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ghostssimp · 1 year

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//ass beating//Simon Ghost Riley

A/N

So, this is first one of me on Tumblr. Still not sure how this really works, so I hope I did good for first time.

Usually I write on wattpad, but I wanted to try something new and do some one-shots.

Sorry for the mistakes, or grammar english is not my first language, but I hope you enjoy this. And I'm open for requests!

Ghost wasn't easy on anyone. Including you. Wasn't easy from the first day that you entered the room, joining the team. You don't blame him entirely. You didn't like him either.

At least that's what you kept telling yourself.

He's been on your mind lately, and it annoyed you. The way his hooded eyes watched your every step. The way he stands close to you when the two of you argue over anything. The way he walks. The way his hips sway. The way he is huge before you. He was the giant that seemed to wait to crush you under his foot.

But you? Oh you were the little thorn in his eye. You knew how to give him hell out there. You were so stubborn and he couldn't gain control over you. You were sure that's the reason he couldn't stand you. You didn't let him bark you around. You couldn't be silent.

And now, it made him go mad.

Price sent you Ghost and Soap to a mission. You and Soap went well togehter, the two of you talked through the whole mission. That's what got on Ghost's nerves, there wasn't even a minute of silence. Most of the time, you don't even want to talk that much, but you loved doing it because it was going on his nerves.

The three of you had to question one of the puppets of mafia to find out where the boss is hiding. He got to codes of important locations and he had to be eliminated.

Ghost throws pictures on the table. It was younger man, with brown styled hair up, facial beard that's neatly done and piercing cold blue eyes. He looks like he's in good shape and pretty good looking.

"Damian Ergala. He's the leader of a nightclub Midnight. Highly secured, can mostly be seen there. We can't just barge in and make a mess, it will end up everywhere and we're back at the beginning." Ghost spoke crossing his arms. His sleeves were pulled back so his tattoos are visible and his arms are flexing. It made you look for a bit.

"So what we do then? Go in and get him while he's all alone?" Soap frowns looking at the two of you. You shake your head, coming to an idea. "Negative. He's never alone if he has such a security. I've got one idea."

You meet Ghost's hooded eyes. He didn't look like he cared, but Soap was all ears. "Well, let's hear it we don't have whole damn day." Rolling your eyes at Ghost, you give a little devil smile at Soap.

You sit at the bar, loud music banging in your ears. There's a coctail in your hand that you ocassionaly bring to your red painted lips. You're at your best right now. Hair curled up sprayed on your shoulders, make up, luttle tight red dress and black heels. When you met with Soap and Ghost, Soap whisteled while Ghost was looking you up and down.

Soap should be somewhere near, while Ghost is watching your back from the shadows. You're waiting for Damian to show himself somewhere.

When you said your plan, Ghost didn't agree on first. He again didn't like it because it was your plan you thought. Soap said it was brilliant, and it would be easy. It was, and you should be over with it in a blink of an eye. And it made you feel relaxed, to get ready and go out even if it was for a mission. You don't remember when was the last time you were dolled up and gave yourself a chance to drink. Luckily it didn't have a bad influence on you, you could drink a lot without even getting buzzed.

A warm hand found the bare place of your back and your head turns slightly to see Soap looking you up and down. All part of an act of course.

"What a pretty lady like you does here all alone?" he leans a little closer so you can hear him over the music. Chuckle bubbles through you as you bite your lower lip. "Oh, you know. Just here to capture someone. Maybe kill him whatever." Soap laughs at you.

"Can the two of you focus?" Ghost's annoyed voice came through the earpiece. You roll your eyes. "Lt, don't be bitchy because you didn't get all the fun."

"That's not my kind of fun." Of course. Ghost wasn't a type of person that would go out and party. He wasn't the person to get wrecked and wasted. He is calm and steady. He is all nose in the work. You knew it and it made you like him. But you loved to tease him.

"Yeah we know, your kind of fun is being closed in your room in the dark, probbably touching yourself." Soap gave you a side eye and a little smile. You bite your lip. Okay, you would never say that to him, so probbably you had a little too much to drink.

"Banshee, focus on the mission more, and less on my night routine or else I'll bend you over and fucking beat your ass." Your face flushed and Soap laughed out loud. You clear your throat, as your eyes fell on a figure among the crowd. Damian entered the party.

You catch Soaps hand and pull him to the floor. "Let's dance pretty boy." The two of you were in the middle of dance floor, dancing with each other. Few times you had to put Soap's hands on your waist because he didn't want to make you feel bad, but if he didn't you wouldn't look convincing. Damian finally catched your eye, and looked as you lowered yourself down, never breaking the eye contact. "Banshee, calm down." Ghost's rough voice came again. "I'm going in." You pull away from Soap and walk through the crowd. Damian sat alone with bodyguards. As you approached, he spreaded his legs more and you swear you saw him flex his muscles. His bodyguards looked over him when you stopped in front of them, and he nodded to them.

