’t gotten the best look at the drummer while he was performing, the lights had been blinding and you weren’t able to make any specific details out on him. But he looked similar enough.
“I mean, If you're offering one?” He matched your smile waltzing up to you with a Sharpie in hand. He scanned you up and down quickly before telling you to give him your arm, so you did and shuddered at the feeling of the sharpie dragging across your skin. You inspected the autograph, just two letters scribbled fancily on your forearm. “JK?” you asked.
“Jungkook actually, and you are?”
“Y/n” you replied, looking up from his writing.
“So Y/n, how does it feel to have such a famous rockstar’s autograph?” You laughed, “you don’t seem all that famous just yet.”
Jungkook simply smiled and went on, “you know, I saw you making eyes at me from the crowd.”
“Oh really?” You breathed, feeling a bit nervous as he brought it up.
He hummed, “It was hard to make out, but with how hard you were staring I could tell.” He teased.
“Lucky for you then.” You shivered as another cool wind blew through the alley attacked your exposed skin. Jungkook seemed to notice because he turned to look at his bandmates before offering to let you come inside with him. You chewed the inside of your cheek, normally you would never even of gotten so far into a conversation with a guy like this. Maybe it was the shitty beer or the high of the show, but you felt a bit daring and accepted. You and Jungkook sat down on the old, scratched-up leather sofa found in the back of the bar. It seemed the other members badly packed up most of their belongings, as one of them ran around the room grabbing what was left. “Shouldn’t you help?” You wondered aloud and Jungkook only shrugged as he handed you a beer.
“They’re fine, right Jimin?” The member looked over at you two, taking in your presence for a second before smiling.
“Of course, we’re done here. See you later Jungkook.” He threw a wink in your direction before grabbing the last bag and hurrying out. 
“Isn’t that your ride home?” You fiddled with your beer bottle as Jungkook opened his up and moved to take yours and do the same. 
“I have my own. Don’t worry so much Y/n.” You nodded and looked around the small back room. Pressed on the other side of the room were some boxes and storage space, a rack with some old clothing, and a small television set up on a counter that ran along the wall. There was a table riddled with empty and half drank bottles and glasses, from the band you presumed. The back door was cracked open with a brick, so the cold draft still hit you. The place smelled old and dusty, liquor lingering in the air as you listened to the shuffle of staff cleaning up in the front. You and Jungkook talked for a bit, mainly about the show and his band and you told him a little about yourself. How you were in university across town and were just trying to get out with some friends who ended up leaving you behind. At first, you hadn’t been sure how hanging out with him would go, unsure if you had enough in common to talk, but it turned out to be easy. Jungkook, despite all the tattoos and strong build, seemed pretty nice. Of course, deep down you kept yourself aware of why you were here. You were pretty positive that Jungkook hadn’t asked you to stay behind with him just to talk, there had to be other intentions. Hoping for a hookup you assumed and while you weren’t sure what exactly you were doing here, it felt oddly right.
“So, your boyfriend didn’t care that you came to such a shitty bar alone?” You watched Jungkook as he stood up and walked to the door. He kicked the brick out of place and opened it all the way, sitting down in the doorframe.
“I don’t have a boyfriend to be mad at me” you sighed, “broke up like a month ago.” 
“Seriously?” He looked back at you, brushing his dark locks away. “What dumbass would break up with you?” You laughed and got up to join him in the doorway, watching as he fiddled with something in his hands as you sat down. He pulled a lighter out and lit the blunt in hand, looking over at you before offering. “Want a hit?”
You stared at him for a second before smiling, “you first.” He complied, bringing it to his lips and inhaling. He glanced at you as he did so, holding it out for you next. You held his wrist to keep him from shaking against the cold and leaned to take a hit for yourself.
“You’ve never done this” he laughed, watching you sputter and cough, your face scrunching up at the unfamiliarity. 
“Kind of?” You laughed, swatting at him as he blew smoke into your face.
“So tell me about him.”
“What?” “Your ex, tell me about him. He break your heart?” You scoffed, looked up at the building that towered above the two of you and to the night sky. Jungkook kept up smoking beside you, following your gaze lazily as he waited for your response. The truth was; you weren’t sure if you were heartbroken or not. The two of you had been distant for a while before breaking up, but there was still a certain sadness that sat within you. He was your first love and maybe if he had ended things sooner you’d be more upset. You were upset, but you felt more anger towards him than anything. 
