#that bounds us together' thing. I initially thought it was justified by the fact she was after all a rich kid takin him from granted | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

tundrainafrica · 3 years

Text

Title: Division of Labor (2/?)

Summary:

“The past years, we have noticed a lot of our fresh high school graduates knew nothing about responsibilities the that awaited them outside high school and even college. Many students do not master budgeting, taxes, household planning, loans and we hope to raise a generation who can navigate the adult world without the consequences of bad decisions they are bound to make going in blindly…”

Paradis High school starts a program incorporating adulting into their curriculum and Hange and Levi are paired together.

Note: From request of @a-golden-hearted-snk-fan. See this link for the request

Other Chapters: 1 3

Link to cross-postings: AO3

"This doesn't make any sense."

Jean had always been one of the more vocal ones in the classroom when it came to inconvenient developments. More often than not, people had just brushed off his complaints and banter as an inevitable part of his personality. That was one of the few times everyone else agreed with him.

The rest though just sat silently in the classroom while both Erwin and Shadis went out of the room, to get what was supposed to be their "kids."

Having taken classes on reproduction and health growing up, most if not all the people in the room already knew the amount of money it took to raise a child and the importance of contraception.

Oddly enough though, the number of kids was decided at random, only justified by the fact that they would never know how many dependents they'll have to care of one day.

"Every single one of you will be faced with the prospect of taking care of a dependent one day, maybe for a few years, maybe for decades," Erwin had explained. He had a natural charisma in the way he carried himself and spoke that made everyone in the room aware of their own tendency for altruism. Everyone had somebody in their life, they probably would have dug into their savings to support be it a mother, a sibling or a close friend.

They were all silently doing their own reflections of who that person would have been as Shadis passed around sacks of flour at random.

"Just be lucky you don't have to do this in real life yet. This adult experience is fucking watered down already. If we could simulate the pain of childhood or the stench of a dirty diaper, we would. " Shadis' words were a stark contrast to Erwin's.

Either way, everyone was too distracted by the number they were getting and the whole prospect of having sack babies in the first place to even react to his words.

"We initially thought of using actual eggs or flour but if you're going to be taking care of this for the whole year…” Erwin fell silent for a second. “That would be disgusting."

The sack was definitely much lighter than what Levi had expected. He squeezed it, noting the firmness of the sack. It was stuffed with cotton. They thought some of it through at least.

Erwin turned on his projector, looking undisturbed by the awkward silence in the room. "By the end of this month, these are what I expect from all of you," He started. "An overview of career plans, a meal plan, a house design based on real estate prices around the area and a breakdown of house responsibilities."

He moved his tacky pointer towards the line on meal plans. "Every two weeks you and your partner go to the supermarket, assess grocery prices and submit me a list of groceries you would buy and a meal plan based on that for the family you have with you. Remember, you are still limited by your wage and each sack represents an extra mouth to consider when you make the meal plan. I will be sending a more detailed version with the deadlines and a prescribed format through email.”

The class was silent for a time. The only notable sounds coming from that room were the scratching of pencil and paper and a few sighs. Hange was taking notes next to Levi while the latter wondered why she even bothered when Erwin was going to send the rest of the information through email after all.

Erwin spent a good few seconds taking stock of everyone in the room before letting out a subtle sigh of his own. "Don't look too overwhelmed, these assignments will be incorporated into all your other classes anyway. Just don't expect teachers from other subjects to spoon feed you though. As much as possible we want you to learn to work with it independently."

Division of Labor

Regardless of what Erwin said, everyone was left overwhelmed anyway. The prospect of having to deal with that heavy of a workload and having that performance affect their chances at college had people spending their precious one hour of lunch time with their partners.

Despite his generally antisocial personality, Levi was rarely alone for lunch. Most days he spent his breaks with his classmates Petra and Oluo. Sometimes Gunther and Eld from the other section would join in. That was unless he felt particularly compelled to spend a lunch break alone. It was as if everyone silently agreed to use that short hour to discuss and strategize with their partners. Levi did not even have time to protest that trend, as his own friends filed out of their seats with their partners, not even bothering to ask if he would be joining them for lunch.

Or did they even need to ask? Hange was right next to him, already taking out her lunch and looking at him expectantly. “Let’s go?”

“Wait, who said we were having lunch together?”

Hange gestured subtly at the already empty room, as if to ask him “what else?” Levi cursed himself for even complaining about groupmates who never pulled their weight. At that moment, an overly enthusiastic groupmate seemed more unbearable and Levi almost wished he could have gotten a lazy and uninterested groupmate instead. At least then he’d be able to decide for himself when to start working.

They sat on one of the picnic tables in the school courtyard, Hange with a boxed lunch and Levi with his homemade sandwich. Their two sack babies were stacked up to the side of the table.

"So what do we name them?" Hange asked.

Levi grabbed one of the sacks from the pile and propped it up on his lunch bag, an attempt to use that empty slate of a sack as a guide to imagining what should be a face. With that, Levi could pretend they were at least kind of living and maybe they did deserve names.

"Flour," Levi suggested. His attempts to see life in faceless sacks came out fruitless.

"Let's try to be a little more creative Levi."

"Why do we even have to give names to these things? They're not even alive. Like nobody is gonna press charges if I stabbed it right now anyway."

"Because they're grading us,” Hange took out a permanent marker and carefully drew a smiling face one sack. She made sure to add a few lines of what looked to be bangs. As she went for the other sack, Levi could not help but notice the goofy smile that appeared on her face.

Levi narrowed his eyes. "You're enjoying this?”

"We’re here. Might as well enjoy it right?" Hange shrugged." If you're not gonna name them. I will." She propped the one she had just finished drawing on, up on Levi’s lunch bag. “This is Flora.” She continued drawing on the other sack. “And this is Fauna."

The names sounded to Levi like science terms he had learned too long ago and had wanted to forget. They flew into one ear and out the other within seconds and Levi had settled for internally naming the sacks the first thing he thought of when he saw Hange's artwork: “ugly bangs” and “eyelash.”

He made sure not to tell Hange though. She seemed way too enthusiastic about her naming choices.

Division of Labor

Although Levi did have a natural talent with numbers, this potential remained untapped through most of high school. The most apparent reason for this being the fact that the person teaching them Math, at one of the most important times in their high school life was an utter prick.

That utter prick of a Math teacher during their sophomore year made a comeback as their teacher for their junior year. He did not look too happy about it either. Levi at least shared that same sentiment.

"So I'm supposed to be teaching you guys about taxes but really, believe me, you won't really use half of this shit, just hire an accountant.” Zeke Yaeger propped his feet on the teacher’s table, not bothering to even explain the table of tax rates he had flashed as a powerpoint slide next to him. “ Or... just get an employer, they’ll calculate it for you anyway.”

“Do you mean get a job sir?” It was Marco who so politely asked the question.

“Get a job, get an employer, same banana.” Zeke answered, in between gulps of coffee.

Somehow everyone knew that getting a job would probably be not as easy as the phrase “get an employer” implied it to be. Zeke was their teacher though and he probably knew much more than they did, given the decades of work experience he had in his belt.

“Don’t we need to know how to calculate our taxes based on the table?” Armin asked. He looked to his partner Annie who seemed to be furiously taking notes.

Zeke looked once again at the board for a few minutes before slamming his cup on the table, spilling out some coffee in the process. “Just remember, if your employer promises you 70,000 dollars a year, don’t be surprised when you end up taking home 50,000 dollars coz of some bullshit about the government needing money, insurance and retirement.” He rolled his eyes. “Not like we all live that long to enjoy that K410 nonsense anyway.” He added bitterly, adding some venom on that part about that string of numbers in particular.

“If we own a business, how do we file them?” Annie asked.

“No one needs to know how to do this. Besides, you’re all in high school. Don’t stress yourself over this. Like I said before, just get an accountant.”

“What if we can’t afford an accountant?”

“Then don’t own a fucking business.” Zeke rolled his eyes. “Fine… Look, I didn’t prepare for that question, gimme a sec.”

The class watched as he closed the powerpoint, quickly opened an incognito window and went on google.

How to file taxes as business owners?

Zeke stared at the next few pages for what seemed like minutes, before clicking on one particular page.

“So yeah, it looks like you just fill out this form and send the money to the tax office.” He shrugged. “Your generation grew up with ipads glued to your faces. I’m sure you’re way better in googling shit than I am so yeah, just google the rest of what you need. Free period until your next class, now go talk about your fake taxes or your fake house or something.”

Division of Labor

Even with the free period Zeke had so generously given them, no one was able to start anything until they got home. It was eight in the evening when Levi opened his school email to find the information on their next tasks, which was sent only a few minutes ago.

September*

Week 3

Housing plan (Wednesday)

Housing Design (Wednesday)

Daily routine

Meal Plan

Week 4

Breakdown of Responsibilities

*Unless otherwise stated, please submit output by Friday of said week

Levi did not even have time to finish scanning through the guide to their housing plan task as his computer started to slow down, unable to take the quick scrolling. He soon realized it was not the scrolling that had made the computer so dysfunctional. On the lower right of his screen, he saw the notification.

Hange Zoe

New Message

The badge next to his messaging app, quickly rose from 12 unread messages to 26 to 45. Even the screen looked unable to display the messages properly. Wanting to save his computer from anymore torture, Levi grabbed his phone from his bed side and called his partner.

“If you have a lot of things you need to tell me, call .” Levi said, not even bothering to wait for a hello from Hange.

“Oh great! So you did get the messages! For a while I was wondering if your messenger app was broken.”

Levi looked back at the screen to see that the badge next to his app was already displaying a “99+.” If his application or his laptop was not broken then, it might break when he opens the application.

“What the hell are you sending anyway?” Levi asked, delaying the inevitable of having to open the messaging app.

“Links to houses for the housing plan,” Hange answered matter-of-factly. “Unless you’d rather I just say the links out loud for you to type it in the browser yourself.”

With a part of him so nervous at the possibly of his computer hanging or even breaking, Levi had ended having to slam his finger on his mouse when he opened the messaging app. He looked away not wanting to see how his computer tried to process the 99+ messages.

He lay on his bed opening the file on his phone.

“So, since I’m working freelance, I pretty much have a work from home job so we can live anywhere. We have two kids, so what do you think of a three bedroom house?”

“A ‘house house?” Levi looked around at his own living space which his uncle rented for him. He lived in a studio apartment and the concept of living in a house, even in a simulation seemed too unrealistic. “Like a house, with two floors, and multiple bedrooms?”

“And a garden!” Hange said excitedly. “So Flora and Fauna can run around.”

It took Levi a few seconds to comprehend that Hange was discussing their flour sack babies running around an imaginary garden. Levi was sure Hange was not an idiot though and had decided to at least entertain the expensive option of a fully furnished three bedroom house with a sprawling garden. “And, how were the prices?” Levi walked back to his computer to see that most of his messages had already loaded.

“Well, I found some for 1500 dollars a month, others for 1800 dollars a month. I earn 3600 dollars a month apparently, so I don’t think spending half of it on rent would be too much right?”

“I mean, it’s your wages right?” Levi replied. In truth, a part of him just did not want to go through all one hundred houses Hange had linked him too on the messaging application just to decide on a house.

Hange sent a picture of a split level house, with a wide front garden. “This is my favorite! It comes with a large backyard. And it only costs 1800 dollars a month!”

Only 1800 dollars a month. Levi almost choked. The words “only” and “1800 dollars a month” just seemed too absurd to his ears that someone saying it so casually had him speechless even if Hange was talking about a three bedroom house with a sprawling garden. He cleared his throat. “You’re the breadwinner.”

“Okay! Let’s design the house! I’ll move to my laptop.”

For some reason, Levi had a bad feeling about the listing Hange had shown him. He quickly brushed it away as it came, attributing it to the fact that he never really grew up with enough money to entertain the idea of spending on luxuries. He lived with less than three hundred dollars a month after all, all funded by his absent uncle.

Hange had seemed confident with her decision though.

I’ll stick to what I know best. In the end, Levi decided to leave the larger purchases to Hange. Hehad confidence only in his ability to manage a household. Maybe he would be able to contribute then.

#levihan #levi ackerman #hange zoe #levi x hange #fanfic

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darkpoisonouslove · 3 years

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Erendor x Samara Headcanons

This somehow happened... even though they are literally my least favorite Winx characters. I wanted to develop them somewhat more so that I could stop despising them so much. I think it worked... even though there are some problematic things.

TW for mentions of murder and infertility.

It was a semi arranged marriage in that Erendor was the one who was having negotiations with Samara’s family since he was already king. His parents were currently residing at one of their numerous estates, however, and were as removed from the ruling of the kingdom as possible since the monarchy was hanging by a thread. Erendor had to find a way to settle the growing tension for which he needed some strong allies and it just so happened that Samara’s family was the most influential.

Samara was actually a second child but her elder sister was already promised to a nobleman from another famous lineage and pulling that apart would be bad for the monarchy as well as the other family was bound to turn against them. So Erendor was to marry Samara and have the endorsement not only of her family, but also the new house that her sister was to join soon. They had a perfunctory engagement that only served to not make it look like the situation of the monarchy was so dire that Erendor was taking desperate measures to stabilize it. They married as soon as possible to fortify the alliance and start working on continuing the royal bloodline.

Samara was extremely good at pretending and showing exactly what was expected of her. Her mother had been dragging her to beauty pageants ever since she’d had anything to show in the talent portions of the competitions and she’d learned from little to read what people expected from her and then show them just what they wanted to see. She could get under anyone’s skin and steer them into doing whatever she wanted. It was the skill she’d perfected while her sister had spent more time in education as they’d hoped for a better marriage for her. Samara’s mother had hoped exactly for that result as it gave them guarantee that Samara would be able to control her husband while they controlled her to give them even more influence and power.

Erendor was wary of Samara at first. He was way more observant back then when the future was being built on a day to day basis and he’d seen enough to know she could charm anyone, which made her the one with the real power in their marriage. He had to win her over on his side if he wanted to ever have any real control over Eraklyon and that would be a challenge since she already had everything she could want, including the crown. He could never beat her at her own game so he tried a different approach by being dangerously honest with her which threw her off every time to give him an opportunity to peek under her facade and get to know her better.

He learned that the price of her smile was a ring on her finger and the price of her heart was holding her hand in his. She was indeed used to getting everything she wanted but he hadn’t known she wanted commitment to her that her family had never shown as they’d been using her ever since she’d learned to walk and freedom that she could only get if she had more power in her grasp than her mother held. He paid enough attention to her to learn how to never disappoint her with a gift and gave her the choice of what to do with the power she held – give him equal control of it by taking his hand or keep being pulled like a doll by the strings her mother had wrapped around her until death cut them off. He gave her the decision to choose whose hands to put the control over the kingdom in and that was more than her family had ever given her.

Her mother never expected that Samara could choose her husband over them. She’d never thought that a man could win her daughter’s trust after she’d raised her to view people as means to an end because that was how they’d view her. It was too late by the time she realized she’d made a mistake by demonstrating that to Samara herself. Her daughter had all the important people in her hand and she put them in Erendor’s pocket to throw her family so out of the loop they would never be able to come back. They lost any control they had not just over the kingdom but over most of their estate and assets as well and had to leave Eraklyon before Samara bankrupted them completely. She didn’t spare the family her sister married into either in case her mother tried to make her comeback via them and all the wealth was distributed to the struggling economical branches to patch up both the holes in the kingdom’s resources and those in the people’s trust.

The monarchy was saved and the two of them were left with their blooming alliance. They got along perfectly when he asked her opinion on everything and let her handle most of the diplomacy, only ever interfering when his presence was needed. Outside of the throne room, their shared time was limited by mutual agreement. Samara liked to use her newly found freedom to choose her personal endeavors herself and Erendor could use the break on his ego (he knows he couldn’t have done it without her but sometimes it is still hard to swallow his pride even though Samara has never flaunted the fact in his face, perhaps due to her own experiences of being dependent on someone else).

Besides, it takes them both a little while to process whatever slips into one of those honest conversations they tend to have in the middle of the night–there’s always room for Samara in his bedchamber and she’s rarely refused an invitation to go as well–or early in the morning over breakfast. He still catches her off guard–and himself, too–when he admits something that requires trust that their mutually beneficial deal does not justify. Samara actually likes it because it feels like she can trust it’s real and she’s even confessed a couple of things herself on her own initiative even though the word love has never been approached by either one of them. Erendor’s honesty is always blunt and has zero romance to it but Samara prefers it that way as she’s not sure how long it will take her to trust romance.

It all seemed well until they learned that Samara had fertility issues that got in the way of conceiving an heir. Samara retreated and locked herself into her bedchamber. She wouldn’t even let Erendor in, let alone go to the throne room or even the dining hall. Erendor had to forbid all maids and other servants from going to her until she came out, steaming about him breaking their deal that they were equals and he couldn’t control her. Not the best plan to get her to talk in hindsight but he didn’t have much choice.

They talked once Erendor explained himself and she calmed down. She was upset not only over the discovery of her problem but also over the fact that all their efforts in putting the monarchy back together had been wasted. Erendor tries to reassure that nothing has changed – she is still the queen (aka indirectly reassuring her that he wouldn’t divorce her over that which not only went through her head but she was also leaning towards after he broke their deal). They can still adopt a child and the monarchy will have an heir. Samara warns him that his brother will not stand to have someone outside the bloodline take the throne from under his nose. She knows the ambition and bitterness of being a second child and her family wasn’t even in line for the throne. Erendor promised they would figure it out but, meanwhile, there was a war brewing between the Ancestral Witches and Domino and his alliance with Oritel was enough of an excuse to buy them some time to think.

As it turned out, the solution presented itself. The royal dog breeder almost lost control of the hounds as she prepared them for a hunting session. After Erendor only didn’t bite her head off in the literal sense, Samara had her turn as well which saw the woman breaking down and confessing that she’d found herself pregnant and abandoned by both the father and her family. Samara instantly pieced together the plan that could be the solution to all their problems and after Erendor agreed, they offered the woman to give her baby to them. They would make him a prince and she could see him grow with every one of his needs taken care of if she would keep her mouth shut about the deception they were pulling. They reached an agreement and brought their scheme to fruition by presenting the boy as the royal heir while the official version was that the dog breeder’s baby was stillborn.

Distrustful of the emotional goodbye the woman said to her child, Samara decided to tie up their loose ends. Erendor had already dealt with the doctor supervising the birth through semi-legal means and it was just the mother that could reveal their ruse. Samara poisoned the dogs with a mix just strong enough to drive them mad with pain but not kill them so that they would attack their breeder and tear her to shreds. It happened almost as she’d planned it but before the dogs could be put down by the guards, they slipped away, having been pulled out of the effect of the poison by the grief over killing their caretaker. The woman had an unusual gift for training the animals and immense skills to top it off that Erendor could have never rivaled even despite his time in Red Fountain spent taming dragons. She was known as a dog whisperer and the animals had all formed a bond with her that was unbreakable so when they killed her, they turned into mindless beasts with the rage and pain of betraying their own mistress like that.

The hounds got lost in the forest to spread all over the kingdom and terrorize it for years to come. With everything else that was happening, Erendor’s focus was not on getting rid of them. The alliance with Domino was broken to the result of losing an entire city and being plagued by guilt. Without their strongest ally, the kingdom was soon swallowed in wars and debates over the future of the monarchy. The hounds were yet another crisis that was pulling Eraklyon thin over all the fronts it was stretched on.

The problem only got solved once Sky signed up for Red Fountain. Along with Brandon and a handful of other soldiers, he tracked down the hounds and killed them to stop them from wrecking havoc. Curiously, they didn’t run from him or try to attack him which he found odd but shrugged off as his gift for taming dragons obviously working on other animals as well (they never had hounds in the palace again after the “accident” with the last dog breeder). The last hound was the only one that put up a fight but it turned out it was because she had a puppy she was trying to protect. Unusually for dogs, it was only one. A small white female dog. It was so little Sky could snap its neck with two fingers but he took pity on it and took it in, swearing to his parents that he could tame it and make sure it would never hurt anyone. He named her Lady to further his point as she was extremely well behaved and obeyed every one of his commands, even letting Samara pet her despite her obvious dislike of the queen.

Lady was put down after going rabid out of the blue and attacking the queen. Samara didn’t like having to worry whether the dog wouldn’t tear her to shreds if Sky weren’t there to stop it so she got rid of it as well. Over the years she’d tried to provide for Sky both the warmth and discipline he would need to turn into a good prince as she didn’t want him growing up the way she had and being a pawn in the schemes of others. There was a certain duty to be upheld as an heir to the throne (of a country falling apart no less), though, which was why she and Erendor were pushing the marriage with Diaspro on him. The girl was more than respectful towards them despite being a spoiled brat otherwise and she was a princess aka their best choice for his fiance. They could use an alliance amidst the brewing situation in the kingdom.

With the years and the state of Eraklyon going downhill after the alliance with Domino fell apart, keeping the kingdom afloat was weighing down on Erendor on top of the guilt her felt for his deal with the Ancestral Witches and he became more selfish and rudely outspoken. He didn’t care much about diplomacy when he was counting on Samara to take care of it. She herself started falling into the rabbit hole of being queen and having the power to make everyone bow to her, however, and she abandoned her persuasive way with words for more forceful approach. After the whole fiasco with the dog breeder, she had to make sure nothing else would go astray to topple their unstable thrones and she had less and less patience for coaxing people to go her way rather than coercing and even forcing them to. The image of the monarchy was falling apart once more which was why Erendor was so hasty about passing the title of king down to Sky. Their son was very well liked amongst both the high society and the commoners so they had to leave the power in his hands at least in appearance.

#winx club #winx erendor #winx samara #erendor x samara #winx sky #winx headcanons #headcanons #can you tell why she named sky sky?

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hobiwonder · 5 years

Text

Induratize | 05

Pairing: Prince!Jimin x Princess!Reader

Genre: Royalty AU.

Warnings: Angst, Smut (future), Fluff, Some violence. [angst in this chapter].

Words: 4k+

Summary: You make a heart-shattering discovery.

A/N: i won’t even try and justify the wait bc i’ve been crying about it on my blog regularly, so!!! this is a major chapter in terms of OC and Jimin’s relationship. It took me a while to write it because I kept getting distracted by other projects but now that i only have exams to cover (and the big reveal has happened phew) I can maybe focus on moving the story to its fluffy end???? hmmm????? [it’s coming soon]. PLEASE tell me what you think!!! I have already written 2k words of the next chapter.