Few minutes in, and you were seated next to him, his arm arround your shoulders, while his other hand found the inner of your leg. "What do you say we take this somewhere more private?" Your fake smile was all it took him to bring you into his private room.

His lips found your neck as his hands grabbed your ass. You laugh as you push him away. "Calm down tiger, you can't get everything at once." He groans and wants to take another step towards you, but you pull out a knife that was well hidden and put it to his throat. His eyes went wide and his breath hitched. "Oh, you didn't really think you'll get some, did you?" You rise your eyebrow. His brows furrowed and you can visibly see he's mad.

"You won't get far with the bodyguards at my door." Just then, the two men barged through the door. Glowed hand with skeleton print pulled the gun next to your head and he pulls himself closer to you so your breath hitches a little.

"Think twice." Ghost says into your ear and shiver runs down your back.

When it was all over you were retreated in your room, getting in some sweatpants and a top, washing all the makeup of you. Knock on your door took you by surprise. You open it to see one of the rookies. He jumps a little when you open the door with a little stern look. "Uh, sorry to disturb you, but Lt. Ghost asked for you." I frown at the young man. "For me, why? Where?" Why would he need you? You did pretty good job out there today. Maybe not pretty good for him.

"He didn't say. He's in his room."

As you stood in front of Ghost's doors, a lot of thoughts roamed through your head. What bothered him now? What did tick him now? You were all great today. You knock on his door, heart pounding when he answers to you to come in. The door closes behind you. He's sitting in his chair, his mask lifted while a cigar danced between his lips. He's still in his full gear, feet up on a table.

"You called?" He puffs a smoke and puts out the cigar. "Yeah." You shift in your place, not sure what to say. "I don't understand, why." He rises from his chair, slowly walking towards you like you're some kind of pray and he's going to eat you alive. His hips sway slowly as he comes closer. Now, inches between two of you, you're sure he can hear your heartbeat.

Suddenly, his hand held the back of your neck and he made you look up at him. "Why? Because you've been a bad girl today, Y/N." He said it. He said your name. You don't remember if he ever did, but when he did, it made shivers go down your back. "Looking so dolled up, dancing on my mate, flirting with the enemy, talking back at your Lt. You remember what I said to you?" Your chest rised faster with his words as you frown.

"What did you said, Simon?" You bit your lip as his eyes go wild. He let go of you and walks few steps away breathing deeply. He turns arround and looks at the table. Within a second, he pushes it with his leg and it stops in front of you. You confusedly look at it and then back at his eyes. Something shifted in them. Lust.

"Bend the fuck over, and don't expect to be able to walk tommorow. People will hear why we call you Banshee while I pound in you and you scream my name."

#modern warfare imagine #simon riley x you #simon ghost riley #ghost cod #mw2 #call of duty #soap mw2 #simon riley #simon riley x reader #john price #ghost mw2 #ghost x you #ghost call of duty #call of duty mw2

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farfromstrange · 1 year

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Hey guys,

I’ve considered not writing this because I feel even guiltier now and kind of like an attention whore, too, but you’ve shown me nothing but support in the past couple of months and I don’t want to leave you guys in the dark. I don’t know if any of you care or not, I just thought you might want to know what’s going on, why I’ve been absent or might have been behaving strangely.

I’ve been somewhat offline for the entire weekend now for personal reasons, and I’ve decided to come back online for a moment to tell you this: I’ve been less active because I’ve just been feeling very empty and frustrated everywhere I go, and it’s the same for the internet where everything just seems to trigger my already breaking mental health and turning me into this bitter person I loathe with my entire being, and since I’ve got a very important exam coming up and my head is anywhere but where it’s supposed to be, I’ve decided to take a couple of more days off to collect myself.

I’m so terribly sorry, but I feel like this is something I need to take care of now because I’m really, really sad, have no interest in the things I used to love (like writing) and I’m angry at the world, people and myself for no reason, and it wouldn’t be fair on your or me to force myself to be on here and make shitty content. Whenever I think about Daredevil or Marvel now, I want to cry because life has me so on edge, I miss being excited about Matt and Charlie and the future of the MCU but I just feel numb when I think of it now.

I think it’s best if I take some time to myself and come back once I’ve got my shit back together. Life really sucks right now, so I need to deal with that first before I focus on anything else. I need to learn how to put myself and my future first, which is hard and it’s gonna take time for me to learn, but I’m trying. This is part of that process, I think, me deciding to take a few days off to do something for myself. I love Tumblr, but shit’s getting exhausting and I really am at my wit’s end here.

My number one task is to survive right now and to get this week over with. I don’t know where I’ll be in the next couple of days, where my mind and soul will be at, but I’ll try to come back as soon as I can. I love you guys with all of my heart, but my head is telling me very cruel things and it’s just… I’m in a bad place, which isn’t an unusual thing to happen, but I never thought it would affect my love for writing or being active on here. Now that it did happen, I have realized that I really need to get out of my head (including this right here) before things get worse.