“He, uh- he broke up with me because he thought I was too boring.” You laughed. “He was always more of a party animal, you know? I don’t even know how he managed to make me fall for him way back when...you know he did it over text?” 
“Shit, over text?” He raised his brows at you, a small grin curving his lips. “You must’ve been pissed.” He coughed through another hit. “So he thinks you’re boring? You don’t seem it. You should’ve seen yourself out there earlier, I thought you were wasted or something” he joked.
“Well, I don’t normally do this kind of thing. It was a last-minute decision to come.” You explained, taking a sip of your beer.
“I’m glad you did” Jungkook grabbed your hand to bring the bottle to his lips for a long swig. “You’re pretty cool.” You smiled, a bit taken back by the compliment. Jungkook held eye contact with you for a moment before his eyes drifted down to your lips and you can tell that he’s thinking about moving in closer, so you take the initiative and do it yourself. He’s just centimeters away from kissing you, his breath hitting your face, a mix of cologne, alcohol, and smoke hitting you. Before you know it his lips are on yours, cold and a bit rough upon touch. You can feel a swarm of butterflies eat at your stomach as you try to relax in his hold. His kiss is not at all the same as the ones you shared with your ex, it wasn’t inspired or felt like a chore; it was hot and a bit sloppily and sparks a new feeling of passion inside you.
Jungkook’s arm found its way around your waist, tugging your body closer to his while the other held the side of your face. His tongue finds its way inside your mouth and you feel a hand wander down to your thigh, resting a bit under the bottom of your dress as his chilled hands groped and pinched your flesh. Soon things begin to get more heated and you find yourself pulled into his lap while he kisses and sucks at your neck. You jump a little when you feel his hand slide down your waist and grab your ass. He smiles into your neck, breaking away to look at you. Your lips were shiny and red from the make out, your neck in a similar fashion as fresh hickies were making their mark. He looks at you intently, a desire behind his eyes that felt like had been forever since you experienced it. He’s practically undressing you with his eyes when he asks, “Is this okay?”
“Yes,” you nod immediately, living off the rush of hooking up with him- with anyone in so long. Jungkook grins and stands the both of you up, backing you against the wall and trapping you in another heated make-out session as his hands begin to wander over your body. Your back arches as he brushes over your chest, shuddering as he cups your breasts and squeezes firmly. His leg slips between your thighs, pressing against your pussy and rubbing the tiniest bit. You shifted under him, your face flushed as you felt yourself growing more and more worked up.
It felt like forever Jungkook continued playing and teasing you, but soon you felt his fingertips brush under your dress, fingers hooking around your panties and pulling them down. You reached to bunch your dress up farther for him, shivering as the cold air hit your sensitive skin. He squeezed your plush thighs, one hand slipping between your legs to touch you. “Cold?” He asked, amused as you squirmed under his touch, his fingers dragging up and down your slit a few times as he looked down at you, his eyes locked on yours as you merely shuddered and wiggled under him. His breath was hot against your skin as he went back to kiss at your neck, an air of neediness around the both of you as you moved your hips against his hand’s movements, hoping for some more attention rather than teasing. Jungkook’s forehead rested against your shoulder as he looked down at you, his face starting to flush in excitement as hard-on pressed against his jeans. Slowly he let two fingers dip into your pussy, taking in the feeling of you squirming and tensing slightly around him. You grabbed at his arm, panting and whimpering as he attacked your clit, rolling the bud between his fingers and pushing you to cum.
Feeling a bit impatient, Jungkook pulls away and ignores your whiny complaints. “Want me to fuck you?” He asks, not waiting for your answer as he works his jeans undone. “Turn around” he urges and you do so, your skin pressed against the rough of the bricks, leaving you to wince slightly, but ignore it as you feel his hands on your hips, pulling you closer to him. You glance back at him, anticipation clear on your face until you feel the head of his dick press against your thigh before he adjusts himself to press into you. You gasp, a small groan hanging in your throat as he slowly pushes in. He takes in the sight of you bent over for him, your thighs shaking and muscles tensing under his touch. “Fuck, that’s it,” Jungkook’s voice comes from behind you, teasing as the edges of his lips ghost over the shell of your ear. You can feel his body over yours big and strong as he grips your hips tight, effortless moving you to meet his thrusts.