When Jimin used to walk down the same dimly lit passageway towards his father’s, the King’s, chambers he rarely felt anything other than mild annoyance from being reprimanded for the most minuscule mishap while on missions and negotiations with the neighbouring clans. Back then, he had nothing to lose. Nor did he care much if he was whipped or starved whenever he made a mistake. It was how he had been trained ever since he was a boy. His father became even more unsympathetic once the Queen passed. Jimin was allowed a mere few hours to grieve her before he was stowed away in the training camp under the Army General. Every tear that slipped down his cheek was whipped away until his eyes were dry and mouth was set tight. There was no place for weakening emotions like sadness. Only anger. And anger was filled inside of Jimin to the brim in his years of training. To the point where he learned how to master it and utilise the emotion in winning wars and slashing clans that refused to do his father’s bidding.

He had learned how to be unyielding and unforgiving. He was attached to no one but the cause of…. Of what? He had never questioned it before. Conquering was all his father cared about. But was it not enough? Haelyra was prospering. There was nothing the kingdom lacked. Yet his father was unwilling to stop his mission to have the whole world in the palm of his hand. And Jimin was a loyal soldier, fulfilling his duty to his country and being an advocate of his father’s plans. Whether willing or unwilling. Though he was mostly ambivalent to the details or the plans. He didn’t know a life other than the one he was living. The tender love and nurture his mother provided for the short period that she was alive felt like a fever dream.

Until you. Until he met you. And now that he was walking through the same walls, surrounded by the same guards, about to see the same person he had seen many times in this context; he was scared. He was scared out of his wits because now he had something to lose. You. The one person who let him shed tears without judgement and held him together. Someone he did not know he needed until he let you in and wrap your warm arms around his cold body. You were the warmest person he had ever known and the only person who let him…. feel anything other than anger and numbness. Only other person apart from his mother. Though his body was not showing physical signs of his internal panic about what would his father could possibly do to you if he realised your importance to Jimin.

Leaving you in his chambers was harder than he thought it would be. Your soft eyes had looked up at him while you clutched the sheets around your even softer body. Thankfully, he’d been able to contain his initial panic and gently coax you in to taking another restful nap until he was finished with business. Reassuring you that he would be back and that it was just a routine visit. But of course Jimin knew better than to pretend he knew what was coming his way. That was his father’s play. Never keeping Jimin in the know too much so he will stay on alert and not become comfortable in his position as the future king. He understood it before. Or at least he thought he did. That his father was preparing him for what is to come. Though, more and more it seemed impractical to Jimin that he wasn’t not aware of future plans, or even current, right before they were to be implemented. Would it not be better if Jimin was made aware of future expeditions and laws that were to be announced before they actually were? Did his father not trust him with any decision making?

“Your majesty.” Minister of the Household, Ahn Jihoon, greeted Jimin as he entered his father’s chambers. His nerves were on edge but at least his years of training made him a master of control.

Jimin took a curt bow towards where his father sat in his throne, busy examining the scroll in his hands.

“How are you, son?” This was certainly unexpected. Jimin could count on one hand how many times his father had asked him that.

“I am well, father. What is it that you wish to discuss?” He gets straight to the point like always. However, he could tell that his father was trying to find the right words to speak with the way his eyes roamed about the room before setting on him.

“I see it was quite the blood bath.” The King chuckles as if the death of hundreds of people was daily humour to him and it makes Jimin feel queasy. “You’re looking bright which is excellent before you begin your next task.”

“When would that be?” It was too soon for his men to go out again. They had barely healed from the last mission. Hell, he had barely healed but he didn’t want his father to know that.

“Well son,” The King leaned back in his throne, placing the scroll he had been reading to the side for the house minister to collect, “You will embark at sundown tomorrow.”

When his father continued to stare at him with shrewd arrogance, Jimin knew the answer to his question before it even slipped past his tongue.

“Where… would that be?” A calculated smile and then an astute laugh.

“To Tampa of course. We have business there you failed to finish. Again.” The atmosphere had gone eerie in mere seconds as the King grimaced towards Jimin, unsatisfied.

“But my lord, we just attacked. I’ve barely had time to wash off the blood soaked in my coats.” Though Jimin’s reasoning fell on deaf ears as the King waived off his concerns.

“It will be better to attack while the enemy is still wounded. The element of surprise will be in our favour son.” Jimin was furious.

“And how do you expect me to use that element in my favour when half of my men are bed bound?”

“We will recruit more men if need be.” The king looked unbothered. Staring dismissively at Jimin who tried to keep his voice levelled and not explode with the anger bubbling inside. How could his father be so reckless and uncaring towards his own people?

“I will not have untrained soldiers sign a death contract. You underestimate the Tampans, father. They fight with a vigour that even I do not possess.”

“Then acquire it!” The king’s loud voice boomed across the walls, alerting the guards standing in his chambers to the king’s fury. “For your land. For your people! Remember son. No mercy…” He leaned close to Jimin, looking him in the eyes before whispering, “Only vengeance.”

Jimin swallowed his own vehemence. Your face flashing before his eyes suddenly, calming his nerves tenfold that even he himself was surprised.

“We will make an enemy out of them forever if we attack again, you are aware, right father?”

“We don’t need cooperation from those heathens; only obedience.” The king spoke of his former allies as if he had barely known them. When in reality, the Tampan tribe had been a valuable resource and a source of information to his father’s previous plans. And yet, with the craze of world dominance, the King was ready to sacrifice valuable bonds in exchange of absolute power. Wanting nothing but to play God.

Jimin says nothing. Face stoic and posture stony. “Do you understand me soldier?”

He just nods. “Good. You must maintain an air of absolute obedience with anyone. No exceptions. You are the future King, son. You must be cruel if it results in obedience.”

If Jimin remained in his father’s chambers any longer, he was afraid he would say something that could jeopardize his men or worse, you.

“And Jimin?” He stops right before he exits when his father calls him again.

“Yes, my lord?”

“The girl must remain pure. Do not forget. If the marriage is consummated, it will be difficult cutting ties with Munia when the time comes.”

Within seconds, Jimin has exited his father’s chambers after nodding before he stops in the hallway, away from anyone witnessing the heavy breaths leaving him. He had almost forgotten. In fact, he actually had forgotten about the sick and twisted plan his father had in mind before he agreed to marry Jimin with you. The relationship that had cultivated between him and you turned out to be something so bewildering, so precious that the reminder of the wicker scheme his father had come up with was making him physically sick to his stomach.

How could Jimin ever agree to it? How did he ever agree to such thing being done to an innocent human being, let alone someone he had come to care for so much that he knew, without question, that he would die for you. The overwhelming feeling he had developed to protect and cherish you was like cold water being poured all over him. The realisation that he loved you had him weak in the knees as he leaned back against the stone wall for support. Looking up at the sky as if it held all the answers.

He was in love with you. And in the end, he would have to leave you.

His father had specifically instructed him to not consummate his marriage with you because then, after acquiring all of your wealth and Kingdom, the royal law would allow Jimin to divorce a princess if she is pure and can be married to another royal. It was the sick reality. That you would be just handed off to the next Kingdom as an offering to another prince. As long as you were pure, his father’s plans would be in place and no royal laws will be broken. If Jimin did take your maidenhood, you would be his wife forever, his responsibility and the King would have no choice but to remain allies with Munia.

But he knew that if he did mark you as his forever, the King would not stop at anything until you were out of his life. There was no other way to conquer Munia other than war or via infiltration. Having Jimin be in holy matrimony with you was the perfect way to gain access to anything and everything in Munia.

And yet, he couldn’t find it in himself to try to do any of those things. He didn’t care for it anymore. Ever since you’d come in to his life, it seemed worth living again. He couldn’t pinpoint exactly when it happened but he would do anything to protect you. Even if it meant keeping you away from him. He couldn’t risk your life for his own selfish need to have you. You deserved better than a man like him. A man who was using you for your wealth and Kingdom. It didn’t matter how much he loved you; his father would never let you stay in his life

It had been roughly an hour that Jimin has been gone and with each passing minute, you’re getting more nervous. In the time you’ve been here, it wasn’t hard to notice Jimin’s swaying moods always came after being away on his father’s orders or whenever he came back from his chambers. And the way Jimin’s demeanour distorted, hearing the guard relay the message, you knew that all the progress you two had made so far in connecting with each other was at risk. It was becoming more apparent to you that opening himself up to someone was definitely not an option for Jimin before you or at least a while before you that his default reaction to you being concerned for his wellbeing was that it was a burden for you. When in reality, anyone and not just someone with a relationship such as a husband or wife, would comfort a person in distress like he was last night.

Though you were determined because even if you hadn’t clearly admitted to yourself that Jimin, as infuriating his fluctuating moods and sometimes unyielding rigid personality, meant something to you – you were not going to give up. Not that you had much of a choice anymore because you couldn’t just up and leave. You were bound to Jimin by every royal law out there and before, that seemed like the worst life sentence. But you were happy that you’d made a life for yourself with genuine friendships and your ever growing romance with Jimin. Never did you think that the mere thought of him would make you blush so much. And now you were. Blushing furiously while you brushed your hair as Haejin tidied up in the back.

“Are you feeling okay, Princess?”

“Huh? P-Pardon?” You could see Haejin looking slyly at you. As if she didn’t really care about the answer.

“You’re looking awfully rosy.” Her tone appears to be playful teasing first. Until she opens her mouth again when you duck your head in embarrassment. “The prince has that affect doesn’t he? I would know.”

“I beg your pardon?” The words slip out before you can control your reaction and you can feel your heart skip a beat. What does that mean?

“Don’t you worry your pretty little head, Princess.” It was as if this was a completely different Haejin that what you’d been witnessing before. Maybe on the first day you’d been here but never did you think that you’d be right about your suspicions. That she had some sort of relationship with your husband. And you were not exactly happy with her condescending tone right now. Haejin just smiles at you through the mirror as she finishes folding the feathery blankets before she tip-toes out the door, curtseying to you as she leaves.

What in the lord’s name was that supposed to mean? Did Jimin harbour some sort of feelings for her? Even if he did, it wouldn’t have been allowed in the first place due to her place as a palace worker. Though you were entirely speculating at this point, your silly heart was hurting already at even the thought of Jimin being involved with another woman. You wanted to be the only one and as silly as this sounded even in your head – you wanted Jimin to wholly belong to you. The more you got to know him, the harder it was becoming to be apart. And even though he was still on castle grounds, you felt like it had been a lifetime since you’d been able to smell is earthy scent.

The creaking open of the chamber doors is unnoticed by your ears as you stare off in to the distance, still absentmindedly brushing your hair. Jimin’s solemn reflection in the mirror however has you turning back fast. Something didn’t feel right.

“Are… are you alright?” He doesn’t look at you right away. His face was set in harsh lines, the way you have mostly seen him as of late.

You get up from your vanity chair, making your way to the window where he stood, looking out of the castle. Jimin stood quietly as if in deep thought, hands inside his trouser pockets. It may not have been the best time for your body to react the way it does, shuddering as you take in his attractive stance and the way the muscles in his back appeared prominent below his thin blouse. He was the epitome of beauty.

“I’m fine. I’m… fine.” The sigh doesn’t go unnoticed by you. The Prince sounds deeply troubled with whatever that is occupying his mind. You desperately hoped that your growing closeness would mean that your husband would open up to you a bit more freely. Yet, it seems that you will have to probe and prod at him to let you share his troubles and worries and maybe ease his pain.

Jimin doesn’t turn around to even spare you a glance. It’s almost as if he’s going out of his way to avoid looking your way and you don’t understand what happened in the small timeframe he was away from you. “Jimin, please talk to me. What’s the matter?”

Your hands go to take his wrist in to yours, still standing behind him as you look up at his stoic face. He doesn’t budge. And you try again. “Jimin? Are you due to leave again? Is that… Is that what’s troubling you?”

He just shakes his head but only to dismiss your questions – not as an answer to them. Why was he acting so distant again? Why does this feel like that despite the two steps forward, you’d taken several back?

Your body moves at its own accord as you take a step forward, slipping your hands up his chest trying your best to have him just look at you. “Can I help-”

“Enough! You can’t help me!” Jimin’s outburst is unexpected and his loud voice so close to you makes you flinch backwards like you’ve been burned. If he notices you flinch, he doesn’t comment. He’s looking at you like he’s helpless. Eyes blown wide while the clench in his jaw intensifies. You’d figured to some extent that Jimin was not in the carefree, lively mood he’d left the chambers in. Everything about him looked… hostile. It’s like someone had brought him back to default. Reverting him back in to the closed off, austere and indifferent man you’d become used to but had hoped could change.

You’re not sure what you looked like but the expression on your face must have brought Jimin back from the episode of rage he’d flown in. He’s reaching out to you – hands trying to grasp yours. You step back out of instinct, not wanting to upset him further and it breaks his heart to see you back away. “W-Why are you being like this?”

The tears pool in your eyes before you can stop them and Jimin’s attempts to touch you intensify, wanting to wipe away the hurt from your face. “I’m so sorry, love. I’m…. sorry.”

Jimin’s head hangs low, hands resigning by his side while he lets the tears escape. What had happened for him to be so fraught? All the times in the past, you’d always been able to tell yourself that you could do something about the many mishaps that occurred between the two of you. This time, however, it seemed different. You felt a thousand miles away from your husband and to see him so troubled made you feel helpless.

“Y/n...,” Jimin is moving forwards with a new fire in his eyes, desperation lacing his every movement as his callous hands cup your face.

“Listen to me. There are forces, in this castle that want to take you away from me. And I... I knew that when the time came, I would have to give you up. But... But that was before I- I felt this way. I can’t let you be taken away from me. I will not give you up.”

“What do you mean? Jimin, please. T-Tell me.”

Now it’s you who is desperately trying to look him in the eyes, hands coming up to hold him by his elbows. Trying to gauge some sort of explanation for his odd confession. Who was going to take your away from him? How did he know this already but had not thought to tell you anything before? Did he always know you would be discarded?

“Jimin... please. What is happening?”

“I’m so sorry. I... I will do whatever it takes to keep you by my side. I won’t let anyone hurt you.”

“Jimin!” You’re hysterical just as much as him. Trying to shake him from his delirium. And for once he stops, watching you pull away to gather your thoughts. “What are you not telling me?”

The eerie silence that follows is enough to tell you that this wasn’t an ordinary secret. Did you really want to find out? Maybe living in ignorance will be better than knowing the wholehearted truth but it was too late. You harboured too many feelings for the man across from you to let this go. You needed to know what he was implying.

“Before... Before you were betrothed to me, The King had made a plan. A plan to use your father’s royal relations in exchange for the manpower we would provide. As a token of good faith and to make sure that the two kingdoms will be united after decades of war, your father had suggested that I will take you as my bride. In order to test my father’s truthfulness and to strengthen the alliance. But the king... my father. He’s a cruel man Y/n. He always gets his way. He always sets his own rules and most of all - his pride is what matters to him most.”

Each word escaping Jimin’s mouth makes your stomach churn further and further. Your father had offered you up as a peace offering like you were a lamb to slaughter. You had made yourself believe that he needed to protect his people and that you understood. But it didn’t ease the pain. Especially after hearing it from your husband’s mouth. Because you had a feeling something more grim was coming.

“Go on.” You’re holding on the bedpost, standing much farther than before and now the distance you had felt before had become physical.

Jimin is silent for a few more seconds before he speaks again. Shame and regret lacing his every word making you feel sick.

“My father had decided to agree with yours. To continue with the alliance. In front of your father anyway. He played the part of a dutiful and loyal king, bettering the circumstances during his reign by bringing you here. But... that’s not the case. He told me to not... not take your maidenhood. To keep my distance from you until he had what he needed. And then, he was going to send you back.”

“You see, he finds a way. He always finds a way to make everything dance to his beat. And the law dictates that if a royal bride is virginal, if the marriage hasn’t been consummated... it is not real.”

“No church will be able to stand against my father and declare him a sinner if I... If I had kept my distance. I- My love for you is real, my love. Please.”

The wetness on your cheeks is registered only when Jimin has stopped speaking. You were crying silently, without even knowing that teardrops were falling steadily from your face. The realisation that this whole marriage was a sham, that it was a carefully orchestrated affair was shattering you into tiny little pieces.

“You agreed to it.” it may have been a whisper but Jimin’s pained eyes heard you fine and clear.

He was rooted in place, watching you crumble against the bed, seconds away from madness.

“That was before. Please, Y/n.”

“Yet you continued toying with my heart.” your whole world was crashing down.

Nothing could have prepared for your husband’s complicit partaking in such an ugly scheme. How could a human being do this to another? Were you in love with a man who had no regard for another’s life? Was he really a changed man or this was his way of covering up his slip up from before? Why did you feel so uncertain about everything? So, so lost and betrayed and hurt and anguish.

“Please, Y/n. I love you. I loved you the day I met you I just took too long to realise it. I-I won’t let anything happen.”

“Do you? How am I to believe that? I was merely a temporary whore to warm your bed. Was I not?”

“Don’t say that. Please.” Jimin is kneeling in front of you, trying to hold you. Show you that he’s telling the truth and you so desperately want to believe him.

But you weren’t naive. He was loyal to his kingdom. Just like your father was. Just like his father was.

“You can’t keep me. You... you won’t keep me. You don’t have the power to.” Bringing your hand unto his face, you stroke across the chiselled bones, watching his pretty, puffy eyes looking at you with just longing.

“I don’t have power over myself. I’m merely, a body to be shuffled as the people in my life please, aren’t I? I have no autonomy. I’m no one.”

The words tumbled out of you without any hesitation. At this point, you were speaking to yourself more than Jimin. Because it was true. Just like your father, Jimin was loyal to the crown. And when the time came, you knew he would obey his father. And you will have to leave. You’ll go back to the place that had essentially exiled you. You belonged nowhere.

“Please, darling. Don’t say that. You’re the besting to have ever happened to me. I will keep you safe.”

“How? You don’t love me! You think you do. To ease your guilt. You don’t... love me.”

“I do and I will prove it to you.” For once, it was not you trying to gain Jimin’s favour.

After months and months of trying to build something between the two of you, you realised that it was futile. You’d been making yourself into a fool all the while he had known that this could go nowhere. Yet, to keep you from suspecting, he’d gone along the few times he had been present with you.

“Just... Just leave me be. Please, my lord. Just grant me some solitude.”

Jimin’s eyes are as vacant as your heart and you know that your refusal to say his name was your small step of retaliation. Nonetheless, he listens. Dropping a kiss to your forehead, he backs away. Watching you huddle within yourself - melancholy taking over the air.

“I won’t give up, Y/n.”

Oh how you wished that would’ve held true.

a/n: it won't hurt this much next chapter i promise.

#bts smut #jimin fanfiction #jimin angst #jimin fluff #prince!jimin #induratize #i hope you like it

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carewyncromwell · 3 years

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5, 13, and 20 for the potter asks?

Pro or anti Marauders?

Pro overall, but let’s break this down by characters --

Remus Lupin is my favorite male character in the entire book series. He not only reminded me of my best teachers growing up, but I felt so, so much for him as a character too. I always felt kind of marginalized and different from my peers growing up, so it’s kind of unsurprising that I’ve had a soft spot for “outcast” characters since I was very little, and Remus is no exception. I completely understood why his friends meant so much to him and therefore felt SO much for him that, in the end, he had to lose all three of them and end up alone. Even his flaws, showcased best in the Snape’s Worst Memory chapter of OOTP and especially in Deathly Hallows, only serve to make him more real and human -- it broke my heart when he considered leaving Tonks and Teddy to help the Trio with their Horcrux hunt, but Remus wanting to “bury himself in his work” (which, honestly, this was -- he was a member of the Order, after all!) rather than face his worst fear of possibly dooming another person (namely, his son) to live a life like his made perfect sense with the characterization established, however horrible and wrong of a choice it was. It made me side with Harry so much in scolding Remus, yet I also felt compassion for the feelings behind Remus’s initial impulse. And of course, I was so proud of him when he overcame that fear and stood by Tonks and got to know his son before he died. I’m still not over the fact that my bb Remus had to die, AUUUUUGH, he and Sirius and Harry should’ve lived together as one happy makeshift family togetherrrrr. DX

Peter Pettigrew...that bloody rat. >> I’m sure just about everyone feels a lot of justified resentment toward Peter for what he did to the Potters, and I definitely agree with that sentiment...but at the same time, there’s still a part of me that finds him very interesting. Mainly because...I’d love to see him at his best, now that we’ve seen him at his worst! He was a Marauder, same as Sirius, Remus, and James, and we should never forget that -- he might have been a bit of a tag-along, but none of the other three, Lily, or anyone else thought that Peter would ever have been the type to turn on his friends. McGonagall disparaged Peter for his magical talent, but she openly grieved for him when she thought Sirius had killed him. Everyone was ready to believe Sirius -- who clearly adored James -- could be the traitor, before suspecting Peter. Sirius even suspected Remus before Peter...and this is when their connection in the books is so strong that HP fans have shipped Wolfstar since POA was first published back in 1999! Even when you read the books, you can see flickers of remorse in Peter at points, if you’re reading carefully. In Goblet of Fire, Peter seems noticeably uncomfortable around the rest of Voldemort’s supporters -- his efforts to bring Voldemort back to his body really seem to be out of obligation rather than any kind of enthusiasm. And of course, as we see in Deathly Hallows, Peter even as a Death Eater still retains enough honor to hesitate when Harry reminds him that he owes him his life. Gryffindor house does preach chivalry as well as courage, and in a twisted way, one could read Peter’s “loyalty” to Voldemort not just being about desperation as his friends now want nothing to do with him, but also because Peter’s standing by the choice he made...not unlike how Percy stood by the Ministry as long as he did, rather than by his family. This doesn’t justify what Peter did at all -- he is a despicable coward who destroyed so many lives and is responsible for bringing back the Dark Wizard whose return resulted in even more deaths -- but it does give his characterization as a villain interesting nuance. There’s a well-established internal logic to how Peter behaves, one I would frankly LOVE to see more of in a future Marauders-centric property.