“J-Jungkook” You moan, writhing in pleasure and slight disbelief you were actually fucking a guy you just met. Your head turned at the sound of people walking by on the street. Suddenly struck with panic and the realization you were letting him fuck you in an alleyway. “There’s people-”
“Shh” Jungkook smirked, “better be quiet unless you want someone to hear you getting fucked.” 
“But-” you gasped as he thrust into you again, snapping his hips rough and picking the pace up. You bit your bottom lip, trying to hold in the moans threatening to spill out of you. 
“Don’t want anyone to see what a needy slut you are?” You dropped your head with a shake, whimpering as he reached to find your clit again, rubbing circles around your hardened nub. “You’re not doing a very good job” he commented
“Jungkook,” you whisper, your voice shaking before you let out a sudden, loud moan. It is almost hard for you to recognize yourself due to the desperation laced in your tone, need clouding your mind as you ate up the pleasure he was giving you. It felt like it had been months since the last time you really got off and despite the somewhat unorthodox situation, you were reveling in just how much it turned you on. “Only w-want you to see how much of a slut I am-” Your words fell off towards the end, drowned in your whines.
Jungkook eats up your words, grunting and groaning quietly to himself as he fucked into you. “Quiet, baby.” he mocks with a tease in his voice. You buried your face into your arms, clenching around Jungkook as you came, your stomach tensing up and moans muffled. “You’re so hot” Jungkook groaned, his hand running up your back and into your hair, fingers lacing themselves in your locks before tugging your face up so you were looking up. You squealed as he kept thrusting into you, shaking at how sensitive you felt. “I didn’t think you’d be so easy,” he commented, “but look at you, bent over all pretty for me.” Jungkooks voice was growing shaky, nearing his orgasm as he let go of your hair. “Where should I cum baby?”
“You can inside if you want” you breathed, breathless as you felt another orgasm nearing. 
“Shit, really?” You could hear the grin in his tone as he pounded into you.
“I’m on the pill.” You moaned,  a shaky please falling from your lips.
“Don’t worry baby,” he grunts “gonna fill you up.” You let out one last moan as Jungkook’s grip tightens on your hips and he stills his movements, shooting his load into you as he closes his eyes with a soft moan. You pant, taking in the feeling of his cum inside you, leaving you a dripping mess when he pulls out. He stands over you for a moment, catching his breath and admiring his work. “Fuck, so pretty,” you hear him murmur.
Eventually, the two of you find your way back inside, finding the restroom to clean up and come down from the romp you just had. Jungkook thought quiet helps you clean up and fix your dress. You take a few minutes to sit down and relax, you were feeling tired from the long night you had and you were sure Jungkook must’ve been as well since he had performed on stage as well. “Let me give you a ride home?” He turns to you as you gulp down some water.
“Well, it’s the least you can do, right?” You tease and Jungkook just smiles and leads you back outside. “Of course you have a motorcycle” you snorted, laughing in slight disbelief as he joined you.
“What else?” He asked, waiting for you to get the situation and wrap your arms around him. It was cold, but you closed your eyes as he drove, taking in the chill of fresh air and the soft rustle of the city around you. He took you home, dropping you off in front of your complex. He stopped you before you could leave, pulling out the sharpie and handing it to you. “Give me your number” he urged, letting you scribble it down on his hand.
“Call me sometime?”
He merely grinned with a lazy shrug, “Maybe.”
You watched him ride off from inside the lobby, chewing your lip as you went over the events of the night. “Whose boring now?” You laughed to yourself, the sadness your ex had left long forgotten. 
You weren’t sure if Jungkook would call, but sure hoped he would.
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rhysismydaddy · 3 years
Text
Prisoner's Game Pt. 4 (Rowaelin)
THANK YALL FOR BEING PATIENT I AM SO SORRY
Parts 1 \ 2 \ 3
________________________________
Journal Entry #2000
Sometimes I think it wouldn't be so bad to die.
To leave this island forever and not have to worry about being discovered anymore.
I wasn't always this macabre, but two thousand days of checking over my shoulder and wishing for a man's murder has dulled the wishful excitement I felt when I first got here.
Five years ago, I was grateful to even be alive.
I couldn't believe a stranger give up everything for me and the others--couldn't believe she'd agree to fight this battle because of my decision.
I have to actually remind myself to still be grateful to her, if I'm being honest.
Because sometimes I think about that night all those years ago, when she showed up in the darkest part of the night to kill me. When she'd held the knife with a trembling hand and told me that the price for betraying Arobynn Hamel was my life. When we discovered together that she couldn't bring herself to kill me.
Sometimes I think it would be better if she would've just done it.
At least it would've been over.
At least I wouldn't have to spend years on an island, living the same day over and over again. I think that's what's driving me mad, beyond anything else.
The predictability of my time.
Every day, I follow the same routine. The routine she laid out for me in a hushed whisper.
I wake up and go to the small café a mile down the road to watch the news. And every day, I pray to see Arobynn Hamel's face next to to the words, "Breaking news: billionaire crime boss found dead."
Because that was her only stipulation.
That the ten of us would stay on the island, hidden from sight, until news of his death was announced. In exchange, we got to live.
She'd warned me it would take a long time.
She'd told me to not get complacent.
And then she'd whispered what she planned to do.
Even now, over five years later, the words she'd whispered while shoving a plane ticket and a new passport into my hands were crystal clear.
"The devil isn't going to go down easy."
~Aelin~
The shaft of her recently-fashioned shiv was cold in her hand as she silently grabbed it from under her pillow.
The soft clink of the bars shutting again told her whoever had just snuck in her cell was now locked in with her.
Unfortunate for them.
She wasn't afforded the luxury of a clock, but she knew it was the middle of the night. Normal visiting hours were far over. There was no one here but the bored night guards, four janitorial staff, and rows and rows of sleeping inmates.
And the idiot trying to sneak up behind her bed.
She kept her eyes closed as she listened to the quiet steps walk closer and closer. Right when she was about to turn around and attack, they stopped.
Then the weirdest thing happened. It sounded like whoever it was slid down the wall directly across from her bed.
A killer wouldn't do that.
Curiosity piqued, Aelin turned her head to see who and what was going on.
It was dark in the cell, but she'd recognize that shock of silver hair anywhere.
"Rowan?" she whispered, so quietly she almost didn't even hear herself. "What are you doing here?"
He didn't respond, but the way his muscles tensed told her he'd heard her.
Slowly, she sat up so she could see him better and maybe figure out what was going on.
For the first time in a long time, he looked less than perfect. Far less than it, actually.
His hair was going every possible direction, like he'd been running hands through it and pulling on it. He was wearing a gray t-shirt, rumpled dress slacks, and tennishoes that weren't even tied.
But that wasn't what worried her most. It was the way he was sitting completely still and silent.
He didn't even look like he was breathing.
"Hey," she tried again. "What's going on? Look at me."
Another few heartbeats passed, and then he slowly shook his head.
"Please, Rowan. Just look at me."
He winced, like hearing her say his name physically hurt him.
And then his head came up.
Deep green eyes met hers, and even though it was what she'd wanted, what she'd needed, Aelin instantly wished he'd look away.
Because with one look, she knew he'd figured it out.
He knew, and the pain and turmoil in his eyes... she'd put that there.
She'd seen him angry and sad and happy and everything in between, but she'd never seen him, or anyone else, look so broken.
He looked completely and utterly broken as he sat before her.
"Rowan," she whispered, shaking her head even though she didn't know why.
He bowed his head again, seemingly unable to even look at her.
"Ro," she whispered, dropping to her knees in front of him.
Almost like the old nickname broke something inside him, Rowan's shoulders started to shake.
And then he sobbed.
It was the kind of sob that couldn't possibly be held in. The kind that made her heart clench and tears brew in her own eyes, the kind that told her how much pain he was in.
Tears ran down her cheeks as she put a hand on his arm. He shook off the touch like it burned him and looked up at her again.
"I ruined your life," he croaked, the tears on his face reeking of self-hatred. "I ruined your life."
She shook her head. "No, you didn't."
Anger bled into his tone. "I put you in prison for eight years for murdering people who aren't even fucking dead, Aelin. I didn't listen to you, didn't look hard enough. I've had the clues you left me for eight years. We were in love, and I didn't even try hard enough to... I... please explain to me how I didn't ruin your life."