Sirius is arguably the most polarizing of the Marauders, but honestly? I love him to pieces. He is a very, VERY flawed character -- he’s got a real mean streak, a hot temper, and more aggression than the average person. Him encouraging Snape to “go after Remus” was an indisputably terrible, stupid, callous thing to do, not just because of the endangerment to Snape’s life, but the flagrant betrayal of Remus’s friendship. The way Sirius treated Kreacher was completely uncalled for, regardless of how much the elf reminded him of his terrible home life. Sirius also can be really immature and can get really surly and passive-aggressive when he’s upset. But despite all of this, I love Sirius anyway. In a lot of ways, Sirius reminds me of my father, who I also love a lot despite his many flaws. Sirius lacks empathy for those different from him, but he’s also the only member of his immediate family who rejected the idea of pureblood superiority and fought in the Order of the Phoenix against Voldemort. Sirius was a bully and even as an adult could be incredibly petty and mean-spirited, but he also was the first person in Harry’s life who really felt like family to him -- who he could write to for help when he was sad, afraid, or insecure. Sirius was a hot-tempered, rash person who rarely thought through the consequences of his actions, but he also would’ve done absolutely anything to protect the people he loved. He without question loved James, Lily, and Harry more than his own life. Despite being raised in a cold, hate-filled, prejudiced, unaffectionate, abusive home, Sirius understood unconditional love, and he understood his godson in a way no one else could, not just because he was such close friends with the parents he’d lost at such a young age, but because he’d lived Harry’s experience as a neglected, unloved child himself.

And now we come to the often maligned James Potter. Honestly, this guy gets such a bad rap in the fandom, almost exclusively based on Snape’s memories, and I don’t think it’s really fair. Snape is really the only person who has a sour image of James, and even if we disregard the testimonials of fellow Marauders like Sirius and Remus, people like McGonagall, Dumbledore, Mad-Eye Moody, and even Cornelius Fudge had nothing but nice things to say about James, and those people don’t have reason to speak well of James at Snape’s expense. And of course, even Snape’s perceptions are bound to have their own slant to them. Pensieve memories are just that: memories. A Pensieve is not a pocket dimension that perfectly recreates the past, hence why Slughorn was able to badly modify his memory, Hokey the house elf’s memories were tampered with by Riddle, and even in Snape’s own memory, we follow Snape throughout the memory and we’re only able to hear what the Marauders are saying because he was close by. And if we judge James solely based on his no-doubt worst moment in Snape’s Worst Memory, we’re bound to get an incomplete picture -- just as we did for Hagrid, after seeing Tom Riddle’s memory of him confronting Hagrid for supposedly opening the Chamber of Secrets. Would we judge Harry solely for Malfoy’s recollection of the Sectumsempra incident, or Hermione solely for Marietta’s recollection of the time Hermione hexed her face to read “SNEAK” across it? Of course not. James was a bully and what he did in Snape’s Worst Memory was no doubt horrible -- but this is also a young man who without hesitation gave Sirius a home after he ran away from his terrible family, who supported Remus financially when he couldn’t find work, and who selflessly put himself between Voldemort and his family just to give them a chance to escape, even though he didn’t even have his wand on him. I would frankly love to learn more about James and see more of the arc he must’ve gone through as a character for someone like Lily to have fallen in love with him and for people like Remus and Sirius to feel such strong platonic love for him themselves, if a Marauders-centric property was ever created.

Who was the bravest character in Harry Potter and why?

Oh gosh...hm...that is a real challenge. There are a lot of very brave characters! Harry, Ron, Hermione, Remus, Sirius, McGonagall, Hagrid, Dobby, Cedric...but I think I’m going to nominate Neville. While Hogwarts was taken over by Snape and the Carrows and the students were no doubt being brainwashed a la the Hitler Youth to regurgitate blood-purist talking points rather than learning anything that could defend themselves against the Dark Arts or that was even remotely true about Muggles, Neville decided to face that undeniable hopelessness -- worsened all the more by the students’ lack of independence and freedom while being housed in the castle’s walls without their families and the threat of losing both their families and all hope for a future constantly dangled over their heads -- head-on and reform Dumbledore’s Army with Ginny and Luna to stand against it. Then, even as his group’s members got picked off one by one and were forced to hide in the Room of Requirement, he stuck to his guns and kept resisting because he knew -- as a Pureblood -- he was in a position he could use to fight for others and wasn’t afraid to stand up for those who couldn’t stand up for themselves and others. It was only when his grandmother was forced to flee and the Carrows realized that Neville was too much of a threat to keep in check that he went into hiding himself. Then, when everyone thought Harry was dead and many others would’ve despaired, Neville fearlessly and fiercely stuck both by Harry, his parents’ memory, and his own convictions and refused Voldemort’s offer to join him, even keeping his head enough after getting burned by the flaming Sorting Hat to fulfill his promise to Harry and kill Nagini. And this was the kid who people said shouldn’t have been Sorted into Gryffindor at all, in his first year! What a beautiful transformation.

Favourite Death Eater?

*cringes* Mmm...well, character-wise, I’d say I’ve always found Lucius a very compelling character, in the books. The Malfoy family in general struck me as interesting anti-villains, since they are indisputably unpleasant, prejudiced, awful people, but their one silver lining to me is how deeply and sincerely they love each other. That aspect is really lost in movie!Lucius, since the films try to portray him much more two-dimensionally bad and that interpretation has since colored the fandom’s view of Lucius as an abusive father when there is NO textual evidence of that in the books. And I kind of find it a shame, because as much as I adore Jason Isaacs in his role, it did serve to make Lucius a bit less complex and interesting in the films than he was in the books. Admittedly as well I have a bit more of a soft spot for Lucius after taking on the challenge of writing the guy and his family a redemption arc in my way-too-long AU fic Harry Potter and the Lack of Lamb Sauce. XD

HP Ask!

#hp ask #opinion #ooc #lucius malfoy #sirius black #remus lupin #james potter #peter pettigrew #neville longbottom

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the-wiresmarvelau · 3 years

Text

T.H.E. W.I.R.E.S.

Peter and his Friends are allowed to design the compound and couldn’t help but riddle it with secret tunels and hallways. While Peter installs said hallways he makes some new acquaintences who he has to help and gets help from.

Chapter 1, Chapter 3

Chapter 2: Dramatic enterance No. 1

The prisoner took a deep breath, closed his eyes and concentrated.

Concentrated on his knees and legs; tucked away underneath the weight of his torso.

Concentrated on his shoulders; tense and raised up to his ears.

Concentrated on his forehead and nose; laying on the insufferably warm stone floor.

Concentrated on the pain, pulsating in his black left eye and on the ripping, burning agony emanating from his lips, tong and cheeks; sewn together with silver wires and chains; embroidered to look like a wide, cruel silver grin.

"A silver chain to bind a silver tong" Odin had said while watching as the young, terrified guard pulled the wires through Loki’s parted lips.

The young man had shaken all over and rambled on about how stupid it was of him to mention to his peers that he liked to sew, then he wouldn't be punished for ‘enjoying a girl's job’.

All the while the prisoner beneath him glared at the allfather, determined not to cry out in pain and to stay in the present…

Because otherwise his head would bring him back in time to a scene oh so similar to this one.

Only that he hadn't been bound by chains then but by a dwarf, standing on his calf’s and hands, pushing down his shoulders.

The hands sewing his mouth shut hadn't shaken then.

He hammered his head against the floor, with a frustrated grunt.

These memories kept distracting him from the only chance, of preventing to collect more of them.

Loki wanted to scream in frustration but knew it would do more harm than good.

So, he took a couple deep breaths to calm down and began to concentrate again.

He concentrated on the hot stone against his shins and the top of his feet; And on the bruises all over his legs and sides, most of them either strained or compressed by his folded position on the floor.

Concentrated on the heat in the cuts and abrasions on his back. Loki still hadn't figured out when exactly he would be beaten; the periods of peace between the beatings where too irregular to follow a pattern.

Concentrated on his throat and the feeling of dry air grating through it with every breath he took; like sandpaper over chalk.

He concentrated on every fibre of his being looking for the small, tiny bits of magic he held; gathered it in a bundle just below his sternum and - when he felt like he had mustered up almost everything he had left - he began to channel it in a shallow rivulet and pushed it.

Pushed it up his chest, down his right arm into his wrist and from there: past the handcuffs that had until a few days ago, not only suppressed all of his ability to rebuild his own magic, but also kept him separated from his power’s origin and made him numb, blind even, to the magical streams, he knew were all around him.

But the guards had been sloppy.

One of the whip strokes had caught on his handcuffs and carved a small notch in the metal of his restraints. Just big enough to allow his magic to regenerate the tiniest fraction of his original power.

Not powerful enough to heal the numerus wounds Odin’s... "audiences" left behind. But sufficient, to ... say.. Send an illusion to his mother dearest.

Adopted or not, he loved her more than anything and he needed her to know what her husband was really doing to him over the past few years in the dungeons.

She was still under the impression that his punishment was simply isolation and had even send him a few books, which Odin had ripped apart and burned before his very eyes.

But before he could visit Frigga, he needed a plan.

During the time he had magic available again, he had tried to find out more about the Avengers, he had encountered back then on Midgard.

It would be the last place the other Gods would look, as his crimes there were the newest. But that didn’t mean hiding anywhere else was easier.

Additionally: Midgardians were far stricter regarding what did and did not count as a crime; while that might not sound advantageous to his cause, regarding that he had killed several dozen Midgardians. But by treating their prisoner much worse than was agreed upon, his captors violated those morals too. Thus, justifying a relocation.

Since the Avengers called themselves heroes, they probably had the moral compass to see it that way.

But for some reason, they seemed to have splintered and were preoccupied with what seemed to be the aftermath of whatever had divided them.

While he searched for others who might be able to help, the ravenette stumbled over a promising individual.

"Spider-Man" he called himself.

From what he'd gathered, the spider themed hero wasn't an Avenger but he had a close bond to Stark.

Otherwise, Ironman wouldn't've shown up, mere minutes after the aforementioned spider had been stabbed in the side, to bring him to the tower personally.

He also didn't kill any of the criminals he encountered and seemed repelled by it; rather trying to talk them into seeing their wrongdoings and changing their ways.

Additionally, he probably didn’t have a personal reason to dislike Loki; While the Avengers might still hold a grudge against him because of what happened with the Chitauri and the thing on the hellicarrier.

All in all, the spider seemed to be his best chance.

His only chance.

Keeping that in mind Loki focused on creating an illusion of himself on a, more or less random, roof within the young hero’s territory.

Since he wanted to be recognised, he gave the illusion the armour he had worn during the battle of New York, minus all the golden parts.

That way the boy could recognise him from pictures more easily, but he didn't look like he was going in for a fight.

He didn't bother to conceal the glowing that would give away the illusion’s nature. It was best to play his cards open, if he wanted to be trusted.

But he masked his black eye and other injuries.

His goal wasn't pity and his pride kept him from showing such vulnerability to a stranger.

The Jotun was aware though, that he might be forced to reveal his physical state; either as prof for the mistreatment or because changing his appearance drained a bit more magic than simply projecting himself.

And just like that, he waited.

It didn’t take long until he could see the kid swinging around. Loki tried not to turn around as the hero swung by.

Had he seriously not noticed him?

Normally the boy seemed to be automatically drawn to anything odd happening in his vicinity; did an illusion not register?

Giving in to his desire to look around just the tiniest bit, he turned his head a little to the side.

Relief flushed over him as he saw a red silhouette on a nearby roof in his periphery vision.

Spiderman looked at him. That meant that he had noticed the god.

Now he had to hope that their conversation would go well.

“KAREN..? activate ’don’t tell mom Protocol’ please”

‘Are you sure Peter? Whoever that is could mean you harm’ KAREN objected.

The worry in her voice sounded so real that the boy had to remind himself that she wasn’t, in fact, human.

“I’m sure,” he replied; sounding anything but. “If they wanted to hurt me my Spidey-sense would warn me about it”

‘Alright. Just remember that I am calling Mr. Stark the moment they touch you’

Peter couldn’t help but smile a little at how protective she sounded.

He began running over the roofs in the direction of the green shining figure.

They didn’t turn around when the hero arrived on their roof; They just lowered their head and brought their hands to the back, the palms turned up to be visible.

Even though the teenager wasn’t familiar with such behavioural customs, he understood that it was meant to show that they didn’t want to seem threatening and wouldn’t be the one to initiate this conversation.

“Excuse me?..” the younger one started, cringing at how childish he sounded.” Do I know you?”

Great. If he was wrong and this was a stranger, he had just made himself sound like a creep. And even if this was Loki, he couldn’t say that he knew him.

“You might have heard of me” The ravenette answered.

Slowly he dared to turn around; still carefully telegraphing his every move but conscious to make his movement seem graceful and smooth.

“Yeah, one could say that. You’re Mr. Loki, right? Thor’s brother?”

The addressee gave a single nod, taking the chance to bring up his head a bit.

He didn’t like to be personified over his adoptive brother, but rather Thor being the first association than the destruction he had caused while under the influence of Thanos.

“I thought you were grounded, for like.. forever?” the boy asked curiously; tilting his head to the side.

“How fortunate, then that this is only an illusion” Loki replied. He had seen the other one sassing pretty much everyone he had come across and hoped that mirroring that would make him more likable.

Otherwise, he would be screwed, because that was how he was used to speak and to change the way you speak long-term is tiresome.

But there seemed to be no need to.

“That explains so much. But what about the distance! Isn’t Asgard really far away? Or does that not affect illusions? ... Doesn’t matter right now! What is your illusion here for? I assume it`s not just to enjoy the view.”

The Jotun almost bit his lip, before registering that that was not a good idea in his current state.

“I’m here to ask a favour. -Or rather for help.” In that moment he regretted that he hadn’t led into this talk with a prepared speech. Asking for help was difficult.

“For you as in your people? Or you as an individual?” The Spider powered teenager asked, cautiously.

‘And I messed up.’ The Jotun thought ‘Of course he wouldn’t want to help me’

But the Midgardian continued before Loki could answer.

“I’m just asking, cause if it’s something all of you can’t handle, I wouldn’t know what I could do about it. Mr Stark would be a much greater help with that kinda thing.” He was about to continue on but shut himself up.

His teachers hated it when he just rambled on, and the face before him showed too little emotion to figure out if that was the case here, too. Better safe than sorry.

That was not what the trickster had expected.

“It’s not that kind of problem. And I doubt the Ironman would even be willing to hear me out, no matter what I’d have to say.” It was worded as a statement but the prisoner’s raised eyebrow seemed to ask for conformation.

“Yeaah.. You might be right on this one. He tends to hold on to grudges. But we’re working on it! He-..Anyways what can I help you with?” The young heroes body language changed like a boomerang from shy and embarrassed to excitedly proud and back to shy again.

If his conversational partner hadn’t been so utterly exhausted, he would have noticed how often he had cut himself of in this little time alone.

“Right. You see, the whole being .. ‘grounded’ as you described, it.. isn’t actually this. Harmless.”

The shorter tilted his head to the side and the lenses in his mask did a creepily good job at conveying a mix of scepticism and confusion.

“I know this sound unwarranted considering what happened. A-nd I wouldn’t be here if it was only the lifetime in prison that was agreed upon b-but.. It isn’t”

his voice broke and the image flickered, revealing the true appearance of the magician projecting it.

Curled on the ground with dried blood and open wounds covering almost every inch of his back and shoulders.

He had lost concentration a bit as memories and sensations washed over him for a second. Threatening to take over his thinking but he managed to push back.

This was his only chance.

He couldn’t mess up now. Now that somebody seemed to listen.. to care.

When he had gathered himself and looked up, He saw the eyes of the mask before him, wide with shock, and the body beneath it stiff.

Frozen in time.

The prisoner tried to make his image smile.

But it was drenched in dread and sadness. And his body froze; resembling the boy in front of his eyes.

Slowly, the stiffness in Peters body seemed to melt.

A finger twitched.

His arm began to inch upwards, while his shoulders began to sag.

The second arm wrapped itself around his waist, plucking at his suit subconsciously.

And, in a move that surprised even himself, the brunette pulled down his mask. Clutching it in his fist as if his life depended on it.

Peter didn’t care about KAREN`s protests right now.

He needed the god to understand, to know. That he believed him.

The Spidey-sense still hadn’t made an appearance, even though it normally alerted him to anything directly threatening him including his secret identity. *

Like pulling his mask of while people who might tell on him could see.

But he was either too absorb in what was happening or Loki just.. didn’t pose a threat whatsoever.

The god of mischief before him couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

How could a genuine superhero, for which paranoia and distrust seemed to come with the profession, trust him enough to reveal his otherwise hidden identity.

Just like that.

One of his titles literally was god of lies.

“I need somewhere to stay.” He whispered after a few beats of silence “somewhere I can rest.. And serve the rest of my sentence. Without – Odin, finding me.”. He didn’t bother to move his image’s lips.

The spider teen still needed to wrap his head everything while also trying to find a solution for this situation.

“Riiight... Uhm-..there’s uhh. Maybeishould.. no - he wouldn’t” It really didn’t help that to his already frantic thoughts, his super sense started to act up now; Telling him to PUT ON THAT MASK and TURN RIGHT.

He let out an irritated huff before following his instincts.

“Okay. I-I’ll figure that out. D-“

‘If I could remind you who you’re talking to. It may be in your best interest to hand over those matters to SHIELD or Mr. Stark.” KAREN chimed in.

“Not right now KAREN, I’ve got this. Mr. Loki, do you know how to get here? Because I have no idea how to get to Asgard let alone free you. Finding a hideout should be easier.”

His answer was a nod and after a beat of silence: “I should be able to contact . my mother in a few days. If I am correct she does not know of my treatment and will bring me here.”

Loki had carefully observed the Midgardian’s behaviour. Something to his right must have distracted him, for he turned his head that way before putting on his mask again. But there hadn’t been any movement nor was there anything attention-grabbing; just the roof and more buildings.

And then he started talking while scanning the street to their left with his eyes, only to stop in the middle of a word for several seconds and dismiss something his illusion’s ears couldn’t perceive.

For anybody else that would be a clear sign of hallucination, or worse; But he knew that this mortal before him had his own set of special skills and since Stark always seemed to talk to a somebody in his suit it wouldn’t be impossible that Spiderman’s suit was sentient too.

It wouldn’t be too farfetched to say the boy had his reasons.

“And what if she won’t?” the teen’s voice was small and just this side of trembling.

A few seconds went by in which the older of the two just stared at the younger in front of him.

His vision was unable to focus on the figure; But his mind...

His mind couldn’t seem to hang on to anything but the small frame in front of him.

On the hunch in the narrow shoulders; the tilt of his head, down and a bit to the side. On those slim hands and fingers who couldn’t seem to stop plucking on the black web covering the suit. On the fear in his voice and the knowledge that not once over the course of this talk did either of them lie. And not once did the hero lose a single bad word about him.

It took him a few second to gather his bearings.

By the time he was able to concentrate again, he had sat up, kneeling on the ground.

The body in front of him mirrored his position. Heavily suggesting that his illusion had yet again slipped to resemble reality.

He didn’t bother altering his appearance again. Instead, he tried to listen.

What first sounded like a murmured stream of incoherent rambling soon cleared up to be cautious, soft-spoken reassurances.

Things like ‘it’s gonna be okay’ ‘I’ll get you out of there’ and a lot of ‘safety awaits’.

Again.

Not once did he lie. Not once did he use present tense and not a single sentence invalidated the hurt he felt in that moment; like all the typical, sweet nothings people normally said would have done.

It broke the ice giant’s heart. To realise that this young, naïve mortal knew enough about pain and panic-attacks to be aware of such details.

“It’s alright. I’ve got it together again” He said and briefly masked his illusions mouth with a smile.

He got a nod in return.

“Does she need my name to find me? Or should I set up some sort of signal?” the boy asked. Trying to get the conversation on a more positive note again.

After all.

The God’s appearance had pretty much answered his question.

“I doubt she will miss someone running around in bright red spandex. I didn’t see that many people doing it.” He joked.

The teen knew this reaction all too well. Humour to distract from whatever it is you don’t wanna think about.

He would let it slide this once.

“But I’m not in my suit all the time!! What if something happens and she has to find me during the day?! Or I’m not allowed to go out that night?”

‘Right.’ The Jotun thought. ‘Midgardians keep their young under close surveillance much longer than we do.’

“I could show her an image of you.” He answered. “She will inform you of when and where she can hand me over.”

While saying that he had closed his eyes. Exhaustion clear on his face.

“Yeah! Sure. Gather your strength. I will prepare something for you.”

“I can’t thank you enough” were the last word he heard from the god, before the apparition disappeared, letting Peter alone on the roof.

Alone with his thoughts.

Down the street to his left stood a woman in a window, holding a camera.

She hadn’t managed to get a shot of the vigilante’s face. Or see it for that matter.

But she knew he had taken his mask of. Revealing his face to a green shining figure, strangely resembling the Norse god of mischief.

‘well done Jones.’ She thought ‘this might just become useful in the future.’

*I took this from the comics. In those Peters spider sense alerts him to anything threatening his interests, even bluffs while playing poker or reporters and cameras during identity compromising situations.

Chapter 1 Chapter 3

#peter parker #loki #loki marvel #tw mention of violence #tw mention of torture #chapter 2 #chapters #mcu #fanfic

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magaprima · 4 years

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Part 2 Episode 6 Analysis (4/4) i.e the horrendous final Lilith scene of the episode that causes me so much pain it’s took me ages to get around to writing about it

The scene literally starts with her vomiting, and we get the vibe that she has been vomiting for a while and this is coming to the end of it. There’s no score initially, meaning all we hear is her retching, and the lack of score just makes the scene feel as raw as Lilith’s emotions, and it’s only when she starts expressing her feelings aloud for us that the music properly cuts in.

But the fact is we have seen Lilith ‘feast on male flesh’ twice in the series already and we’ve also see her proclaim it proudly and use it as a threat (towards Blackwood). This is not something Lilith dislikes doing, and the fact she does it infrequently and refers to it as ‘feasting’ suggests she views a male flesh buffet as being a treat, it’s something she indulges in, it’s not her regular run-of-the-mill meal. And, though I hate to say it, before she knew the steak was made of Adam, she stated how delicious it was, enough for her to think Adam was an very talented chef for serving that meal. She liked the taste, Lilith truly enjoys this particular feast. The fact that she is now vomiting it all back up, that the thing she openly admitted tasted delicious is now so vile to her she is bringing it all back up, really tells you all you need to know not just about how intensely she felt about Adam, but also about how horrific this punishment was for her. The Dark Lord hasn’t just made her suffer, he hasn’t just upset, he hasn’t just broken her heart, he has made her physically sick. And that is something visceral, guttural and primal in it’s emotion.

It’s just so heartbreaking to watch that moment, the way she throws up, and when she’s done, collapsing into her own hand. She looks absolutely brokenhearted and in that moment where she’s leaning on the toilet, crying while she covers her eyes with her hand, she looks so small, so hurt, so fragile and so utterly human. She looks so human in that moment. She could easily be the real Mary Wardwell right there if you’d just tuned in. She felt a positive human emotion in her relationship with Adam and now she is feeling a negative human emotion in her loss of him; she is feeling pure, unadulterated grief, and you can just see it’s that kind of grief where you keep going over in your head what you could have done differently to avoid it. This was not a natural death, obviously, and we also know Lilith haa the power to bring back the dead (as she did Mary), the fact she can’t with Adam suggests the Dark Lord’s killing of him, taking of his soul, perhaps, has put him far beyond her reach, meaning it’s a complete death for her. This is not a death that can be undone or fixed, it’s not even a death where she can see the soul herself, it is a permanent, complete death, done with, and it’s that that she’s grieving for as well, I think; the absoluteness of it.

She is genuinely crying here. It’s like a human cry. And I say that specifically, because up till now, we’ve mostly only ever seen Lilith behave outside of the normal human realm of emotion. She reacts differently to things (like how she’s bewildered by Adam’s kindness or how she showed no sympathy for Daniel Webster’s grief; it’s all typically different to how humans react to certain things) but here she is reacting just as any human would. She is crying, she is grieving, she is in physical pain from that grief at a loss of someone she loved; there is nothing more human than that. I mean, you would never see Lucifer have this emotion, or the Plague Kings, or even Caliban etc. But you could see Zelda reacting this way, Hilda, Sabrina etc, because they’re human (well witch-human, which is slightly different if the 13 month of pregnancy is any indication. But the point still stands).

“I don’t understand...I don’t understand...” When she’s muttering this and trying to find a reason why Adam died, that desperation to find logic and reason in a tragedy is also so tremendously human. I think, honestly, this i why this scene hurts so much; it’s not just the loss and suffering and grief, it’s the fact we’re seeing Lilith be entirely without defence, we’re seeing the human part of her entirely, without cover.

“How did the Dark Lord discover us?”

Discover us. She is referred to her and Adam as an us. There’s something so tragically romantic and affectionate in that. It’s not ‘how did he discover my mortal play thing?’ it’s not ‘how did he discover adam?’ it’s not even ‘how did he discover i didn’t kill him?’, it’s ‘how did he discover us?’. She is identifying her and Adam as unit, an official couple. It wasn’t Adam that was discovered, it was the both of them. They were happy, they were leaving for Tibet and they were discovered. Even though he’s dead, she’s still speaking about him through couple-language and that’s just heartbreaking. Added to the way she holds the ring and repeats that it should have hidden him....she calls herself a grieving widow in the next episode, and you can’t deny this is exactly how she sounds in this moment. The fact she’s wearing black like a funeral outfit only adds to the effect.

The only moment her sadness disappears from her expression is when she realises what happened and she looks at Stolas. And you can see how it doesn’t take her long to get to that conclusion and you know how certain she is that she’s right, and it’s the kind of certainty that comes from knowing betrayal. Lilith has known disloyalty and betrayal so much that she knows she’s right when she looks to her familiar as the culprit.

And it’s while she’s confronting Stolas that we cut to a bird’s eye view shot (interesting pun of a choice, perhaps) and we see how Lilith is sat. She is just on the floor, in the corner, with her legs just out. There’s none of her usual grace, elegance, sensuality, sexuality, none of it. We’ve only ever seen Lilith sit the same way she stands and walks; with purpose, everything in place, utter sensual perfection, always on, never wavering....but here there’s none of that, all of that glamorous air she maintains is gone. She is utterly vulnerable and broken on the floor, with no care for how she looks. Again, it emphasises that look of humanity in her.

“You’ve been reporting back to the Dark Lord ever since he brought you back to life, haven’t you?”

This is a really horrible thing for Lilith to realise. Her familiar, the one she has called her trusted companion, who has been with her since the very beginning and (according to the passion play) even before she met the Dark Lord himself, has chosen the Dark Lord over her. He decided loyalty to him was more important than Lilith’s happiness. It’s the ultimate betrayal; she knows Lucifer pulls some serious shit, but Stolas is meant to be someone she can rely on, someone who is loyal to her no matter what (familiars are bound to their witches, after all) and yet he is the one who brought about this utter heartbreak. And, by the way he stands on the ledge and replies to her, we presume he feels justified in his actions, that he wasn’t forthcoming with any apology. She has discovered that not only does the Dark Lord not care what she wants and decides things for her, but so does her familiar. Even her own familiar doesn’t honour her or her wishes. This is her oldest friend, they’ve been through highs and lows together, they’ve presumably fallen out and made up (I sometimes wonder if killing him has been as much a pattern as Zelda killing Hilda was) and yet when the cards were down, he chose her abuser over her, and prompted the killing of the person she loved....and then doesn’t even have remorse over it.

It’s another loss and I think that shows when she screams and causes him to burn to ash (which, side not, is an extreme display of power. So much so that in the Part 2 trailer, they edited that moment to mislead us into thinking Sabrina made it happen as they say ‘she keeps getting stronger’ so even the writers and editors know that that is as bad ass as it’s gotten so far in the show. That moment does remind us just how freaking awesomely powerful Lilith is) and she cries again. No, actually, it’s more a wail. Because in that moment of destroying Stolas permanently, with no chance of resurrection, it’s confirmation that she has lost both Adam and Stolas in one foul swoop. It’s two deaths (though Stolas’ is more death by betrayal than by his literal death). She thought she was surrounded by people who cared about her, she probably felt her life was very full and supportive, and now suddenly there’s nothing; she’s lost the person she loved and she’s lost her oldest friend, all in the space of an hour basically.

And then after that expulsion of loud, raw grief, Lilith turns to her natural instinct; plotting. She rallies herself, she takes strength in a plan, and I think it’s so interesting that her plan isn’t ‘kill the Dark Lord’ it isn’t even ‘Lead a coup’, it’s a plan to make him feel the pain she feels, because to Lilith, right now, that’s the worst thing you can have happen to you. She is feeling such grief and agony she can’t imagine anything worse to suffer, to feel what she’s feeling would be worse for the Dark Lord than death (though as I said above, I doubt Lucifer can feel this sort of raw emotion, as he was never human).

“But the Dark Lord doesn’t know all. He’s not omniscient. He’s not omnipotent. Which means...he won’t see what’s coming next”

Our first hint/foreshadowy reminder that Lilith knows the Dark Lord’s weaknesses. Everyone else in the show refers to him as their God, they speak of him as knowing everything, that he’s everywhere, that he answers everyone, that you can’t hide from him etc. But we see hear that Lilith knows better, that Lilith knows he can’t see everything and that he can only be in one place at a time. She has been with him since his fall and she knows both his weaknesses and limitations. She’s able to plan around that.

When she decides to wear Adam’s ring, not only is this her making a conscious decision not to forget him but to keep him in her mind (and her heart?), but you also see her consciously decide which finger to put it on. She could have put it on her right hand, or on her middle finger of her left hand, but she actively picks the ring finger of her left hand. The wedding finger. Lilith knows what this means, and as I said, she calls herself a widow in the next episode, and here Lilith is consciously, purposefully and willingly choosing that designation for herself. This ties into what I need to write about on a bigger post, about how she was created in the Garden and her core being in those early days, has an effect on her choices and reactions even today, because she was a wife in the very beginning, that’s how she started out, so there’s a sense of coming full circle on her own terms here, that in the Garden she was forced to be a wife, but here she’s choosing to be one, because this Adam earned it, he earned her love and mutual respect, while the first Adam didn’t.

“He took away the one thing I loved. Now I’ll do the same to him”

The fact there is no denial here, no room for interpretation, this is full, out-and-out confirmation that she had fallen in love with Adam, which is not only impressive considering her general disdain and dislike towards mortal men, but it also shows Lilith has a huge capacity for emotion and affection and love, reminding us that she’s not simply a demoness, but something much more complicated and nuanced, and it also shows us that she’s not closed off. People can win her over, she isn’t closed in her heart or her mind, she does listen, she does consider, she’s not static in the way she is, and she can grow and change and experience new things. And I think this moment is one where she changed irrevocably, the Lilith we see from this moment on is not the same Lilith we’ve seen since Part 1. And you do see, in future episodes, how she reacts differently to situations to how she did in the beginning (for example, when Sabrina fails to tell her Lucifer is free and says ‘I had other things on her mind’ Lilith does not get hateful, she doesn’t even attack Sabrina for it, and then when Zelda turns her away, Lilith does nothing more than insult her, whereas she would have once actively plotted her downfall and/or murder).

#it's 2am so there's probably a ton of typos here which I will correct tomorrow #episode stuff

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callboxkat · 4 years

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Infinitesimal (part 50)

Author’s note: I’m not sure whether you guys should be angry at my internet router for delaying this chapter by a day, or happy with it because the chapter got about 1000 words longer because I kept writing out of spite.

Anyway... I never, never, expected this story of mine to reach 50 parts. It’s really thanks to you guys that it has. So, thank you! Thank you for supporting it, for commenting, liking, reblogging, and reading this little story of mine.

Yes, that was a pun. No, I’m not sorry.

Warnings: Food mention, some envy, fear, injury mention, illness

Word count: 4031

Masterpost!

...

Virgil and Patton were sitting together at Emile’s side, drawing pictures. They let Emile decide what they would draw, since his hold on a pencil was still too shaky for him to draw well, or at least, well enough that he wouldn’t get frustrated; and they didn’t want him to feel left out or bored. Therefore, Patton was drawing a purple hedgehog, and Virgil was drawing the character Stitch. Virgil hadn’t actually seen the movie that the character was from, but he had a pretty good idea of how he looked, and Emile was more or less directing him. He had a very good memory when it came to cartoon characters.

Virgil quickly realized that the dark blue colored pencil that the humans had given them was definitely not the right one for Stitch’s fur, but Emile seemed to find the result more amusing than anything else, so Virgil counted it as a win.

He kept drawing for a while, then glanced over at Patton’s picture, which was almost complete. Virgil thought it was pretty obvious that Patton had gotten the easier task out of the two of them. Virgil’s drawing was a lot more complex, and Emile was bound to scrutinize it more, given that it was based on an existing character, and one that he loved dearly. Virgil was pretty sure this was purposeful, knowing his older brother. But that was okay. The fact that Emile felt well enough to mess with him had to be a good sign.

They kept drawing for a while. Patton technically finished well before Virgil, but he kept drawing little hearts around his hedgehog until Virgil had finished his approximation of Stitch. Once he’d finally finished, he set his colored pencils to the side and put the drawing in Emile’s lap along with Patton’s. His brother grinned in a lopsided fashion, looking at it. Virgil knew that it was objectively not very good, but he was okay with that.

“Demon Stitch?” Emile asked, his tone teasing. Patton leaned over to look.

“So, it’s an improvement on the original,” Virgil concluded slyly.

“I think he’s cute,” Patton claimed.

“You’d say that about anything I drew,” Virgil said.

“Because it’s true.”

“A cute demon,” Emile decided. He thought for a moment. “Like the real Stitch.”

Deciding not to point out that there was no such thing as a real Stitch, Virgil sat up and stretched, his shoulders and back popping in a very satisfying way.

Patton picked up the hedgehog he had drawn and started to show it to Emile, pointing at its cute black nose and nubby little legs. Emile seemed just as happy with it as he had been with Virgil’s drawing.

“I’m gonna get some water,” he announced. He grabbed his crutches and got to his feet, walking over to where the humans had left a pair of water-filled bottle caps that day.

He could feel Patton’s eyes on him as he got up—his friend hand been watching him more closely lately, although Virgil wasn’t sure why. He guessed that it had something to do with his bad foot, but that injury was nothing new. His foot had been hurting him more than usual, since he’d landed on it pretty hard when he caught Patton after his friend fainted while searching for Emile, but that was several days ago. It was better now. And he hadn’t even mentioned it to Patton, or Emile, at all. He was fine. Patton didn’t need to worry about him.

He reached the bottle cap and knelt down beside it, grabbing a sunflower seed shell to use as a cup, a trick he’d picked up from Patton. He had just finished his drink when he heard footsteps; and he looked up to see one of the humans, Roman this time, standing there. He had a blanket around his shoulders and a simultaneously hopeful and guilty look in his eyes.

“Hi,” the human said.

…

Roman was tired of sitting in his room all day. Sure, he’d only been stuck in there for a few days, but he was bored.

He supposed he should be grateful. To Logan, for helping to take care of him, and to his manager, for being amazing and letting him take off as much time as he needed until he was well. She justified that if Roman went to work too soon, he’d just get sicker, and his wheezing might scare customers. Roman loved her. And he was grateful. Really.

But mostly, he just wanted to go outside. It wasn’t his fault the weather was trying to kill him.

Roman huffed, looking down at his phone. The loading symbol spun slowly on the screen where his movie was supposed to be playing. The app he was using hadn’t been working for a while now, not since Logan had stopped by for lunch.

After another minute or two of just watching the loading percentage sit at 99, Roman closed out of the app.

He sat there for a moment, then glanced at the closed bedroom door. Maybe he couldn’t go outside, but he could at least leave his room. Maybe the app would be more willing to load in the kitchen, marginally closer to the router. And if it didn’t… well, Roman couldn’t help but be tempted by another option.

Roman kicked off his blankets, and then got slowly to his feet. He put his phone into the pocket of his pajama pants, grabbed one of the blankets off of the bed to wrap around his shoulders, stuck his feet into his slippers, and shuffled over to the door.

He sat down at the kitchen table at first, and stayed there for a minute while he tried again to load his app. He wasn’t all that surprised to find that it didn’t work here either; and to be honest, he wasn’t all that disappointed. The kitchen table wasn’t the most comfortable place to watch a movie, and now he had more of an excuse for his other option. His eyes flicked towards the living room at the thought.

Hardly daring to hope, Roman wrapped himself up in the blanket and walked up to the other room. He hoped the mouse-men were feeling friendly.

…

Initially, of course, he was flatly rejected. Virgil was predictably against any idea that meant being around the humans for any amount of time longer than necessary.

But the mouse-man’s brother had perked up visibly at the idea, despite his clear apprehension at the fact that Roman would be in the room. And Patton seemed supportive, if shy about that support.

While the three of them debated, Roman shuffled from foot to foot in the doorway, stifling wheezes and only allowing himself to occasionally glance in the mouse-men’s direction.

Finally, probably because of Emile, Virgil caved. He looked up towards Roman, his arms crossed, and simply said, “Fine.”

Roman couldn’t help the small, excited smile that snuck upon his face. He stepped into the living room, careful to move slowly, and sat down on the couch with his legs bundled up next to him. He grabbed the remote and turned on the television, glad that the volume was already set low.

He knew Emile would probably still be too nervous to tell Roman what he wanted to watch, but Roman already had a movie in mind, one that he was sure the mouse-man would like. He’d seen the image of the balloon-carried house on Emile’s blanket, and whether or not he’d actually seen the movie that inspired it, Roman was sure that the little guy would enjoy it. Even aside from already being familiar to the mouse-men, Up was a great movie. It had a love story, adventure, and talking dogs. What else could you want from a film?

…

Emile hoped that he hadn’t made a mistake. But in his defense, the human had promised cartoons. And, well, Emile loved cartoons.

Plus, it wasn’t as if this human had hurt him or his family, right? He seemed nice, for a human, based on Patton’s stories and how he’d treated them since Emile’s accident.

Still, he watched apprehensively as the human turned on the television and brought up the movie he planned to watch. Roman was curled up on the sofa in his scarlet pajama pants, white t-shirt, and slippers, with his hair sticking up slightly and a fuzzy blanket wrapped around his shoulders. His breaths were more labored than Emile thought was normal for a human, which made sense, since he’d heard that the human was sick.

In short, Roman wouldn’t have looked at all threatening, if only he wasn’t so enormous.

The opening sequence for the film started playing, and Emile glanced towards the television. He bit back a gasp, realizing that he recognized what was on the screen. It was Up, one of his absolute favorite movies.

He’d never actually seen it in its entirety, since, as a little, he didn’t get to watch much television to begin with; and on the rare occasion that he did watch it, he had to watch whatever the humans in that apartment happened to be watching. Only on a couple of occasions had he been able to watch this movie, and he’d never gotten to see how it ended.

Emile couldn’t deny that he was excited about the prospect, even if a human was in the room with him.

A voice interrupted his thoughts, large despite its owner trying to muffle its volume. “Is this movie okay?”

Emile flinched despite himself, unable to help being jumpy with a human in the room, sending a small jolt of pain through his injured shoulder and head.

Patton and Virgil both looked to Emile for an answer. Virgil didn’t seem happy, but Patton was gave him a supportive look. Emile swallowed and offered one small nod, subconsciously fastening his hand on the blanket that Patton had brought from home. Yes, he could bear watching television with a human—one who knew he was there—if it meant he got to see Up.

“It’ll be fine,” he whispered to Virgil. His younger brother just sighed and settled in, apparently determined to keep an eye on Roman during the film.

…

At first, the room was still and silent other than the movie, creating a somewhat awkward atmosphere. Roman got as comfortable as he could, keeping his movements slow as he tried to find a position that was both cozy and easy to breathe in. As he lay there, he did his best to not feel offended or hurt by how reluctant the mouse-men had been to let Roman watch television with them; but sometimes they made him start to feel as if he were some huge, disgusting monster. It wasn’t his fault he was so much bigger than them. That, and Virgil kept staring at him.

So, at first, it was a bit awkward.

But soon enough, Roman was drawn into the story; and he was able to forget about the awkwardness and the feeling of Virgil’s stare as it bored into him.

Apparently, the same had been happening with the mouse-men. When Ellie, Mr. Fredricksen’s wife, fell ill, he heard a small gasp from their direction, only for it to be quickly stifled. That had been Emile, if Roman had to guess. All three of them seemed to be trying to keep from getting too immersed in the film with Roman there. But as the movie continued, and Roman kept his eyes firmly on the screen, they seemed to grow more comfortable.

Patton and Emile gasped, laughed, and maybe even cried, reacting at all the right parts. Emile had trouble containing his excitement whenever Kevin was on screen, and Patton quietly gushed about how cute Dug was. After a while, even Virgil (mostly) stopped staring down Roman to watch. Through it all, Roman took great care to not so much as move, afraid that they’d stop if he gave any sign of acknowledging their presence. He just listened, smiling softly to himself as the movie played. Patton so rarely smiled or laughed, and his companions deserved some enjoyment to take their minds off of what they had been through. Even if it was for the hour and a half run of this movie.

…

When the story came to a close and the credits started to roll, Roman finally allowed himself to move. All three of the mouse-men’s gazes turned to him, making Roman feel self-conscious.

He stretched, muffling a cough, and looked towards them.

“Want to watch something else?” he asked. “Or, I guess… we could always watch this again.”

Roman had made that second suggestion mostly as a joke, but Emile’s mouth fell open at the possibility.

“You can do that?” he asked, so soft that Roman barely heard him. He seemed surprised enough that it overrode his fear of speaking to Roman. Obviously he knew that humans could control what televisions played, to an extent at least, but the fact that Roman could just play the same thing over again if he wanted to seemed like almost too much for the little guy to believe.

Roman nodded.

Virgil gave him a sharp, meaningful look, and Roman reached for the remote. “Okay, we’ll watch it again. I’m gonna….” He muffled a cough. “I’ll be right back. Ten minutes, then movie?” He didn’t want to have to get up in the middle of it and bother the mouse-men.

Virgil narrowed his eyes, but he nodded.

Alright, then. They were going to watch Up twice in one day. That was okay with Roman. More than okay, in fact, since it meant getting to spend more time with the mouse-men.

…

It was dark before Logan finally got home, tired from a long day at work. He wished that his boss didn’t take Logan being on break from school as a reason to give him longer shifts. It more or less nullified any sort of respite he might have gotten from his normally busy schedule. He just wanted to put away his things, loosen his tie, and relax for a while with a good book. There was some time before dinner, he reasoned as he trudged up the stairs to the second floor of the apartment building. He could get in some reading first.

He reached the landing, very glad for the sake of his sore feet that he didn’t live higher up in the building. Logan never took the elevator. He claimed that it was for the health benefits that taking the stairs provided; but while that was certainly an added reward, Logan simply hated elevators. It was illogical, he knew, but he couldn’t help it. They were small, and cramped, and smelled weird, and he didn’t like them.

So, this very tired Logan was glad that he had only had to walk up one flight of stairs. He soon reached his own apartment and gratefully unlocked the door. He stepped inside with a relieved sigh and closed the door behind him.

He removed his shoes and set down his bag, pausing as he heard sound coming from nearby. It was fairly soft, but not so soft that Logan believed it to be coming from a different apartment.

When he walked further inside, to the middle of the kitchen, Logan’s suspicions were confirmed. The television was on, playing an animated movie. He could see the top of Roman’s head where he lay on the couch, his curly hair illuminated by the light of the television.

Logan took a few more steps, just until he could see the “mouse-men”. To his surprise, they all seemed to be watching the movie along with Roman. He’d been worried, just slightly, that Roman might have been making them uncomfortable by intruding to watch his frivolous film, but it seemed that that was not the case. Logan should have known better, he supposed. Roman surely would have thought to ask for permission before watching a movie with them. He was the better of the two of them at interacting with the “mouse-men” after all.

He felt unexpectedly sad as he stood there, unnoticed, watching the scene. He was glad that Roman had earned enough trust for something like this to happen, but Logan couldn’t help but wish that it was he who got to watch a film with their guests. For a brief moment, he considered joining them, but he knew that that was a bad idea. He didn’t want to interrupt their guests’ enjoyment of it. There was no way he could walk in and join them without doing so. So, instead, he silently pulled up a kitchen chair, and sat there to watch the movie and pretend that he was a part of this.