"You did not ruin my life, Rowan," she told him again, meaning every word.
"Eight years of your life, gone because of me. I don't even understand how you can look at me." He huffed a laugh, but he was far from amused. "No wonder you hate me."
His chest was heaving, his hands were in fists, and his stubble-crested jaw was damp with tears.
And she'd thought he hadn't cared.
Aelin felt like a fool--a horrible, stupid fool--for ever doubting him. For thinking him indignant.
Because this was technically what she'd wanted. What she'd planned to happen.
She'd wanted it to hurt, had wanted him to feel an ounce of what she'd felt when he'd led the case against her.
But it wasn't what she wanted anymore.
Moving slowly, Aelin crawled onto his lap, put her hands on the side of his face, and lifted his gaze to hers while she said, "Arobynn Hamel ruined my life, not you."
He shook his head, breathing heavily. "No-"
She cut him off by wrapping herself around him.
Like she was trying to heal physical wounds, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pulled his head to her chest. She sank into him until there wasn't an inch of space between them. Her hands wandered over his back as she held him tight to her.
He was stiffer than a board at first, but eventually he sagged against her, wrapping his arms around her in return.
It was like he was drowning in the sea, and she was the only thing preventing him from being swept away. He shook, his entire body trembling, and his arms became a vice around her.
"I'm so sorry," he whispered after a moment.
She shook her head, but it didn't matter. He said it again, and again, and again, until his voice was hoarse and broken.
Aelin ran her hands over his back slowly, and just held him as pain he'd felt for eight years seemed to reach a crest.
Eventually he stopped crying and just laid against her, warm breath fanning across her collarbone.
"I'm so sorry, Aelin," he whispered yet again.
"Please stop saying that. None of this is your fault. You aren't the reason I'm in prison."
"Yes, I am," he insisted, shifting beneath her. "But I'm getting you out right now."
He looked up, eyes bright with new-found purpose, and wiped the tears off his cheeks like they were distracting him.
"What?"
He nodded quickly. "We can bring those people back, and you can get your life back. I know it's not the same, and I know I can't get you these years back, but-"
"No."
He paused. "No?"
She shook her head. "I can't leave yet."
"Leave? What the hell does that mean?"
"It means I still have shit to do here. I'm not leaving before it's done."
His eyes narrowed. "You're acting like this is a hotel, not a high-security prison. And what do you even mean?"
Aelin had the good sense to feel a little guilty as she slowly got to her feet and walked to the wall at the back of the cell. A few well-placed taps later, it swung open.
Rowan's mouth dropped open, then closed, then repeated the whole routine like he couldn't decide what to say first.
He apparently figured it out, because it opened again so he accuse, "I knew you were robbing me! Where the fuck is my bed?"
She sighed and rubbed her temples. "That's what you care about right now? Seriously?"
He grumbled something as he got to his feet and leaned into the makeshift doorway in the wall.
It took him a few moments to examine the ladder leading down to the tunnel, and then he straightened and looked at her again with a mixture of confusion, awe, and understanding on his face.
"You've been sneaking out this whole time."
She nodded.
Most of her escapes had been in the past six months, but she'd occasionally left in the years before to check on something or track down a lead.
"You beat up your roommate so they'd put you back in solitary."
Aelin nodded again.
"But how did you know they'd bring you to this cell?"
A small smile pulled on her lips. "Look again," she told him, gesturing towards the open brick door.
He stuck his head in the hole again and couldn't stifle his surprised intake of breath as he saw the other ladders.
He came back in the cell, and the expression on his face made her bite her lip to hold back a smile. "You... you tunneled into prison?"
"Into every solitary cell," she confirmed.
"When? Why?"
"One of my old jobs for Arobynn was to break a client of his out of solitary. I knew which cell he was in, but... getting locked up is kind of a right of passage for my former career, so I figured I'd plan ahead and give myself a way out, should I ever need it." She smiled. "Hamel never could figure out how I did it, so it's safe for me to use now."
Rowan spent a long moment looking at her. "That's... genius."
"I tend to be," she agreed.
They were both silent for a minute, then he said, "You need to tell me everything. Enough of both of us wasting time assuming what the other is thinking. We need to get everything out in the open, and we need to do it now."