He felt like somewhat of an outsider as he sat there, alone in the kitchen. But that was okay. Although he would have liked to feel included, he felt that it was the better choice to remain where he was. The “mouse-men” doubtless would find it harder to relax if Logan tried to truly join their movie watching. They could deal with one human being in there with them, but two would probably be too much. The last thing Logan wanted was to tarnish their guests’ opinion of him by scaring them yet again.

It wasn’t as if Logan was a big fan of cartoons or Disney to begin with. It was fine.

He stayed until the movie ended and the credits began to roll. Only then did he quietly return the kitchen chair to its usual place and walk over to the stove to start dinner.

When he was looking through the pots and pans in the cabinet, he heard a set of footsteps shuffle up behind him.

“Good evening, Roman,” he said without turning around, reaching for the pot he wanted.

He received a mumbled greeting in return. It was not exactly Roman’s usual bright demeanor and clever nickname, but understandable given he was still feeling like less than his usual, colorful self.

“How are you feeling?” he asked, straightening.

Roman hummed, like he was considering his answer. “Fabulous,” he answered finally, in a voice that didn’t quite match the word he’d chosen.

“Oh, fabulous?” Logan glanced over his shoulder at his roommate, who was in his pajamas and had a blanket around his shoulders. “That’s good to hear.”

Roman nodded. “We watched Up… twice today. The movie.”

“Twice?”

“Emile wanted to,” he explained, his mouth curving into a fond smile.

“Well, I’m glad you were able to make him happy,” Logan said, turning back around. He walked to the sink, turning the handle a little sharply. Water gushed from the tap.

Roman was silent for a second, watching as Logan poured water, then rice into the pot.

“Is something wrong?” he asked, sounding confused.

“No, nothing’s wrong,” Logan said, putting the lid on the pot. “Dinner should be finished in about twenty minutes, if you want to get back to your friends.”

Roman coughed into his sleeve. “I don’t know that… we’re friends,” he said sheepishly. When Logan didn’t reply, just opening the freezer to grab a packet of vegetables, he added, “Maybe you could come join us. Em… You should’ve seen Emile. He got all starry-eyed… when he saw what movie we were watching. I bet he’ll… want to see more cartoons.”

Logan hesitated, the freezer door still open. “I wouldn’t want to intrude.”

“Well, I can ask,” Roman offered. “It can’t hurt to ask… can it?”

Yes, it absolutely could, Logan wanted to say. They could say no.

He didn’t say that, but the long silence that stretched between them seemed to convey Logan’s sentiments just as well.

“Just let me ask,” Roman said, his voice softening.

Logan didn’t answer, tapping one fingernail on the counter top.

Roman’s muffled footsteps retreated back to the other room.

…

Logan waited for the rice to finish cooking, watching the steam fog up the lid of the pot. The dishes, including the bottle caps and miniature silverware for their guests, were sitting ready at his side.

He turned off the burner and sighed through his nose.

Within a few minutes, he had each of the plates ready with the rice and veggies. He added some seasoning to all but one of them, since he wasn’t sure if Emile’s sensitive stomach would tolerate that.

As he approached the living room, he realized that another cartoon’s opening sequence was on the television now, which meant that Roman planned to continue their movie night of sorts. Logan sighed, set his own plate at the kitchen table, and took the others into the living room.

“I have dinner,” he announced softly before going in, not wanting to startle anyone. Virgil gave him a mistrustful look, and Emile shifted somewhat nervously. Patton, meanwhile, who was sitting next to Emile, smiled shyly as a sort of greeting.

Logan actually stopped walking at that, sooner than he had intended to. Had he ever seen Patton smile before? He didn’t think he had.

“Thanks, Lo,” Roman said, holding out his hands for his plate.

Logan shook his head minutely to clear it, then handed it over. He placed the dishes for the “mouse-men” on their table, and he turned to leave.

“Can you bring me some lemonade… when you come back?” Roman asked.

Logan paused. When he came back? He turned around, and Roman was smiling knowingly at him.

At first he shrugged it off, but then he realize what Roman meant. The “mouse-men” had said yes? They were willing to watch television with both humans there? They had done that before, with Patton, of course, but Emile had agreed? Virgil had agreed?

“Ah…” Logan faltered. “Yes. I can do that.”

He came back with the lemonade and his own dinner, and he carefully sat down on the couch beside Roman.

“Long day?” Roman murmured, pressing the “play” button.

The “mouse-men”, especially Emile and Virgil, sent occasional glances in his direction, but they all seemed more interested in the show and in their own food. “You could say that,” he murmured back.

“Take tomorrow off,” Roman whispered.

Logan frowned. “What? Why?”

“Because you’re not… a robot,” Roman said, lowering his voice further. “Jokes aside. Take a break. I know you’ve… been stressed, with school, and these guys, and work… and even though finals are done, that doesn’t mean you can’t… be burned out.”

Logan sighed, looking up at the screen for a moment. A pair of children were arguing in a boat, and the girl’s frustration was causing the ice around them to crack.

His gaze shifted to the table to the side, where the three “mouse-men” sat. Patton and Virgil both glanced over at his movement, although Emile’s eyes stayed glued to the screen. Virgil frowned at him, but Patton gave him a small wave.

Logan lifted up his hand just slightly as a sort of wave back.

Maybe Roman made a good point. Perhaps he had overreacted a bit to the fact that Roman had gotten to watch a movie with the “mouse-men”, and he hadn’t. It wasn’t his fault that Logan had been working at the time, or that Virgil and Emile were still wary of the humans. And they were wary of Roman, too, not just Logan.

He’d overreacted. It had been a long day, and Logan was tired, and he grew irritable when he was tired.

He should have been focusing on the progress that he had made with their tiny guests, not on how far they still had to go. Patton was speaking to him, had thanked him, had smiled at him just that day. Regardless of their lack of options, the “mouse-men” had trusted Logan and Roman to bring Emile back to them and to help him recover. They were all sitting together, right then, watching a cartoon and eating dinner.

That was progress.

Logan just had to let himself see it. And maybe that required giving himself a break.

“I’ll take tomorrow off,” he murmured.

“Good,” Roman murmured back.

They went back to watching the show. All five of them, together.

...

Bonus: Patton’s and Virgil’s drawings!

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fortunatelylori · 5 years

Note

"Everyone who's crossed her she's found a way to murder." I can definitely see this going through Jon's mind if Sansa is kidnapped. Sansa and Arya were used as baragining chips in S1 for Robb but he chose not to go to KL. Also, when Jon found out "they" were being held there he initially was going to go but was talked out of it and chose to honor his vows. I think this will come back too. Conflict of the heart. "You'd think of little else if you had too." (tbc...)

I think Jon will be consumed by this at this pt. So to make the stakes higher I think both the WW and Sansa getting kidnapped (if this does happen) will happen simultaneously. While I think Sansa and Cersei will have another showdown and Sansa being in KL against her will check so many boxes I can’t just can’t figure out why. Why kidnap and not just murder? Why would she think Jon would come when Robb didn’t? Could LF might have told her something about their relationship?

Also, if both Cersei and the WW happen at the same time then both of them will be right as far as who to be concerned about. How do you see this plot unfold? What will Jon’s conflict be at this point? What will he decide? What role will Dany play in this? I would love your thoughts on this. Thank you!

Hey, nonnie!

I have to say … this kidnapping plot is slowly taking over my life. :))))) I’ve been thinking about it a lot actually. And while the more time passes, the more I’m convinced it will happen, the details of it are still a little fuzzy for me.

So I guess I could start by saying why a kidnapping of Sansa by Cersei makes sense and what story boxes it would tick if it were to happen. After all, you don’t make a plot choice if it doesn’t help you achieve certain goals both thematically and in terms of story progression:

1. It would bring Sansa and Cersei face to face again: this is VERY important for a number of reasons. Sansa was Cersei’s “little dove”, the girl she attempted to mold to her will but also despised because she saw her as being weak and naive. Their relationship is rife for dramatic exploration and I don’t know any writer worth his salt that wouldn’t want to tap into that, particularly now that Sansa has grown and developed and they could flip the dynamic on its head, showing what Sansa has learned from all of her tormentors, Cersei included. This is also important because Sansa needs to go back to her: “If I am ever queen, I will make them love me” mentality. Right now she’s vacillating and the question of her admiring Cersei hangs in the air, as per Jon’s observation. The simplest way for Sansa to fully reject Cersei’s worldview is by being faced with her once again, and choosing to the the Queen that people love, not the Queen that people fear. It’s kind of a play on being faced with who you might become if you choose one road instead of another, sort of thing.

2. The Younger, More Beautiful Queen: this prophecy has tormented Cersei her entire life and it’s bound to conclude in its final act. If Sansa is the younger, more beautiful queen that will cast Cersei down and take all that she holds dear, it makes sense that she would be present for Cersei’s demise, whatever that might be. I say present because while Sansa was involved for most of Cersei’s tragedies, she was never the party responsible, she inadvertently found herself involved and I hope the pattern continues because I like the idea of prophecies not being played straight and that Cersei herself is ultimately responsible for her own downfall.

3. Sansa is the princess in the tower with no prince to save her: for all the complaining that people do that Sansa can’t do anything for herself and she always needs saving, the sad fact of the matter is Sansa has never truly been saved by anyone. As she herself puts it to LF: She’s taken from monsters that murdered her family and given to other monsters that murdered her family. Her “rescues” are simply an exacerbation of her confinement. No one saves her. The one that comes closest is Theon but it’s Sansa that pushes him to that point and thematically speaking this action is linked more to Theon regaining his identity that Sansa Stark being saved. Also, her reunion with Jon did not truly bring liberation because she was still stuck with LF and also her trauma has made her close herself off and put herself in a sort of emotional cage.

As you mentioned, Robb actually refuses to risk the ire of his men to go and try to save Sansa so she’s never truly a priority for someone, nor is she the goal, as the princess in the tower trope lays out. So to finally see someone make Sansa their priority and come to rescue her, despite all other consideration, would be a fulfilling arc. Particularly since Sansa keeps saying that no one can protect her. People have taken this to mean that Sansa doesn’t want protection because she can take care of herself. I don’t think that’s it at all. Sophie Turner said that when Sansa reunites with Jon, it’s the first moment of happiness Sansa has felt in years because she’s finally with someone who will take care of her and look after her. So I think Sansa is still looking for that prince to protect her and save her. She just doesn’t believe that exists anymore. So maybe it’s time she be proven wrong.

4. Jon has a choice to make: Jon has been teased with a choice between love and duty since season 1 and he’s always chosen duty. But there were always extenuating circumstances to his choice. When he wanted to join Robb’s campaign, Joer Mormont pointed out that fighting the WW was more important on the grand scheme of things. Also Jon, at the time, was still the outcast, bastard of Winterfell, looking to forge his new identity. When he chose the NW over Ygritte, he had already made up his mind that he was a brother of the NW and that’s where his life was (he tells Ygritte: I have to go home now) and also justified by the fact that Ygritte violent tendencies pushed him away in any case. However, in the end the loyalty that Jon showed to the NW was betrayed when he was killed by the very people who called themselves his brothers. When he came back from the dead, he was a man without a purpose or a plan (a weird thing for Jon Snow). It was Sansa that gave that to him, pushed him back into action so it would be easy to assume that whatever determination Jon might have now to fight the WW, protect the North and whatever else is inextricably linked to her. So what happens if she’s in danger? Will Jon’s choice between love and duty be as easy to make as it was in the past? I’d argue no. Because Sansa is not only his love, but his duty as well. He’s sworn to protect her time and time again and her safety and well being are paramount to him. So this time we’re going to watch Jon choose love and what a sight that will be!

5. Tension must be added to the Jon/D*ny dynamic: And the parentage reveal is not enough. Because D*ny finding out Jon is a rival for the throne she’s been dreaming about since season 1 is a political matter. Her seeing him lose his mind over the possibility of Cersei hurting Sansa is a deeply personal one. I always found it interesting that D*ny wasn’t there to witness Jon’s interaction with Theon on the beach and see his reaction when Theon brought up Sansa. But I’m willing to bet good money she’ll have a front row seat to Jon Snow going berserk because “his sister” is in danger. It will probably be the last nail in the coffin for the already doomed Jon/D*ny alliance. Also, at some point, Jon is going to ride Rhaegar, I’m almost 100% sure of that. No way the writers are passing up the opportunity to have their number 1 hero mount a dragon or have this Dance of Dragons 2.0 end without a Jon/D*ny showdown on dragon back. So what better time for Jon to steal Rhaegal than when he needs to get to KL really, really fast?

6. Jaime and Cersei need to meet again: For one I believe that Jaime is the younger brother who will choke Cersei to death. For two, Cersei’s storyline is so marked by wildfire that it would be weird not to have the man most traumatized by wildfire be there to stop her from using it (which I believe will be the reason why he ends up killing her, paralleling his killing of the Mad King). Jaime and Cersei’s relationship is so toxic and tragic that it needs to end in the same vein, and “I don’t believe you” and a quick exist North ain’t gonna cut it. We know Jaime is going North to join the fight against the WW so the kidnapping plot might bring him back to KL, of his own accord or perhaps as Jon’s hostage. (he’s going to need some kind of leverage against Cersei, right? Who better than the only person left in the world Cersei actually cares about?)

7. The feelings reveal needs to happen somehow: At some point Jon and Sansa will need to confess their love for each other. So … what better time in terms of full emotional impact than after they’ve been separated and they thought they’d die/never see each other again?

8. The writers need to connect the Winterfell/WW plot to the King’s Landing plot: I mean what is Cersei going to do for at least 3 episodes? Walk around the Red Keep counting the villages she’s taken back from D*ny with the help of the Golden Company? I mean, that would be the smart thing to do. Why march your armies into the North, in the dead of winter, with a zombie apocalypse underfoot? But then again, if characters acted smart and rational all the time, we’d have much more boring plot lines, wouldn’t we? The kidnapping of Sansa can bring the two narrative threads together.

So both in terms of plot expediency as well as arc completion, the kidnapping plot neatly solves all sorts of issues as well as add drama and the all important cliff hangers GOT loves.

As for how it will unfold … I think what we’re truly missing in order to see the full picture is the: Why? Why does Cersei kidnap Sansa at this juncture in the story? She could have already done it in season 7, when Jon was away on Dragonstone. It would have been a hell of a lot easier to do than now, during the Long Night, with dragons circling Winterfell and huge armies fighting zombies. Unfortunately, I don’t have a clear answer to this. Something needs to happen … some unforeseen plot development that convinces Cersei to send her men to capture Sansa. What that might be, I’m not sure.

But it will probably also be the answer to your question about why kidnap Sansa and not just murder her. In addition to that, one other reason why Cersei wouldn’t just murder Sansa is because of the way that Cersei gets her revenge. If we look at her revenge against Septa Ornella and Ellaria Sand, we can see that Cersei is not content to only murder her enemies, she wants to dish out the same amount and type of torment that was inflicted on her by the parties responsible. I imagine she will want to do the same thing to Sansa.

Could this happen simultaneously with the WW attack? Again, I don’t know. Feels like a lot to juggle but it could … Maybe the kidnapping happens during the WW final battle and Jon going to KL is the start of the Dance of Dragons part of the story line? Maybe Jon steals Rhaegal to go rescue Sansa and D*ny pursues him on Drogon? Just ideas at this point …

One theory I do have is that Cersei need not attack Winterfell to get Sansa. After all, Cersei did promise to help against the WW. That would mean that the Winterfell gang, at least in theory, will be waiting for her tropes to arrive. Any day now … Almost there … There they are! They show up, Winterfell opens their gates and boom, somewhere during the night, Euron (it would need to be Euron, wouldn’t it? he’s the only one crazy enough to attempt it particularly if Cersei commits to marrying him) and his merry men abduct Sansa. Now imagine the fall out from that decision, the guilt that Jon would feel that he allowed them to walk through the gates, the angst, the torment! That would be great! So? In his desperation, he steals Rhaegal (and possibly Jaime) and goes to KL. The reason why I’m so attached to Jon stealing Rhaegal at this juncture is that atop a dragon, Jon has more of a chance of getting out there alive with Sansa, than if he were to travel by boat. I mean he needs to take precautions, despite whatever Cersei might say/promise. He’s not a moron.

As for what happens in KL,it’s anyone’s guess at this point because again we must return to that pesky: why. Although I have to say, that whatever might happen, it won’t be that pretty for Sansa. I don’t see any way it could be. In the end, she will triumph but it will be an angst riddled couple of weeks for all of us.

If anyone has scenarios to share here, please feel free.

Thank you for the ask, nonnie!

#jon snow #sansa stark #jonsa #jon x sansa #sansa x cersei #got s8 speculation

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toonstarterz · 5 years

Text

BECAUSE I’M NOT POPULAR, I’LL READ WATAMOTE: CHAPTER #157

And now for something entirely different.

For the first time in the entire series, we have a chapter in which Tomoko Kuroki is completely absent. For a series whose initial premise was so dependent on having Tomoko as the solitary focus, it really speaks volumes that the side characters can now carry the series on their own. Of course, it wouldn’t be Watamote if Tomoko wasn’t there in some way, shape or form, and as we see today, her spirit lives on in rest of the Watamote Crew.

Chapter 157: Because I’m Not Popular, I’m Suspended

I really dig the hatching in this opening shot. It automatically gives you the sense that this is a retroactive moment and that Tomoko will be MIA until further notice.

And just as we already knew, Tomoko and Yoshida got busted.

I’ve noticed quite a few people criticize this school policy, claiming that’s it’s unreasonable for the “crime”. My assumption is that riding a motor scooter reflects poorly on the school, which its students are supposed to represent with “proper” behavior. While I don’t think it’s really a justified punishment, I don’t think it’s necessarily an unjustified punishment either. Dissecting the reason would mean pulling apart much about Japanese cultural values, and this ain’t the place for that.

This, on the other hand, seems a teeensy bit excessive. But that’s just me.

Naturally, Komiyama takes this as an opportunity to validate her less-than-savory impression of Tomoko. Gotta eat up those friend-of-a-friend brownie points.

The true endgame of this series is when Tomoko and Komiyama call each other “friend.”

Blatant disregard of sensei’s instructions? Looks like Yuri’s the next to join the new delinquent posse after Tomoko and Yoshida.

But on that note, I really do enjoy that Yuri cares enough about her buddies to break the rules. She’s always been an obedient student overall, but I always had this inkling that Yuri wasn’t really a goody-two-shoes. Rebels gotta stick together.

And Tomoko’s (and Yoshida’s) reputation continues to brew. And through the semi-popular kids at that. If nothing else, Tomoko is going to leave school known as the “Weird Kid” that everyone admires.

I now wonder just how much these guys knew about Tomoko and Yoshida’s friendship? I’d imagine that this whole suspension might actually paint the two as BFFs in everyone’s eyes.

Lastly, I wonder what was the manga Tomoko and Yoshida were reading? Maybe a sequel to “A Happy Cat”?

Can I get a Prison School shoutout, anybody?

Yup, like I said. Everyone knows about that “Weird Kid” in high school who did stupid stuff, but you couldn’t help but admire them for having the nerve to do it. Nemo may give Tomoko a lot of shit sometimes, but to some degree, I think she wishes she could be like her.

Girl’s itching for her Kuroki-Kimoi fix.

Perhaps someone can enlighten me, but are Japanese shoe lockers really left unlocked? I mean, you see it all the time in manga–how else would the love interest send letters/chocolate to their crush?–but I’d like to to know if there’s any truth to that.

If Ucchi really was getting ready to confess apologize, then I gotta hand it to her. It took her a lot faster to get to that point than I thought she would.

Unfortunately, the universe discriminates against emojis, and when they flippantly confront a random girl to inquire about their obsession, you know a blast of karma is heading their way.

The Counseling Room, huh? For those who’re uninitiated like me, that’s supposedly where they keep the suspended students to do their schoolwork and reflect on their actions.

In Ucchi’s eyes, however, it’s the higher beings keeping her from her beloved.

Sorry, Ucchi, but you gotta work on your “Uwaaaah!”s. Maybe you ought to get some pointers from Komiyama.

More and more, Ucchi’s cries of despair get even more absurd. And more and more, I wonder how she justifies it in that head of hers.

Aw damn, is it that same dude that criticized Tomoko for supposedly almost falling into a ravine? And on film, too? Bro needs to take a chill pill.

That seems to be the food for thought amongst the student body these days.

Is it wrong that I laughed at Katou’s very obvious face of absolute boredom? You can just feel the Tomoko withdrawal symptoms destroying her from the inside.

I used to be pretty ambivalent about her increasing affection to Tomoko, but these more humanizing moments make me grow fonder about their relationship.

Fuuka’s never gonna let this one die, is she?

That’s basically the exact same thing that Tomoko said to Fuuka, wasn’t it? Shoot, gotta had another tally to the “Tomoko-Katou ship is actually kind of cute” chart.

At this point, she and Okada need to start a support group for the Tomoko-challenged.

I gotta say, I fully expected Tomoko to be hypocritical enough to deny Fuuka an answer, but not Katou. More than anybody else, it feels like nobody, not even her closest friends, really understand who Katou is. I’m counting the chapters to the day it all comes to blows.

So close, and yet so far.

Back to fill the void with the ol’ earbuds, huh, Yuri?

Well, Tomoko is perpetually tired, but I’d imagine suspension isn’t doing her any favors. A loner Tomoko may be, being locked up for a week in pseudo-solitary confinement (with Yoshida, no less) is bound to lead to some cabin fever.

I think the old Tomoko would brag about it before the fact, but after experiencing it, she'd take it back after realizing that suspension actually kind of sucks.

In old news: Yuu is a sweetheart and deserves the world.

Ah, Komi. I can't tell if you're ignorant, in denial, or just being a bitch, but your delusions of grandeur towards Tomoki never fail to amuse me.

It took me a while to realize that we were going over several days throughout this chapter. The time transitions are just that subtle, and I'm pretty sure that was intentional in order to emphasize how Tomoko's absence is really screwing with everyone’s sense of time.

Is this the first time anyone other than Minami has acknowledged Ucchi's lack of a face? Alright, Minami, you win this one.

Also, this is so going to add fuel to the fire on those NSFW headcanons about Mako and Minami’s "pet play" relationship.

Wow. When she says it like that, it puts Minami in an almost sympathetic light. Curse that endearing dependency of hers.