Aelin nodded, knowing it was true.
It was time to either finally trust him or kill him, and just the thought of the latter made something inside of her twist so hard she felt nauseous.
She nodded to the tunnel, not wanting to have the following conversation overheard by any prying ears. He nodded and followed her down, closing the door behind him.
When she knew they were alone, she started to explain.
"Maddison Kliff, my first so-called victim, funded her campaign for senator with money from Arobynn Hamel."
Rowan's eyebrows went up in surprise, but he nodded for her continue.
"He gave it to her, with the caveat that when she won, she'd vote against renewable energy for Rifthold. He has millions in oil, so when she did the exact opposite and voted for the green plan that switched the city to 70% electric, he took a pretty hard hit." She took a deep breath. "The day after the vote, I got my orders to kill her."
His jaw clenched.
"I went that night, thinking I could do it. Thinking I'd get it over with and never think about it again. I snuck in her townhouse and had everything set up." She let out a laugh. "But then I realized my deal with Arobynn covered ten of Sam's jobs. If I killed Maddison, and did a good enough job of it to get away with it, I knew he'd put nine more names on the list."
"So you didn't do it," Rowan said, like he already knew but needed to hear her say it.
"So I didn't do it."
Aelin ran a hand through her hair, starting to pace. "I ran. And then I went back the next night with a suitcase, a new ID for her, and a plan."
"Why Aruba?" he asked.
"I'd done all that research for our trip," she said, a pang of sadness shooting through her at the memory of planning their first vacation together. "I didn't have time to research another place. And I never told you, but the house I wanted us to rent? You kind of... own it."
"I own a house in Aruba," he repeated slowly, his tone making it clear he didn't understand.
She rolled her eyes at his tone. "Arobynn might be a bastard I'd love to put in a grave, but he paid me well. I was eighteen and didn't know what else to do with the money. So I bought a house."
"In Aruba. In my name."
She nodded. "No one can trace it back to you. It's hidden in an off-shore corporation, owed by another off-shore corporation, but technically, yes, you're the owner. It was going to be your Christmas present."
"You bought me a house," his lips twitched. "For a Christmas present."
"I was in love with you," she muttered. Then pointed out, "My lack of shopping impulse control really isn't the point of the story."
He rolled his eyes, still fighting a grin at her antics. "Please continue."
"Right. So I sent her to the house in Aruba and told her to stay at the house with anyone else he wanted me to kill. I told her to not say a word to anyone besides those people, and that I'd be forced to actually kill her if she did. If Arobynn finds out they're alive, he'll send someone for me."
She explained the list next. "He requires proof of all completed jobs, so I kept the "murder weapons" and made sure the crime scenes had enough blood to indicate the person couldn't still be alive. It was mostly fake, but I took just enough blood from each of the victims and mixed it in to make it realistic enough to fool DNA scanners. Then I put the weapons in storage lockers he owns and wrote the numbers down so I wouldn't forget them."
Rowan nodded, most certainly remembering that part.
He was doing a good job of hiding his emotions, but she still saw how heavily this all weighed on him.
Everything he'd been feeling for eight years was hitting him at once, and while explanation made sense, it probably didn't make him feel any better about the role he'd played in all of this.
He confirmed it by asking, "Why didn't you tell me?"
He asked it almost casually, but she didn't miss the pain he couldn't keep from seeping into his voice.
"I wanted to," she breathed. "Gods, I wanted to. I know now you investigated before giving the list to the cops, but to me, it looked like you found it and just turned me in. You never asked me. And you looked at me... you looked at me like you thought I was guilty. I knew you wouldn't believe me."
Rowan went quiet, regret and shame coming off of him in waves so thick she almost choked on it.
"How is all of this going to play out?" he asked, seemingly trying to force himself to think about something else. "And what do you have to do that you need to be in prison for?"
She hesitated, suddenly not wanting to tell him.
Not out of a lack of trust, but because if she told him... he'd realize she's guilty of the crime she's in prison for. He might go back to hating her, back to thinking her a horrible person.
And she just got him back.
She's pulled from her thoughts when he reaches a hand out, slowly gripping her jaw to tilt her face to his.
"I'm not going anywhere," he said, the words final.
Of course he knew what she was thinking just from looking at her face. He always was a little too astute.