I see that Okada’s infamous shut-her-down moment from the field trip has left some after effects. If nothing else, Fang Girl knows when to fold ‘em.

Obvious imagery aside, I do like that they include Yoshida as one of the “loud” ones in the class. She’s definitely more of the “in-your-face” type of loud, while Tomoko is mostly loud in presence, and it really drives home just how extra loud the two are when together.

A wild Hirasawa appeared!

Somewhere underneath Yuri’s veil of apathy is a very particular layer of empathy. That being, her affection for Tomoko. Yuri may get jealous of other girls, but she can understand how it feels to have an attachment to someone, and when she recognizes that in someone else, that’s when she’ll go the extra mile.

Even she can’t abandon an underclassman all by their lonesome.

That said, it wouldn’t be Yuri if flashes of green didn’t flicker in her eyes at times.

Then that green turns into...whatever color is usually associated with begrudging respect.

Aw damn, this is going to be one of those heartwarmingly bittersweet endings, isn’t it?

Continuity porn.

Okay, ya’ll, but that glimmer of hope in Yuri’s slightly widened eyes is just golden. I hereby put this at the top of my “Top 5 Purest Moments in Watamote” List.

You know, if this were earlier in the series–as in, before Nemo opened up to Yuri–this would come off as pretty mean in the context of the plot, even if it really isn’t. It’s still trollish in a way that only Nemo can, but it feels like a genuine offer of friendship now that we’ve seen these two slowly come closer together. And if slice-of-life manga has taught me anything, it’s that walking home from school together is the Friendship Rite of Passage.

I’m sure Yuri’s first instinct was to punch her out, but hey, any reaction is a good reaction.

Actual proof that Tomoko has temporal powers that allow her to accelerate the passage of time at a rate that’s proportional to her exuding weirdness.

Or, you know, they all just miss her.

If there’s one thing that this series has taught me, it’s that the most wonderful of friendships can start with a mere coincidence.

At the start of Watamote, I never would’ve thought that the series could hold its own without Tomoko. And yet here we are. Gone are the days where the cast was just her, Tomoki, and Yuu. The cast has expanded exponentially since then, and their stories are all rich enough to headline their own series. But no matter how far the web grows, it always comes back to Tomoko. Even with Main Character Privilege, her existence is the glue that binds everyone together. And while this chapter gave us a unique insight on favorite characters, it also gave us a chance to see an alternate reality where Tomoko (and Yoshida) don’t exist.

And as expected, it’s a dull, dull world.

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tuiyla · 5 years

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Marvel’s Runaways casual review/ rant

Okay, so I watched both seasons of Marvel’s Runaways in like four days. Originally I was only going to write one post on it and that was mostly going to be about Deanoru but then I got carried away talking about the show overall so here we go. I’m still going to dedicate a separate post to Nico and Karolina because Gay™, that’s why.

I liked it is the short opinion. The longer version is that it’s very frustrating at times because it could be so much better. The pacing, while all over the place and very slow for some is an issue, but personally I don’t mind it all that much. Yes, it was weird that they only became actual runaways at the very end of season 1 and then season 2 was basically two seasons in one, but that’s not the main problem. It’s very frustrating how the tone can jump around and how there’s scenes missing from almost every single episode. What I mean by that is that there are crucial scenes that we should get in-between the life-altering moments that the characters go through, mostly a few lines of dialogue here and there, but we rarely ever get those. Some of it is related to Deanoru so I’ll elaborate more on that later but in general, it makes some otherwise heavy elements of the show hard to take seriously.

Darius’s murder is both treated as an atrocity and yet we never truly see Tamar grieve. Jonah almost making Janet sacrifice herself for Victor is brushed aside like it wasn’t a fucked up moment. Tina and Robert get back together and the fact that he cheated on her and supposedly didn’t love her anymore rarely ever comes up again. Karolina’s attempted rape is a similar situation. (I thought more about this and okay, I suppose this was given enough gravitas.) So many awful things happen that I get it, it’s hard to keep track and portray the emotional significance of all of them. But if you can’t, maybe you should reconsider writing all of these in and thinking about what kind of tone you’re going for. It’s especially annoying when it comes to character dynamics, like Molly never actually saying it out loud that she forgave Nico for the Topher thing. Just gonna forget that, huh? It’s not entirely unrealistic because Molly is barely 15 and Nico is one of the few people she can call family so they were bound to get over it relatively quickly, I just missed the acknowledgment. Two lines, that’s it.

Runaways is often a few lines away from being a much better show. Just give me the characters acknowledging trauma, or how they were fighting a minute ago, or anything that would keep it more consistent. It’s not Riverdale level bad but it does take away from my enjoyment a little bit. Like, remember when Darius kidnapped Alex? And not only did Geoffrey had a really weird scene there where he prioritised the shot Andre (so he can be killed for Jonah) over Alex's safety, but then Alex became BFFs with Darius. At least Chase pointed out said kidnapping but then nothing else was said about it. Okay, so you’re just gonna move past that, sure.

Some of the ridiculousness is acceptable because it is fundamentally a teen drama and a superhero show, so suspension of disbelief is necessary. But that only takes you so far and is mostly afforded to the supernatural stuff. I can roll with Karolina being an alien who glows and flies but she never really told Chase that she wasn’t interested and that annoyed me. Not that I wanted them to be a thing but they spent a substantial amount of time together in the first two-thirds of season 1 and then... nothing. Even if it was clear for us as an audience that she’s gay and Chase is falling for Gert, the two never had that “oh okay, I see now, you’re not into me, that’s cool” “thanks for understanding” moment. Two lines.

Much of this comes down to how little time the show has because of its enormous main cast. I get that, truly, and I’m not saying all character interactions leave something to be desired. I think the Gert-Molly relationship is near perfect, they almost always talk through their issues and their love for each other is clear even when there’s a conflict going on. There are other examples as well and overall, this is a fine show. Don’t get me wrong here, I didn’t binge it in a few days so I can show up late to the party and tell everyone in the fandom that the show they love is trash. It’s not. The concept is really good and from what I can tell they’ve made some necessary changes to the comics. The cast is also good for the most part, with some cringy moments but some very strong ones as well.

The teen drama part of it is interesting and handled well when they focus on it properly. I like that both Gertchase and Deanoru get more or less equal screentime and focus and the dynamic of the Runaways is something I love to watch. Reminds me of how Brooklyn Nine-Nine is so good because each episode they do different combinations of characters and all the relationships get a chance to develop. Runaways has a very different structure so doing the same would be impossible but I still appreciate the quiet moments between more unlikely pairs or trios. More of that if there’s a season 3, which there’d better be because I’m invested now.

So yeah, I know went off a bit with how frustrating it is when the show is inconsistent with its tone and characters and how just a few more lines or scenes could solve that, but I did enjoy Runaways. Okay, so I mostly enjoyed Deanoru, but other aspects as well. I think Chase being stuck in this cycle of abuse is heartbreaking but makes for a powerful storyline and I hope he’ll get a break eventually. Gert, while too much of a parody of an SJW initially has really grown on me and her need for meds was handled well, I would say. Her jealousy of Karolina when it came to Chase was understandable but not very cool and I would have liked more bonding moments between the two. Molly has some super weird moments but the way she keeps the group together and is allowed to be a kid and enjoy herself every once in a while is heartwarming to watch.

Alex, well, I’m gonna be honest here, is my least favourite. I don’t hate characters and I don’t hate him, but I’m sure finding it difficult to like him in any capacity. His vendetta, while justified in some ways, made him selfish and inconsiderate towards the rest of the group. Even in season 1, he had moments when I went “seriously? who the hell does he think he is”. His DW and nerd references ain’t winning me over. Plus he seems to just not care about most people, especially Karolina? Damn son, I kind of hope that remaining Gibborim is inside you so you can justify some of your actions. But I don’t hate him, I promise, I just hope I can grow to like him later on.

The parents are weird because they’re set out to be the villains and there’s this moral ambiguity around them at any given point, which is fascinating at times. I think Leslie is probably the best portrayal in that there’s a nuance to what she’s done and why. In some ways, she’s the worst of them all and in others, she can be “excused” - but then again, can she? I think it’s an interesting question for the show to answer if it proves itself capable enough to do so. I also like Tina in that I’m curious where her relationship with Nico will go. Okay, so now I just mentioned the mothers of the two characters I like the most, great for my bias. True though.

Part of me is also glad that Jonah survived because he needs more scenes with Karolina. I need it to be established deeper that in a sick way he does love her but also she needs to realize how cruel he is. Then he can die (again) and she can grow from it. The Yorkeses are by far the most puzzling ones because they’re quirky and kind of nice so their appalling actions are brushed aside more so than with the other parents. In general, this is what I find interesting and what I want the show to acknowledge and explore: all the parents have done awful things but not all of them are equally “evil”. Dale shouldn’t be on the same level as Leslie or even Catherine. Can we also get that in season 3?

Alright, that’s it for now. I really should do this after every show I watch. I had quite a lot of thoughts while and after watching this series and though I mostly just wanted to write about Deanoru, I’m glad I got it all out. And I genuinely do need that season 3 so you’d better prove your worth, Hulu.

#marvel's runaways #chase stein #karolina dean #gert yorkes #nico minoru #not gonna tag all the characters #my thoughts #casual review #molly hernandez #alex wilder #the other ones

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centaurianthropology · 6 years

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The Magnus Archives ‘The Masquerade’ (S03E38) Analysis

Wow. We’re well and truly into it. As Jon’s team moves into place to stop the Unknowing, things were bound to get more complicated. Meanwhile, Martin’s plan is both simple and reliant on his willingness to offer himself up to pain. Both plans begin to play out, but where will they go? Come on in to hear what I have to say about ‘The Masquerade’.

We have the beginnings of both plans playing out at once. Everyone’s performances this week were awesome, but the standout was Alexander Newall, without doubt. Martin’s ugly sobbing was absolutely wrenching, as was his complete willingness to subject himself to pain to give Melanie the opportunity to get into Elias’ office. The performance was just stunningly good.

The story was also excellent, even if it cut itself off with a bang. The title itself seems to reference both the circus, and the performance Martin put on to keep Elias focused on him rather than Melanie. But before we get to discussing Martin’s plan, let’s start the discussion of the episode proper with the circus.

They’re at the waxworks, surrounded by far too many (badly made) waxworks. It’s not long before Basira realizes that all the waxworks were people. Apparently, this is what happens to those people we thought were consumed by the Anglerfish. They were turned into waxworks for the museum, creating an audience for the show that Nikola intends to put on.

We know that Daisy has set charges around the whole place and intends to blow it up with or without them there. Tim still has a death wish, but is also acting as the conscience of the group at this point. Well, sort of. He’s always seen what they do as evil, and electing to kill all the people trapped in the waxworks, especially given how many of them there are, seems absolutely reprehensible. Jon and Daisy argue that it would be sparing them, and there is a definite question of what becomes of a person trapped in a wax body. Are they even alive?

I’ve got the terrible feeling that, even as much as it’s a moral objection, Tim knows that Danny is there. One of those statues is his brother, the man Tim changed his entire life to avenge. He doesn’t want to blow them up, because he wants to save his brother.

Jon wants to stop the ritual, and he doesn’t want to lose Tim to do it. He knows Tim’s been angling to get killed, so getting things done sooner rather than later is the best way of keeping him alive. But they still have to interrupt the Unknowing in the middle of their ritual.

And Daisy, as I predicted, just threw a great big kink into the plan. We know she’s shot something or someone at this point. The episode ended with a bang, but we don’t know who she shot. It sounds fairly obvious that she was pointing the gun at Jon, but it was Tim who was shouting “No.” Did Tim get in the way? Did she shoot Jon? I’ve suspected she’s been angling to put a bullet in him from the beginning, but shooting him now complicates everything. The plan falls apart without the Archivist. And even as tough as Jon is, getting shot and then escaping is going to be very, very difficult.

Which is where I think Danny Stoker is going to come in. Now that we know the people killed by the Circus are trapped in the waxworks, I think Danny is going to save his brother and Jon. I keep coming back to Naomi Herne and Evan Lukas, and how he managed to save her through his own family’s connection to the Isolation. Danny is claimed by the Stranger, but that may give him a power in the Unknowing that the others lack. And I could absolutely see him getting them out and detonating the place himself.

I do find it interesting that Daisy insisted that Jon push the button. As much as she believes that he knows the timing of the thing, I also think she wants him to be a killer. She wants him to make the tough call, and not just fob it off on her. She still thinks he’s a monster, but I think she could justify working with a monster who is acting for the greater good.

The question is whether or not this is good, with so many people trapped there. Will Jon push the button? Will Danny? Will it be someone else, unexpected?

And who got shot? With two more episodes, having one person maybe dead or maybe badly injured is going to make this plan a lot more complicated.

Meanwhile, back at the Institute, Martin started burning old statements. Sounds like ones we’ve heard, going up in flames. There is apparently no better way to draw down Elias than that. What’s interesting is that Elias really doesn’t seem to know that Martin has more of a plan than throwing a fit at being left behind and being utterly furious about it.

This is another indication that somehow, Martin eludes Elias’ notice at every turn. To read Martin’s mind, to drag the details of his admitted feelings about Jon out of him (and wow, Jon is going to hear that, and there’s really no way he can pass it off as ‘office gossip’ now, is there?), would take more effort than Elias can expend and still keep an eye on Jon and the others.

Martin is somehow wholly distracting. When dealing with Martin, Elias can’t seem to perceive anything else. If we’re lucky, he didn’t perceive what Melanie was doing in his office (though I worry that it was too easy, and that he knows perfectly well what she was doing. Having only a few locked drawers could either be a ruse or hubris, Elias is good for either, really.)

But Martin knew it would hurt. I think he really did believe that Elias was going to drag all the embarrassing details of his infatuation out, but the fact it was his mother had to cross his mind. The details of what’s happened to his mother and what his life was like are still vague, but we now know that Martin was very young when his mother got sick and his father left. I’m fairly certain that the details of that departure may be more complicated than Elias presented it. My money has now shifted to Martin’s father being a runaway Lukas. That makes all the more sense that Elias would send Peter down to see him. After all, if Martin is the spitting image of his father, Peter would know him in an instant, and would know exactly what Elias took from him.

No matter what, Martin’s mother believed them abandoned. She came to resent and maybe even loathe her son, both for caring for her and for looking exactly like his father. She was the one who insisted on moving into a care home, and is now refusing to let Martin visit her. His letters make a lot more sense now. Why write your mother when you can call? When you can’t call, because she’ll refuse your calls.

Martin is desperate for affection. If his mother really was as emotionally abusive as Elias implies, all of Jon’s snippiness must not have seemed so severe. After all, Jon was just a bit of a dick, and when Martin was in trouble, Jon came through. It very much sounds like no one ever came through for Martin before that moment.

In ‘Colony’, Martin sounded genuinely surprised that Jon both believed him and was taking action to keep him safe. Given his past, I would imagine that this was a dramatic departure from the rejection he had anticipated, and was likely the initial moment when Martin started to fall for Jon.

But the thing about Martin that Elias doesn’t get (very much dismissing his anger as a child throwing a tantrum, fully expecting him to go back and be the docile bringer of tea that he’s believed to be) is that Martin has a spine of iron. He stood up to Elias knowing that his past—either his love for Jon or his mother—were going to get thrown in his face. He knew what he was sacrificing, and he was happy to do it.

I’ve long had the sneaking suspicion that Martin was meant to be Jon’s protector. He’s interpreted that drive more as being a caregiver, because Martin is many things, but a fighter isn’t really one of them. Not traditionally, at least. But his desire to deal with Elias without violence, and his ability to talk Melanie around to his plan, despite her being inches away from being claimed by the Slaughter, points to what I think his other great strength is: aside from being far more courageous than we’ve anticipated, is a master of soft power.

Melanie and Daisy see violence as the only way to get things done. Martin talks, he asks, he persuades. It’s a fun reversal of traditional gender roles, with the female characters more adept and interested in solving their problems through precision applications of violence, while the make character uses words and persuasion to accomplish his goals. It’s also nice to see both approaches getting respect. Too often in storytelling, if it’s women or men using soft power, it’s treated as weakness and evil manipulation. But in this story, it’s valid, and good, and may be the key to Martin and Melanie making it out of their situation alive.

If things go sideways, I have no doubt that Melanie will go full Slaughter on Elias or anyone else in her way. But for now, she’s willing to let Martin’s plan play out. He paid for it with pain, and now she’s got something that he apparently thinks will be enough to take down Elias without violence.

I hope he’s right. So far, his plan is going far too smoothly. With everything falling apart with the Circus, I have the terrible feeling that the Unknowing will be wrapped up next episode, only for everything to go wrong at the Archives, sending whoever survives the Unknowing scrambling to get back in time.

Conclusions

We are in for a wild three-part season finale, it seems, and given how many things are happening at once, how many parts are moving, and how many balls are in the air, it’s not a question of if everything comes crashing down, but when.

I’m holding out hope that Danny Stoker can save the people trying to foil the Beholding, and hopefully save his brother and set him on a new and better path. I’m hoping that Martin and Melanie can keep it together and that their plan at least goes well enough they survive it. I’m hoping that this shattered group of people, all broken in some fundamental way, at least get a while to exist together. I’m a sucker for emotional support and weird, screwed-up found families. I have no idea if that’s a possibility in this universe, but I desperately want Jon to actually care openly and to deal with that caring. I want Melanie to be acknowledged as grandly competent and to get respect. I want Basira to figure out what it is she truly wants and to get it. I want Tim to have some peace and closure in the wake of losing Danny. And I want Martin to get the family he was denied.

#The Magnus Archives #analysis

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elisajdb · 6 years

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Life With You: IX

AN: Stepping into M rated territory with this one.

Part Nine:

Full Moon

Son Gohan’s home was full of laughs by Goku and ChiChi. They sat at the small table looking over Goku’s workbooks as a child. For Goku, it was a trip down memory lane and brought Goku fond memories he shared with ChiChi.

“You were good at this,” ChiChi commended him. “You did most of the work correctly.”

“I guess.” Praises for anything besides fighting left Goku bashful. “After Grandpa died, I didn’t immediately stop working in these books. I finished Grade 2 but I quit in the middle of Grade 3. It got too hard. I guess if Grandpa was still alive….” he shrugged. “Part of me did feel I was letting Grandpa down for not finishing but at the same time I felt a sense of freedom.”

“Freedom?”

“I didn’t feel pressure to do something I didn’t wanna do. I could do what I want. I wish it didn’t take Grandpa’s death for that to happen.” Feeling self-conscious of his confession, he looked away. “I’m probably not making any sense.”

“Actually, I think I understand.” ChiChi’s words had Goku turning back to her. “Dad wants us to live with him and take over his kingdom after his passing but it’s not what I want. I want to be a wife and mother. I feel guilty about my choice sometimes because it’s not the same as my Dad’s and he has done nothing but given me what I want even at the expense of his own dreams for me.”

Goku pondered ChiChi’s words and how it compared to what he felt about grandpa. “So being with me, you feel freedom from being ruler of your Dad’s kingdom?”

ChiChi smiled. “And people think you’re dumb. What fools they are.”

Goku rubbed the back of his head, chuckling embarrassed again. Since they made up, Goku slowly opened up to ChiChi about Gohan. ChiChi didn’t ask questions about Gohan until after he initiated discussions about him. Goku liked that. It allowed him to have the choice on what he wanted to share with ChiChi.

ChiChi closed the books and placed them back in the chest drawer. Goku wasn’t happy with ChiChi going through Gohan’s things but after thinking about it, he realized she wasn’t wrong. When Gohan told him he couldn’t go in the top drawer, he was a child. He was too young to understand things he kept in there. He was an adult and didn’t understand it, but Goku now knew Gohan didn’t mean forever when he made that decree.

“Do you want to read the letters between Gohan, Master Roshi and my father?” ChiChi asked.

Goku looked up, suddenly aware his mind had drifted. ChiChi stood by the chest holding the letters. “You haven’t read them?”

“I am curious but these are your grandpa’s things.” She held out the letters to him. “You’re his grandson. You should read them before anyone else.”

Goku took the letters. His fingers gently touched the worn paper. “Well, I might not understand everything.” He held them up to ChiChi. “You read them.”

ChiChi gently pushed the letters to him. “We’ll read them together.” Seeing Goku pleased with that idea, she turned her back on him to pull out the map she found. “Do you want to look at the map?” Again, Goku nodded. ChiChi opened it and spread it across the table. “You’ve showed me some of these places but there’s a lot I don’t recognize.”

As soon as Goku saw the familiar markings, memories from the deepest recesses of his mind surfaced. “I remember this. I had no idea Grandpa kept it in that drawer.” Goku struggled to keep the rush of emotions in check. “I looked for this after Grandpa died, ChiChi. I never thought I would see it again.”

From the wondrous look on Goku’s face, ChiChi knew this map was special. “Did Gohan make this map?”

“Both of us did.” He still couldn’t believe he was looking at it. “Grandpa started this map a few days before he found me. After he found me, he put it aside. When I got older, Grandpa thought it would be a fun adventure and great training for us to complete a map of Mount Paozu. For weeks, we travelled and marked off landmarks, lakes and animal territories.” Goku touched a waterfall marking. “I fell over this waterfall but I had Grandpa’s power pole. It was the first time I used it.” He pointed to a lake near something named ‘Bear Territory.’ “The biggest fish in this area grows here.” He pointed to a baseball drawing. “Grandpa found me here.”

ChiChi stared at the baseball drawing. Now she understood why Gohan marked it with an X but why Gohan marked the area with a baseball drawing instead of a drawing of Goku was a mystery. “Can we go there? I’d like to see it,” ChiChi requested. “I wanna explore everything on this map with you.”

The idea of him and ChiChi retracing the steps he and his grandpa took years ago touched Goku. He didn’t understand why. He knew he liked the idea.

“That adventure must’ve been really special for you and Gohan.” At Goku’s questioning gaze, ChiChi explained, “You look so happy seeing this map. You and Gohan must’ve had a really fun time.”

“We did and I wish we stayed exploring instead of coming back home.” A frowned formed on his normally happy face. “Grandpa died a couple days after we came back. He said it wouldn’t be safe if we camp out at night that week.”

“What was special about that week it wasn’t safe to camp outside?” ChiChi asked.

Goku shrugged. “I don’t know but Grandpa knew a lot more than me. He must’ve had a good reason.”

ChiChi had an idea what that reason could’ve been. “He was probably tired of camping out and wanted to sleep in his own bed. My Dad is much younger than Gohan but his back hurt whenever we camped during my training.”

ChiChi had a point. As invincible he was in Goku’s eyes, there were times he noticed Gohan’s age. Some late mornings he slept in; he held off training due to a sore or strained muscle; he was slow to heal after the Full Moon monster attacked. Even on their trip, Gohan sometimes complained of having a sore back after sleeping on the grass. “Maybe.” But Goku wasn’t entirely convinced that was the only reason.

It was the perfect opportunity to ask more about Gohan and his death. Goku was vulnerable to share now but ChiChi decided against it. Goku was opening up about Gohan on his own and she didn’t want to betray this growing trust by forcing Goku to speak on something he wasn’t ready to talk about yet.

Instead, ChiChi gently pried the map from Goku’s hands and rolled it up. “I’ll have to get some camping gear but we can do this next week. It should be fun,” she mused. “I haven’t camped since I trained with my Dad and I’m bound to get stronger with any training you give me on this trip.”

She was definitely not like any girl he met. He never met a girl who wanted to camp with him, travel the same trail he and his grandpa travelled or get strong with him. All this had Goku rising from his seat and approaching ChiChi.

When ChiChi secured the map in the chest drawer, Goku suddenly loomed over her. “What is it, Goku?”

Goku answered by kissing her. ChiChi felt herself pressed against the furniture as Goku intensified his kiss. They made up from their fight but ChiChi had yet to be intimate with Goku. She justified herself saying she needed to heal from Goku’s words. She knew he didn’t mean it, but the words still hurt. The fact it took her father to get Goku to come home was troubling, too. If he hadn’t intervene, she didn’t know how long Goku would’ve stayed away or if he would’ve come home at all.

Goku for his part understood ChiChi’s reluctance and thought of ways to make up to her. After he finished his work with Mr. Olitz, he hunted fish and knocked down lumber for income. He was learning how to read and use money. He even started reading the driver license book she got him. Despite that, it didn’t seem to be enough.

When Goku pulled away, ChiChi’s face was flushed, her nipples protrude through her dress and there was heat between her legs releasing a scent that always got Goku’s attention. “I know it’s been a while since we’ve been intimate.” He pressed his lips against her neck while a hand slid to her hips to press her against him. “I know it has to do with our fight, but could we?” he nipped her neck. “Could we be intimate now?”

His pleading broke her. She knew he was aware of her holding back but she didn’t think it affected him this much. To think, this man who had the innocence of a child but was the strongest man in the world was pleading with her for intimacy. He had been trying these past two weeks. She was aware of the things Goku did. She appreciated it all. Perhaps it was time to stop punishing him (and herself) and focus on healing.

“Tonight,” she whispered. Her hands against his chest signaled Goku to step back. “Tonight,” she promised.

He looked hopeful. “Really?”

ChiChi nodded. “Yes. After dinner.”

“Why not now?”

ChiChi giggled. Her husband wasn’t a patient man when he got approval for something. “I have to get started on dinner. If you catch a fish, I won’t have to cook so much. I can clean up faster and we can be intimate sooner.”

Goku was sold with that idea. “I’ll bring home a big fish!”

“One fish, Goku,” ChiChi repeated.

Goku grinned. He understood. He wasn’t an idiot. “One fish! I’ll be back real soon, ChiChi!”

He was gonna get yelled at. He knew it and he admits he deserved it.

It was evening when Goku arrived home. The blue skies he remembered seeing when he left were fading to rich colors of orange, red and yellow. He left early enough to return in time for ChiChi to prepare the fish with her special blend of seasoning. It made the fish a lot tastier than eating it plain as he had for years. He took his time swimming and playing with the smaller fishes until he found the one he wanted.

A large fish lied on the grass as Goku dressed. Goku never wore a watch but he could tell the time of day from the direction of the sun. Over an hour had passed since he left home Goku realized. He meant to grab his fish and head home but something in the sky got his attention.

A full moon. It’s been years since he’s seen one and it was always at night. He never saw one in the daylight before except once. He think. He could’ve sworn at the 21st Martial Arts Tournament he saw a full moon. It was around sunset and he was fighting Jackie Chun. At least he thought he did. Part of that fight was a blur. He was so exhausted from the fight he passed out in the middle of it, and when he woke up, the tournament grounds were in ruins. It was like a wild party took place. No one told him what happened and Krillin didn’t make any sense with his accusations.

Goku quickly looked away. Grandpa told him to not look at the full moon because a monster always came out. That monster killed Grandpa and destroyed his home. Goku didn’t want that monster to come out now. Oh, he was strong enough to kill it but what if the monster came out when he wasn’t around and ChiChi was alone?

ChiChi.

He needed to hurry back. ChiChi will be mad if he didn’t return home soon.

Going home, Goku thought the fish wasn’t enough. He needed more. Weird but he felt he needed another kill. It was strange. Goku hunted animals to eat. He never did it for sport but now he wanted to. So, he entered the territories of the forest that were homes for the wilder animals. As he told ChiChi, the animals kept to themselves unless they were hunting for food. Goku decided he would be prey to lure them out. He found a tiger in pursuit of a wild boar. He smirked. Two easy kills. Goku dropped his fish and killed the wild boar with a clean hit. The tiger stumbled back at the sudden intrusion of his dinner. Goku picked up the wild boar, taunting he captured his meal. The tiger snarled, deciding Goku will be his meal. Goku grinned as the tiger pounced on him. The tiger will be his meal.

Over two hours later, Goku returned home with a wild boar under one arm, a tiger tossed over his shoulders and a fish in his other hand. He noticed ChiChi had her cleaning station (a custom made kitchen cart with drawers filled with cutting tools for large and wild animals) already rolled outside. He also noticed ChiChi had the firewood and rotisserie set up for the fish. Normally, ChiChi left Goku to do that. Her doing it meant she got tired of waiting for him, which meant she was upset.

Might as well get it over with, he decided. “I’m back!”

Less than a minute after his announcement, ChiChi opened the door. She was already annoyed but when she saw him, her annoyance turned to full blown anger. “Goku!” Yep, she was angry. “What is this?! I told you to get one fish!”

“I did.” He held the fish up for ChiChi’s inspection.

“That’s not all you got!” She pointed to his other kills. “A tiger and a wild boar?!”

“I was hungry,” Goku said casually. “And with these extra kill, I won’t have to hunt for a couple days. I’ll be home.” He hoped the last part would please her but it didn’t. It angered her even more and he found that oddly appealing.

“No wonder you’re so late.” Of all the animals for Goku to bring home, why a tiger? It wasn’t an easy animal to cut up. It was almost as bad as cutting up a bear. “It’s gonna take hours to cut up all this meat and it’s so late in the day, too.”

Goku placed the animals on the ground. He rest his hands on ChiChi’s shoulders. “Have you prepared your seasoning for the fish?” ChiChi nodded. “I’ll season the fish.”

ChiChi brushed off the idea. “Goku, you don’t know how to season a fish properly.”

“I’ll season the fish,” he repeated. “And while it’s grilling I’ll cut up the tiger and you can cut up the wild boar.”

ChiChi was speechless. Goku was offering to help? She placed a hand on his forehead. No fever. “Are you all right?”

Goku laughed. “Ah, come on, ChiChi. I can’t cook but I know how to cut meat.”

His gesture was sweet but ChiChi couldn’t let him do that. “I’ve finished cooking dinner. If you spend time with the fish and tiger, your food will get cold. I’ve eaten. Go eat. I’ll take care of the fish and tiger.”

Goku didn’t listen. His mind was made up. “Keep my food warm.”

Goku entered his home. He came out a moment later carrying the bowl of seasoning. He grabbed the fish and walked towards the firewood setup. ChiChi stared mystified as Goku placed the fish on the rotisserie and rubbed season on it (not as good as her) before setting the firewood ablaze. He rummage a drawer of the cleaning station for a large hook and a pair of gloves. He didn’t need the gloves but knew ChiChi would get on him about it. He picked up the tiger, clamp the hook on its head and hung the tiger from the tree of their front yard. Grabbing a knife and the outdoor trashcan used when they gut wild animals, Goku returned to the tiger to start the gutting and skin removal process.

What had come over her husband?

Goku knew how to skin and cut a tiger. He could do it without tools but ChiChi needed them. He helped her the first time he brought a tiger home, but after that one time, he left the work to her. Why was he volunteering now?

ChiChi kept dinner warm as Goku wanted all the while watching him work at near lighting speed breaking down the tiger. When Goku finished, he ate the dinner she cooked while ChiChi wrapped the tiger meat and stored it in the chest freezer purchased solely for the wild animals Goku brought home.

While ChiChi worked on the wild boar, Goku sat on the grass eating his fish. With the setting sun, the full moon rose higher in the sky. A flip of the outside lights allowed ChiChi to continue working. Finished with his fish, Goku remained outside to keep ChiChi company. Dinner left him full but not physically sated. That will be ChiChi’s job later.

As he waited, Goku found himself strangely drawn to the full moon again. Grandpa warned him to not look at it but right now, he didn’t care what Grandpa told him. It was so bright and mesmerizing. Why would Grandpa forbid him from seeing something so pretty?

Goku hissed. His body suddenly felt pricked with hundreds of tiny needles at once.

Ba-bump. Ba-bump. Ba-bump.

Why was his heart pounding so fast? What was this alien rush of energy filling his body?

What is this?

All his senses felt stronger and sharper. It was consuming. He tasted this feeling earlier after he caught that fish. Then, it was a drop. Now a bucket of it dropped on him, pouring in his skin and consuming his mind and body. He couldn’t explain it but somehow he felt this energy was connected to the full moon.

His eyes lingered on the white marble in the sky. This had to be the most he saw of the full moon in his lifetime. When he traveled the world after the 21st World Martial Arts Tournament, there wasn’t a full moon for him to look at. He was told Jackie Chun blew up the full moon. He never learned why. When he lived on Kami’s Temple, Mr. Popo told him Kami wanted to use the dragonballs to bring back the moon but Kami needed to permanently remove his tail to do so. Goku complied with Kami but looking back on it now, he felt deceived.

Goku laid on the mat exhausted. It was another grueling session with Mr. Popo. Even growing a few inches, Goku wasn’t able to defeat him. The only highlight from this beat down Goku knew he was closing in on Mr. Popo.

“That’s enough for today. I’ll start dinner.” Mr. Popo turned to leave but paused when Kami entered. “Kami.”

It was rare Goku saw the Guardian of Earth. He sat up, noticing Kami approaching with the seven dragonballs. They all floated around him as he walked.

“Are you gonna make another wish?” Two years ago Kami used the dragonballs to revive everyone killed by King Piccolo and his minions. As far as Goku knew, Earth was at peace and there wasn’t a need to use them.

“Yes, Goku. I want to wish back the moon.”

“Ohh….” When was the last time he saw the moon? “It’s been a gone a while, hasn’t it? Last time I saw it…..”

“It was at the 21 World Martial Arts Tournament,” Kami answered. “It was sunset.”

“It was?” Goku laughed nervously. He always felt embarrassed when others remembered things about him he didn’t. “I don’t remember. I guess I was too busy fighting Jackie Chun to notice.”

“Before I wish back the moon, Goku, I need to permanently remove your tail.”

“My tail?” Goku touched his brown, furry appendage. “Why?”

“Goku,” Kami was grim, “your tail causes problems with the full moon.”

“Like what?”

Kami appeared exasperated but Goku wasn’t giving up his tail without a reason. “You’re a special person, Goku. Maybe one day you’ll see how much but that tail has a nasty reaction to the full moon and needs to be removed.”

“I like having my tail,” Goku argued. “Why does the full moon not like it?”

“Goku,” Kami spoke calmly, “I wouldn’t be saying this if it wasn’t for your own good. Do you want your tail so much, you’ll allow it to cause trouble to the people of Earth?”

“What does my tail have to do with the people of Earth?” Goku questioned. “It’s not bothering them.”

“It is. You don’t know it. You have the tendency to not notice things around you that others see. You don’t notice being nude in public is wrong. It took you a while to realize rubbing people’s crotch is not the best way to determine if they are male or female. Shall I go on?”

When he put it that way, Kami had a point. His friends yelled at him when he was nude in public. Bulma would smack him for touching a girl on her privates. He loved his tail and wanted to keep it, but he was aware how people reacted to it. Everyone he’s encountered thought it was odd he had a tail. Perhaps, this is what Kami meant. Maybe he never noticed the problems his tail caused.

“Well, if it’s that much of a problem, I guess you gotta remove it.”

“I’d like to do it now,” Kami said. “Lie on your stomach.”

“Oh….” There was a slight reluctance in his voice. Did Kami have to do it now? Oh, well. He gave his consent. Goku rolled on his stomach and lowered his pants enough to flash his butt at Kami.

“I will make this as painless as possible but it will hurt.” Kami pointed at Goku’s tail. A small spark of energy left his finger and surrounded Goku’s tail before falling off. It was a mild sting and not the sharp pain he felt when Grandpa pulled it off at Baba’s Palace. Goku thought it was over but another longer burst of energy struck his tail stub. This feeling made him think his insides were on fire.

When Kami pulled away, Goku touched his burning backside. It stung so badly! Goku tried to pull himself up but to his shock, he couldn’t. He was paralyzed from the waist down. Feeling betrayed, he snarled at Kami. “What the hell did you do to me?! I can’t move!”

“I permanently removed your tail. I had to burn some nerves to prevent any regrowth. You won’t be able to move for a while.”

“A while?!” Goku growled. “How long?!”

Kami turned on his heels. The dragonballs floated around him as he walked away. “Probably a day. Thank you, Goku.”

Now looking back on it, Goku wondered if Kami told him the truth. At the time, Goku trusted him. Kami wasn’t King Piccolo so he didn’t believe he was deceived. Now, he wasn’t so sure.

“Goku?” Goku turned to the sound of ChiChi’s voice. She looked worried. “What’s wrong? You look upset.”

She he could trust. ChiChi was always honest with him; even in things that bothered him. ChiChi had a way of making him understand things. Maybe if he told her, she could explain why Kami did what he did. “Kami permanently removed my tail. He said he couldn’t wish the moon back if I still have it. He said it would cause a lot problems with the moon.”

“I remember your tail.” ChiChi pulled a sheet of plastic wrap and proceeded to tightly wrap the meat in it. “But how is it a problem with the moon? You lived many years with your tail and nothing has happened to Earth.”

Goku smiled. He knew ChiChi would understand. “I thought that, too, but Kami insisted it. He said it was a problem and I should get rid of it. I let him but I don’t think he was honest about it.”

ChiChi put the meat aside and worked on the next slab. “Well, maybe he only said that so he can cut your tail. Maybe he did it to protect you.”

“Protect me?”

“Adults don’t have tails,” ChiChi added the wrapped meat to the growing pile and started over again. “Kids don’t either. If you walk around with a tail, it will bring unneeded attention. People may think something is wrong with you. Maybe Kami was protecting you from scrutiny.”

She had a point. Everyone, even his own friends, questioned why he had a tail. Maybe Kami was looking out for him. “Why didn’t he say that, ChiChi?”

ChiChi wiped a brow. She finished wrapping the boar meat. She grabbed most of the meat and put it in Goku’s arms. She took the rest and entered their home. Goku followed ChiChi into the kitchen. “Maybe he thought you will figure it out on your own.” ChiChi opened the chest freezer. She rearranged some of the tiger meat so she could place the boar she held inside. She grabbed a couple in Goku’s arms and placed them in the freezer. “I wouldn’t mind seeing you with a tail as an adult.”

Her confession surprised him. “You would?”

“I think you would’ve looked cute.” She winked at him. “I would’ve pulled it again, too.”

Goku smirked. He knew she would’ve. “You wouldn’t have weakened me this time. I trained so it didn’t hurt when anyone pulled my tail.”

ChiChi flashed him a sly grin as she patted his tail stub over his clothes. She saw the visible reaction on his face. “You haven’t trained that.” ChiChi took the remainder of the meat and placed it in the freezer. She shuffled the tiger and wild boar meat around until all were packed inside. She sighed, “Goku, next time listen to me when I tell you how much meat to bring back.” The meat was put away but there was still a lot to do. Dinner dishes filled the sink and littered the table. Her floor was dirty, too with her and Goku trampling back and forth in the kitchen from outside. She sighed, “Perfect.”

ChiChi grabbed a soapy, wet sponge, a drying cloth and left the house. Goku followed her outside. He leaned against the doorframe to watch ChiChi rinse off the kitchen cart with a water hose before scrubbing it down with her soapy sponge.

ChiChi, noticing Goku outside with her, said, “Goku, since you’re out here, go ahead and dump the tiger and boar remains. I don’t want that can lingering out here all night. I also want to go to the market tomorrow. We can sell the tiger skin to Mr. Kozak again.”

ChiChi’s words were garbled to Goku for his eyes lingered on her. ChiChi said they will be intimate after dinner. Dinner was over but ChiChi was cleaning up. He should let her work but a look at the moon told him he waited enough.

Goku approached ChiChi who was rinsing soap off her cart. He hugged her from behind and dropped kisses along her neck.

ChiChi squirmed out of Goku’s hold. “No, Goku. I’m covered in animal guts and blood.”

“So am I,” he whispered as he took hold of her again. “You smell divine.” He licked her neck. “Taste divine.”

ChiChi pushed him away. “Not now. I got work to do and so do you.” She pointed to the can again. “Get rid of those remains.”

His emotions were all over the map. Her rejection annoyed him but it also stirred him. He felt challenged by it. She resist now but he’ll have his way with her. At the moment, ChiChi was still cleaning up. She was too focused on her work to give him the proper attention he deserved. He wouldn’t like it if his training was interrupted. That alone kept him from grabbing ChiChi and carrying her in the house. He’ll let her have her way for now. He stepped back and leaned against the door waiting for her.

ChiChi noticed this as she dried the cart. “Goku, I really wish you would dump those remains now. I don’t want that can lingering outside all night. Last time you did that, there were small animals crowding that can the next morning.”

“I’ll do it after you’re finished out here.”

ChiChi was confused. “Why?”

Goku stared at ChiChi as if she grew two heads. “It’s dark out here and you’re my wife. I’m not leaving you out here to work by yourself.”

ChiChi raised her eyebrows at him. “Really? You’ve done it before.”

He was grimly aware of that. ChiChi wanted to try out a grill her Dad gifted them. A heavy storm approached during dinner forcing Goku and ChiChi inside. It wasn’t until nightfall when the skies cleared for ChiChi to clean up. Goku took a bath and went to sleep. Looking back, he didn’t understand why he did that. “I was an idiot.”

She’ll have to take his temperature. He had to be burning a fever. She picked up the dirty cutting tools. “I’m finished out here. Before you dump that can, you can push the cleaning station back in the pantry.” Goku did so, following ChiChi back in the house as she carried the cleaning tools used to cut up the tiger and boar. She placed those on the table.

Goku stepped out of the pantry. He went to ChiChi’s side. “Anything else you want me to do before I go?”

Okay. That was it! She had enough of Goku’s strange behavior. ChiChi placed a hand on his forehead. “You don’t have a fever.”

He removed her hand. “Why do you think that?”

“You’re acting different tonight.”

“I feel fine.”

ChiChi didn’t think so. “Maybe the fresh air outside will have you acting like yourself again.” She shooed him away. “Go. I got a lot of work to do.”

Goku relented and left. He grabbed the can and ventured deep in the forest. He always dump the remains in animal territories for them to eat. Goku took his time walking back. He stared at the full moon occasionally. He imagine ChiChi waiting on him. Maybe she wore one of those short night clothes like she did on their wedding night. Maybe she wasn’t wearing anything at all. He would prefer that but knew ChiChi wasn’t like that.

No matter how she dressed, Goku knew she will smell good. She always did, but as nice as her everyday scent was, it wasn’t as pleasant as ChiChi’s other scent. He licked his lips. He love ChiChi’s intimate scent. Just thinking about ChiChi intimately, rocked his body. She was strong rejecting him but he knew he will not tolerate that rejection when he got back. He was filled with an unknown needed to dominate her. Not in a violent way he reasoned. No, he wanted to bury his head between her legs and taste her to his heart’s content. He wanted her with her legs open to him as he moved in and out of her, he wanted to hear her moan, say his name on her lips.

He rubbed the back of his neck. Maybe he was running a fever. His body felt hotter than usual. He had an intense desire to be intimate with ChiChi. He felt it before but never this strong.

When he returned home, he removed his boots at the door. He entered the kitchen. The dishes were washed and put away, the floor was mopped clean and ChiChi was at the kitchen counter seasoning meat.

What the hell? Why wasn’t ChiChi in bed waiting for him?

“I’m back,” Goku announced.

“Welcome back.” ChiChi had her back to him. “You took your time. You didn’t run into any wild animals, did you?”

“No,” he stepped in the kitchen. “I took my time because I thought you’d be finished when I got back. I thought you would be in bed.”

ChiChi didn’t noticed the rising annoyance in Goku’s voice as she explained, “I wanted to prepare the boar meat for tomorrow’s dinner. I figured I’ll do it now so I won’t have to tomorrow. You caught a big one. We might even have leftovers.”

Goku didn’t care about that. He was upset with her. ChiChi said she needed time to clean up. He gave her that but instead of being in bed waiting for him, she stayed in the kitchen to prepare tomorrow’s dinner? That could’ve waited until tomorrow! He wanted her now and felt ChiChi was doing tonight, what she had been doing the past two weeks, finding ways to not be intimate with him. “I want you to come to bed with me.”

Again, ChiChi didn’t detect the change in his voice. “I will when I’m done. Go take a shower and go to bed.”

Goku narrowed his eyes as he approached her. He had enough of this. “I don’t think you heard me. I want you to come to bed. Now.”

ChiChi turned, aware of his tone and the annoyance on Goku’s face. Was he getting angry with her for something that was his fault? “Well, I would be in bed now if you hadn’t caught all this meat! I told you to get one fish for dinner. You came back with a fish, a tiger and a wild boar. I appreciate you cutting up the tiger meat but I’m still doing most of the work! I’m the one who has to clean everything up! I’m the one who’s going to cook this meat so if I want to spend a little more time tonight getting a head start on tomorrow’s dinner, I will! Don’t get upset with me I’m not in bed with you! Blame yourself!!” She turned her back on him and continued her work. She stopped and sighed, regretting yelling at Goku. Her quick temper. It was definitely a problem. Speaking calmer, she told him, “I’ll come to bed as soon as I finish.”