A part of Aelin wanted to put on a brave face and act like that wasn't exactly what she'd been worrying about, but a bigger part wanted him. Wanted him to see that even after all this time, she needed him.
So she forced down the witty jokes and sultry smiles she usually used as ways to hide her vulnerability and looked up at him.
"Promise?"
He closed his eyes and shook his head slowly. "I promise, Aelin."
His hand was still on her face, and he leaned in until his forehead rested against hers. "I'm never going to leave you again. I'm so... I'm so fucking sorry I did in the first place. I should've come to you, or at least listened when you told me you were innocent."
"I'm sorry I thought you didn't fight for me," she said back. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you."
They'd both done things they regretted, but Aelin knew that now, no matter what, he was telling the truth. He wasn't going to leave her.
The knowledge felt like a weight lifting off her shoulders, and just to lighten the mood, she whispered, "And I'm sorry I stole your bed."
He pulled back to glare at her. "You're going to explain one day how you even pulled that off. But I'd like the answer to my other question first."
Aelin took a step back and ran a hand through her hair.
"Arobynn Hamel dying is the endgame, Rowan. I have to stay in prison so I can kill him and have an alibi no one will question."
He paused, and for a moment, her fears skyrocketed, so she rushed to explain, "As long as he's alive, those people have to be in hiding and I have to look like I killed them. Once he's dead, I can bring them back without worrying Arobynn will kill them. Or me."
He gave her a strange look, but she spoke before he could, explaining, "It's why I've been in prison for so long. I would've killed him and ended it years ago, but I only found him a couple months ago. He's been in hiding ever since I was locked up, because the FBI knew I was one of his and started looking for him."
"Okay, but Aelin-"
She cut him off. "I know it's insane and not at all ideal, but I need you to leave me in here. Just until he's dead, and then it's over."
He stepped forward and grabs her shoulders, shaking her slightly.
And then he did the weirdest thing.
He smiled.
"What the hell do you look happy about?" she demanded. "I'm being serious-"
It was his turn to interrupt her. "Aelin, if that's the stipulation, you're already free."
Unease drifted through her stomach. "What do you mean?"
"I mean he's already dead."
Shock rushed through her so fast and thoroughly, her vision swam and she swayed in his grip. "What... what did you just say?"
"That's why I came today, now. I actually figured out you were innocent two days ago, but I wasn't going to come until I could tell you with certainty I was getting you out, and I knew you couldn't bring everyone back without risking your life. I've spent the past 48 hours planning a jailbreak and a way to sneak you to somewhere the US doesn't have extradition."
He grinned again. "But then it was announced on the 11 o'clock news tonight that he died last week of pneumonia complications. His family kept it private because they wanted a small funeral, but he's dead, Aelin."
Still feeling the weight of shock, she argued, "He's not dead."
"But he is."
"No," she insisted, pushing away from him and starting to pace again. "He can't be dead."
His face softened at the panic in her voice. "Aelin, I know you wanted it to be you, but-"
"No, Rowan, you don't understand. I mean he cannot physically be dead, because I haven't finished killing him!"
It was his turn to be shocked.
"What do you mean you haven't finished killing him?"
She took a deep breath, trying to keep her emotions in check. "I've been poisoning him since the day I figured out where he holes up. Turns out he has kidney problems and goes in once a week for dialysis. I show up and add a little... extra to his medication. The last time I went was less than a week ago, and while he might have been sick, he most definitely was still alive."
Besides that, what were the odds that Rowan figured out her "victims" were still alive, and just two days later Arobynn croaks?
It would be one hell of a coincidence, and Aelin learned long ago to not believe in those.
His eyes went wide. "What? You mean he faked his death? Why the hell would he do that?"
"Because," she said slowly, dread forming like a lead ball in her stomach as she realized what this meant for her, for the ten people whose lives she'd traded her freedom for. "I told Maddison and the others to wait for news of his death before coming back. I told them that until he was dead, they weren't safe."
She shook her head, whispering, "I told them to watch the news."
Rowan realized what she was saying and cursed.
"He knows."
~~~~~~~~~~~
Lemme know in the comments if you want to be tagged!
Part 5 will (realistically) be out in the next three weeks. Sorry for the slow updates; school is consuming all my time and energy.
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