ChiChi felt a pair of hands on her waist. Her body whipped around to face Goku. “Goku, I said---“ she was silenced with his lips against hers. Her wide eyes, slowly closed. Her mouth easily open under his demanding tongue. This was like the kiss in Gohan’s home except it was even more intense and when Goku kissed her like this, he often forgot how stronger his lungs are compared to hers. It left her pounding a fist against his chest as a signal she needed to breathe.

Goku pulled away, grinning and feeling very satisfied with himself at how breathless his kisses left her. “Your anger boils my blood. I love it.”

“Huh?”

Goku turned ChiChi around to the meat. He slapped her rear. “Finish your work. I’ll be waiting.”

ChiChi touched her rear, watching Goku walk away. He’s never done that before. “Goku?” ChiChi called. He turned around. “What’s wrong?”

He stood in the doorway. Wrong? Nothing was wrong with him. He was a man who wanted his wife. “What’s wrong with you?” he turned the question back on her.

“It’s not me. It’s you,” she accused him. Even now, there was something visibly different about him. “You’re looking at me like you wanna eat me.”

“I do,” he said honestly as he returned to her. ChiChi leaned against the counter while Goku loomed over her leaving a razor edge space between them. His hot breath fanned her face as he told her, “I want to bury my head between your legs and lick you till I’m full of your sweet taste.”

ChiChi’s eyes widen. Lick her until……? Heat rushed to her face. “Goku, don’t talk like that.”

“Why?” He buried his face in her neck. He gently nipped her skin. A hand moved up to squeeze a breast. “Don’t you like it?”

Well, she did but it wasn’t appropriate. At least, she thought it wasn’t. “I’m dirty.”

He inhaled. “I’ll lick any dirt off you. I like tasting you.”

“I…..I….” He rubbed his lower body against her. “I really have to finish…..”

He suckled her neck. “I don’t think you want me to leave.”

With him talking in that low voice, subtly rubbing against her while groping her, of course not! As pleasurable he made her feel now, she still knew something wasn’t right. She had to fight her growing desires and focus on her husband’s behavior. It was troubling.

Goku felt ChiChi quiver against his touches. It wasn’t the good kind. His eyebrows went up as he studied her wide eye face. “You’re shivering. Do I scare you?”

“No,” she quickly said. His hard stare had her confessing. “You’re making me a little nervous. You’ve never been this way before.”

“Is it a bad thing?”

“A little since I don’t know what to expect.”

Her words caused his lips to turn upward. “So you fear the unknown with me? Have I ever hurt you?”

“Not intentionally.”

Those words were like a dagger to his chest. He knew when he unintentionally hurt her. That fight. It had more repercussions than he realized. A gentle hand cup one side of her face. “I will never intentionally hurt you. Do you know why?” ChiChi shook her head. “Because you’re my wife. You’re mine. I don’t intentionally hurt what’s mine.”

Her heart thumped wildly against her chest. What was coming over Goku that he talked like this?

“I hurt you a couple weeks ago when I didn’t come home. I hurt you threatening to end our marriage. I know it still bothers you. Let me make it up to you. Let me show you how sorry I am and how badly I want to erase these negative feelings you have towards me.”

The way he looked at her; so imploring. It was similar to his behavior hours ago. Similar, but not exact. She knew Goku was sorry about the pain he caused and wanted to atone for that. He had been trying for two weeks and she resisted. To her, his actions tonight were finally clear. They were a result of Goku trying to make up to her. She relaxed finally understanding her complicated husband. “All right, Goku.”

Her consent bolstered his confidence. “How about after you finish, we soak in the cauldron.” If she had any doubts about his idea, he thought he would convince her with, “I remember you saying it will be romantic if we soak in it under the moonlight. There’s a full moon tonight.”

A smile broke on her pretty face. “You remember me saying that?” At his nod, her smile. “Okay.”

“Good. I’ll set up everything.”

ChiChi stared as Goku nearly sprinted outside. He was acting strange but it was a good kind of strange. He was doing more, helping her with preparing their food, getting the cauldron set up outside for them. There was also the way he made it clear he wanted her sexually. He was never so forward with his words! Thinking of it, still made her face hot.

Her own body buzzed with anticipation on what they will do later. It had her rushing to finish up prepping tomorrow’s dinner.

When ChiChi finished, she checked on Goku. He was filling the cauldron with water. While he did that, ChiChi decided she will take a quick shower before soaking in the cauldron. She felt so dirty after cutting up so much meat. ChiChi pinned up her long hair in a bun before stepping in the hot shower. She lathered her sponge and vigorously scrubbed her skin.

This was the image that welcomed Goku. He entered the kitchen, ready to tell ChiChi the water was ready. When he didn’t see her, he followed her Ki to their bathroom where he was walked upon a very beautiful sight. Smirking, he removed his clothes and stepped in the shower.

ChiChi didn’t hear the bathroom door open but she did hear the sound of the shower door opening. ChiChi turned ready to strike but a strong hand caught her wrists. The strong hand belonged to her smirking husband. “Goku, don’t sneak up on me like that.” She turned her back on him and continued rubbing the sponge over her body. “Why are you in here?”

Goku chuckled. Why? “I came looking for you. The water is ready. Why are you in here?”

“Oh. Well, I wanted to get some dirt off me before I soak in the cauldron.”

“Maybe I should do the same.” He stepped under the shower water getting himself wet. He took ChiChi’s soapy sponge and scrubbed himself down.

“Goku, that was my sponge. What will I use now?”

Goku grinned in response as he dropped the sponge on the shower floor. “My hands.”

“What?” she gasped as Goku suddenly turned her around and pulled her under the water. “Goku…” her breath hitch as one soapy hand squeezed a breast and the other slipped between her legs. “Goku….this isn’t exactly what I had in mind.”

“It’s what I had.” He moved his lips along her neck. “Relax,” Goku whispered against her. He continued to knead her breasts and stroke between her legs. He touched her before but never like this. It was so bold and arousing. Water sluiced down their bodies as ChiChi’s eyes closed and she gave in to the emotions Goku stirred in her. With his mouth sucking her neck, one hand taking turns kneading and pinching her breasts and the other stroking the sensitive area between her legs, it didn’t take long for her orgasm to hit.

She felt Goku pull her from the direct spray of the water. Her back pressed against the cool, wet tiles as she recovered. “Why did you do that?”

“Why not?” He licked his fingers. She tasted wonderful. He decided he needed more before they soak in the cauldron.

ChiChi watch Goku kneel before her. Wait. He couldn’t be thinking…. “No, Goku. We take showers here. We don’t…..oooohhhh.” He placed his mouth on her while his tongue licked her outer mound. ChiChi squirmed under his probing tongue. Her fingers ran through his wet hair, and with a gentle tug, ChiChi pushed Goku in deeper. She should’ve known someone who ate so much would be so good at his.

He was evil. Her husband was evil. He had to be doing this to her. The way he used his tongue on her with slow then quick licks and circling against her hardened nub reducing her to begging. A few licks and she was close but then Goku pulled away, moving that wicked tongue of his in her inner cavern. When her eyes met his, he looked wicked as if he was enjoying taunting her, bringing her close only to pull back. His torture reduced her to begging he stop but he didn’t. He took joy in tormenting her.

Both hands gripped his hair and pushed him against her hip. A few moans and yeses rolled from her lips as she grind against his wicked face. His tongue probe deeper forcing a blessed release from her. Goku held her thighs to steady her as the aftershocks of her orgasm rolled from her body.

ChiChi steadied herself against the smooth wall. The bun in her hair had loosen. Her chest heave with erratic, labored breathing, her eyes half lidded with desire as Goku rose to his feet. Wrapping an arm around his neck, she yanked him to her and kissed him. She enjoyed the taste of his mouth as her tongue dominated his. Goku placed his hands on her hips and pulled her against. Another moan sounded from her as she felt his hardness pressed against her wet body. She broke the kiss and her desirous eyes met Goku’s. She knew what he wanted.

ChiChi started to move down but Goku stopped her. She gazed at him puzzled. Didn’t he want this? She gasped feeling Goku lift her and press her firmly against the wall. Spreading her legs, he easily slid into her wet channel. ChiChi wrapped her legs around Goku’s waist as he pushed deep inside her.

This is wrong she tried to tell herself. Couples shower in the shower. They don’t have sex in the shower but with each movement in and out of her, with each smack of his hardness against her soft cushion, the less wrong it was and the more right it felt.

“How does it feel?” Goku grinned at her as he pummeled deeper, causing ChiChi’s voice to get higher with each thrust. “Have you been missing this as much as me?”

“Yes,” ChiChi whimpered. “More….” She begged. “I need more.”

The look he gave her was downright evil! But he gave her what she wanted. Pressed between the tile wall and the rock-hard body of her husband, ChiChi felt no pretense of gentleness with his thrusts. Her fingernails rake across his back, welcoming his forcefulness, loving him pushing her over the edge again.

Spent, she watch Goku tilt his head back and roar his release. It was scary the first few times she saw his pupils disappear and watch him roar. Now it was a huge turn on watching how he came and feeling him spurt his seed inside her flesh.

“I think…” she rest her head against his shoulder, panting. The bun in her hair fell apart at last, leaving her wet, silky hair to cling to her body. “I think we need another shower.” She exhaled heavily. “A real one this time.”

Goku pulled her back under the showerhead. They let the water cleanse them. When they finished, Goku turned off the water and carried ChiChi out of the shower. Goku grabbed a couple of big towels at ChiChi’s request and left the room. He carried her outside, walking on the runner rug ChiChi purchased after he brought home the cauldron. ChiChi dipped her hand in the large, hot pot of water. When ChiChi told him it was ready, he lowered ChiChi in the cauldron.

“Ahhhh,” she moaned. “This water is so perfect!” She felt Goku climb in behind her.

“It can be a little hotter but it’s fine.” Sitting in the cauldron, he gently pulled ChiChi to sit with him. He was pleased ChiChi got the message and nestled against him.

“Oh, you always think the water should be hotter. You love boiling your skin.” ChiChi kissed his cheek. “Thank you for this. This is just what I needed after all that work earlier.” She blushed. “And our fun in the shower.” She giggled. “I still can’t believe we did that.”

It wasn’t over Goku decided. He had other plans. His hand touched the back of ChiChi’s neck. He pulled her forward to bring her lips to his. His hand moved to cup her face, deepening the kiss. Before ChiChi could signal she needed air, Goku moved his lips to her neck. She caressed his hair, murmuring his name as Goku nip and lick her.

“You smell so good,” Goku murmured, his teeth grazing her skin. “I just wanna eat you.” One hand grabbed a breast. As he squeezed the breast, his mouth suckled her nipple.

ChiChi’s head fell back under Goku’s ministrations. She felt his other hand slide in the water between her legs again. Goku was intense tonight! Being intimate in the shower and now he wanted to fool around in the cauldron. This couldn’t be the result of her holding off for two weeks. He wasn’t this bad after her period was over. There had to be something else going she told herself. As he switched to the other breast, ChiChi became less focused on that and on the feelings Goku stirred in her again.

Goku moved up to grasps ChiChi’s ear between his teeth. She shuddered feeling his tongue licking the sensitive skin. The more intimate they became, the more they learned about each other; what touch made them sensitive and weak to each other’s ministrations. One of ChiChi’s spots was Goku nibbling her ear while stroking between her legs. That combination always sent her over the edge fast. However, ChiChi had other plans now. She wanted to return what Goku was giving her. A trembling hand slid down his back. She struggled to hold on while reaching one of Goku’s weak points. The tail stub.

Gentle fingers caressing the spot had Goku ceased his playful attack on ChiChi. He hissed as his whole body stiffened at the touch. His head snapped back and his eyes caught a full view of the full moon. Again tonight, he felt a mesmerizing pull of the white globe. That with ChiChi’s caresses had his body strumming with excitement.

He grabbed her hand and pulled it away. He smirked as he whipped her around so her backside pressed against him. “I need you again,” he whispered against her ear.

He lift her hands and forced them to grip the edge of the cauldron. ChiChi felt him open her legs and rubbed his hardness against her backside. They’ve been in this position but never in the cauldron. She could spread her legs but not as wide as she prefer. “Goku, maybe we shouldn’t….ahhh,” she moaned feeling Goku slip inside her.

“It’s snug,” he groaned. “But we can do it.”

“AH!” she cried out as Goku thrust her. She tightened her grip on the cauldron as Goku fondled her breasts while he thrust into her

Goku couldn’t help himself. Outside under the full moon, he felt even more brazen. He started off slow, thrusting in ChiChi, testing her reaction. The full moon possessed him and ChiChi, with her compelling scent, hypnotized him. Goku thrust harder, hammering in ChiChi from behind. He could feel ChiChi tightened her hold on the cauldron. She was squeezing him tightly, too. She bit her lip trying to subdue her screams. Goku had other ideas.

“Don’t be quiet,” he told her. “I wanna hear you scream.” He pushed harder and ChiChi cried out. “Scream,” he commanded. ChiChi gave into his demand. The action thrilled him and he rewarded her with more thrusts. Water sloshed around and outside the cauldron.

ChiChi’s shuddering release spurn Goku to let go. He sank his teeth in her shoulder, burying his roar while filling her womb with his seed.

The only sounds heard in the night were the heavy panting of a husband and his wife. While Goku had more energy than his wife, it was ChiChi who spoke first.

“When did you become a biter?”

Goku, for his part, licked the bitten skin. “Felt like it. You’re not bleeding.”

“Good for you,” she joked. “Otherwise, you’d be a dead man.”

“Are you tired?” Goku settled back in the hot water with ChiChi next to him.

“No,” ChiChi rest her head on his shoulder. “I just need to catch my breath.”

“That’s all?” He felt her lowered Ki. She was tired and knowing he caused it, left him feeling smug. “I thought I was wearing you out. I got you to come four times already.”

ChiChi lightly slapped his chest. “That’s not enough to wear me out.”

Probably not. Right now she needed to recover. Once they exit the cauldron, she should be ready again. “I’m glad I picked a strong wife.”

“You picked?” She smirked at him. “I chose you.”

“Yeah,” his hand slid between her legs, giving her a familiar pat, “But I started it.”

ChiChi giggled. “You did. I’m glad you touched me there when we met. I know it didn’t mean the same to you as me but I’m glad you did it. I wouldn’t be your wife if you didn’t.”

“You would be someone else’s wife, wouldn’t you?” He didn’t mean to sound harsh but the thought of ChiChi as someone else’s wife irritated him. It annoyed him even more as he thought of who would’ve been ChiChi’s husband. “You would’ve been Kaifun’s wife.”

“Maybe.” She said it casually but it angered Goku. “It could’ve been some other suitor. I had plenty.”

“They haven’t been as persistent as Kaifun. We’re married. Why hasn’t he accepted that?”

The anger over Goku’s normally happy face was surprising to ChiChi. He couldn’t be jealous, could he? ChiChi didn’t give Goku any reason for him to feel jealous. “He really bothers you, doesn’t he?”

That was another thing that bothered Goku about Kaifun. Goku always considered himself easy going and able to get along with anyone. He didn’t have any hate towards anyone or anything except the Full Moon Monster and King Piccolo. Kaifun hadn’t killed anyone but it really got under his skin how Kaifun wanted ChiChi. “I don’t like he was in our house alone with you after our fight. I don’t like he still wants you as his wife.”

ChiChi imagined if Goku knew what Kaifun said, Goku would fly off and pummel Kaifun. It would be what he deserved but ChiChi knew Goku would feel guilty about it later. “You know nothing happened between me and Kaifun.”

“I know but I don’t want him alone with you.” He gripped her shoulders. “Promise me Kaifun will never be alone with you.”

Goku never made any demands. If it bothers him this much, what could she do other than obey his simple request? “I promise to not intentionally be alone with Kaifun. If he shows up to our home, I will send him away. If I have to be in the same room with him, I’ll make sure you or another person is there, too.”

He had ChiChi’s word. That was good enough for him.

He was assured of her promise but ChiChi wanted to assure Goku he had nothing to worry about. “Kaifun is harmless. He may want me but I don’t want him. He’s not husband material for me and whenever he made his intentions known I always shut him down. He knows it’s you I always wanted. Someday he’ll understand.”

“You’re my wife. Kaifun needs to get his own wife instead of waiting for us to get a divorce.”

“That’s right, Goku. I’m your wife.” ChiChi wrapped her arms around his neck, “And I’m not going anywhere. You don’t need to worry about Kaifun. He may want me as his wife and he may foolishly wait for something that will never happen between us but he will never have me. I’m yours. Always and forever.”

“You’re mine?” His arms wrapped around hers. He wanted her promise again. “Always and forever?”

ChiChi answered with a kiss. “That’s right.” The smile returned to Goku’s face and it pleased ChiChi to her heart’s content. This is how she wanted to see her husband. Happy.

After an hour of soaking, talking and kissing, Goku and ChiChi got out of the cauldron. ChiChi wrapped herself in a big fluffy towel. “That was fun. Although I was a little concern.”

“Concern?” Goku questioned as he put out the fire under the cauldron.

“I wasn’t sure the cauldron would hold up. We were rocking it pretty hard.” ChiChi giggled. “Even some of the water splashed out.” ChiChi playfully slapped his chest for the sudden grin. “Don’t look so smug.”

Goku giggled. “I can’t help it.” ChiChi blotted his towel over his hair, rubbed it against his chest before wrapping it securely around his waist. “You’re gonna spoil me pampering me like this.”

“You spoil me by being with me,” ChiChi returned the compliment.

Holding hands, they walked back to the house. Once inside their home, ChiChi said, “If making up for fights turns out like this, we should fight more often.”

Goku gazed at ChiChi. With her long hair, her pink cheeks, the serene peace on her face, ChiChi was downright beautiful in his eyes. How did he hurt this compelling woman? “I won’t hurt you again.”

ChiChi wished she could believe her husband but she knew that wasn’t true. She turned to him and linked both his hands in hers. “We have a long life ahead of us, Goku. One thing Dad told me about marriage is that we will hurt each other. We won’t mean to but it’ll happen. What we can do is love, forgive and work through the hurt we will cause.”

“Then I’ll do that,” Goku promised. “I promise you, ChiChi.”

ChiChi went into his arms. Her head rest against his chest. The strong beat of his heart was soothing as were his arms that suddenly wrapped around her. “That’s all I need.”

When Goku woke up the next morning, he knew it was late. It was late because the sun was up and judging how the light shined in the room, the sun was up for a few hours.

Why did ChiChi let him sleep so late? She always woke him up if she thought he was sleeping too late. Something caught his peripheral. He turned his head and saw ChiChi sleeping in bed. Why was she still sleeping? ChiChi was always up at this time making breakfast. ChiChi was naked, too. When she slept nude that meant they were intimate.

Goku rubbed the back of his head. Last night was fuzzy. The last thing he clearly remembered was catching a fish. After that, there were glimpses of last night. He remembered ChiChi yelling at him for bringing home three animals. Three? He was only gonna hunt a fish. Why did he kill a tiger and wild boar, too? Still thinking he remembered showering with ChiChi and….that wasn’t showering at that moment. They soak in the cauldron but it was foggy again. The next faint memory occurred in the kitchen……

ChiChi never allowed sex in the kitchen and she did that to him?!

Goku turned to ChiChi again. She was drenched in her and his scent. There was plenty of physical evidence of their intimacy, too. ChiChi’s skin had pink bite marks on her shoulders, lower back and her butt. Goku caressed the marks on her shoulder. Didn’t look like she bled but did it hurt when he bit her? Why did he bite her?

Goku caressing the bite marks were enough to stir ChiChi awake. He removed his hand, unsure how ChiChi will react to him touching her. He couldn’t remember how she reacted to him biting her. She could be very mad now.

ChiChi didn’t look his way. Instead, she looked at the clock on the nightstand. “It’s almost ten. Go….” She rolled over to face, “…ku.” She relaxed. “How long have you been up?”

“Just woke up.”

ChiChi sat up in bed. “You must be hungry. I never slept so late before.” She smiled at him. “Then again, I never had a night like last night before.”

“About that…..” he said slowly. “What happened last night?”

“You are what happened. You were insatiable.” When Goku continued to look lost, ChiChi’s smile faded. “What’s the matter?”

If he told her he doesn’t remember everything from last night, ChiChi would worry. He didn’t want her to worry. Goku saw pink bite marks on ChiChi’s breasts, stomach and thighs. He touched the mark over her left breast. Images flashed in his mind. They were in bed when this happened. He remembered sinking his teeth in ChiChi’s flesh. He also remembered the hard whack he received for it. “Did it hurt?”

“When you bit my breasts, yes, but not the other areas.” Her heart warmed at Goku pressing soft kisses at the bite marks on her breasts. Her sweet Goku. “I forgive you. Now let me go. I have to make us breakfast.”

Goku released her. “Okay.” He kept a smile on his face as he watched ChiChi enter the bathroom. Alone, the smile faded to a frown. He laid on his back, hands behind his head as he stared at the ceiling troubled.

What happened to him to be so aggressive with ChiChi? Why was he having trouble remembering last night? He didn’t like this feeling of unawareness.

Last time he was unaware like this, he woke up to find his home in ruins and later on, the mangled remains of his grandpa. He heard the running water of the shower. What if….what if he woke up to find ChiChi like his grandpa.

No, he vowed. He won’t let that happen.

Part Ten: The Announcement

AN: My version of Goku under the Full Moon influence is tame compared to how others write him and that’s how I prefer it. For me, I think while Goku would be aggressive, he wouldn’t be abusive. He’ll want intimacy with his wife and while a little rougher he wouldn’t be forceful. I also think without his tail, Goku wouldn’t be immediately affected by the full moon. I think it will slowly affect him but the feelings could be expedited if he continues to stare at it. Also with the tail, kid Goku had no memory of turning into a monster and causing destruction. I think Goku without his tail would remember some but his memories will still be fuzzy.

Thanks for the read and likes! 😊

#goku #chichi #Life With You #gochi #fanfiction #Dragon Ball Z #Part Nine

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