It won’t be for long, maybe until Wednesday or Thursday, just until my exam is over and I’ve taught myself how to relax. And then… then I’ll come back and give you the content you guys deserve and the content I wish for myself to create again.

I’m sorry. Take care of yourselves!

#lizzi talks #statement #i’m sorry #teeny tiny hiatus #matt murdock #daredevil #foreigner's god #matt murdock x reader #matt murdock x female!oc #writer #daredevil fic #matt murdock fic #mental health #to all of my followers #and readers

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neoculturetravesty · 3 years

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We met in online class - Part 4

Image taken from here. Originally had this image in mind but Tumblr won’t let me upload it.

Pairing: Renjun x Reader Genre: College AU, romance, fluff, angst, maybe humor???? Warnings: Strong language Word Count: 4.3k

A/N: Happy Easter to all who celebrate it!

It’s funny how quickly people form habits without really meaning to. You don’t realize you have a new favorite word till someone points out you’ve been using it so much. You don’t realize you’re addicted to caffeine till you get headaches from withdrawals. You don’t realize you can’t live without dessert till the sugar crash hits. And in the same way, Renjun didn’t realize he had gotten used to your company till he’s waiting outside your lecture hall with an almost expectant inclination to see you.

A lot of it had to do with who you were as a person. You had pretty much infiltrated Renjun’s life, even though he still kept you at an arm’s distance. One day, he had walked into the library and found you with Jaemin, while the two of you had your heads together over a laptop and a huge gift basket in the making on the table. Jaemin wasn’t the kind of person who invited a lot of new people into his life; so he must have really trusted you because it wasn’t the last time Renjun saw the two of you together.

But worse than Jaemin was Donghyuck. Renjun was pretty sure that since you’d asked him out, you had probably hung out more with Donghyuck than with him. Almost as if seeing Renjun was just an excuse for you to hang out with him, as you had often joked. It was as if the two of you were kindred spirits, long lost best friends who had finally found one another. Donghyuck would invite you everywhere, get up to no good with you in tow; and before Renjun knew it, the two of you were even planning parties together. Neither Donghyuck nor you needed Renjun as an excuse to hang out with one another anymore, and it amused him. A part of him wondered if Donghyuck was playing along to help his bigger cause. But his friend always looked so genuinely happy around you that any ulterior motive he might have seemed to have been forgotten.

“Why can’t the sun always be like this?” you said as you laid on the grass using your backpack as a pillow. Your hand was reaching out over your face, your fingers wiggling as you played with shadows.

While you soaked in the sun, Renjun chose to sit under the shade of a tree, sketching away in his book, completing his assignment before his next class.

“You wouldn’t appreciate it as much if it were always like this.” Renjun replies, not looking away from his work. He much preferred paint over charcoal, but he had to admit that the scratching sounds it made against the grains of paper--coupled with the chirping of birds and gentle ruffling of leaves around him--was really relaxing. As was your company.

“Hmm. But it’s still nice to see it without fine dust couture. I like seeing it fully in the nude.” you say, a soft, funny smile on your face while your eyelashes cast shadows on your cheeks.

“Pervert.” Renjun accuses, smiling as he drew. It just makes you laugh and lay sideways to face him. You prop up your head on your hand.

“I’m the sun, Huang Renjun. Now draw me like one of your French girls.” you say in a comical voice and Renjun actually laughs without reservation.

“Do you have any more classes?” he asks, fixing his black and gold rimmed glasses over his nose.

“Nope. I’m done for the day. Yeri’s supposed to pick me up, so I’m just waiting for her call.” you say, rolling onto your back once more, resuming your dance with the shadows.

Renjun hums a reply as he sketches, but really, he’s thinking that he hadn’t formally met Yeri. At least not yet. He had just had two very awkward run-ins with her the couple of times he had been to your apartment. Come to think of it, he hadn’t been to your place since that last time. And you had never been to his place at all.

It wasn’t on accident, though. All of it had been by Renjun’s really convoluted design. He had met a few of your friends on campus in the passing, sure. But you were more a part of his life that he was yours. That is exactly what Renjun had planned. Lately, however, that plan seemed to be fading away into the ether. Slowly but surely dispersing from memory till it was more or less abandoned.

Because Renjun did not realize that he had adopted you like a habit. Any time he saw a witty meme, he had to send it your way because you would text back with an equally witty reply that scratched Renjun’s intellectual itch. Any time Jisung would bring home a baguette, he would take a picture for you with a caption like ‘Francophile life going strong’. The two of you had even developed a silly game where you would look at different marketing taglines and wonder if it would still work to sell condoms.

‘Nike. Just do it.’ Renjun had once texted.

‘That is a low hanging fruit, Huang Renjun.’ you had replied.

‘Okay, true. But how about Imax: Thing big.’ he had texted back.

‘Hmm, almost but not quite. I need something stronger.’

‘BMW: Designed for driving pleasure.’ he had actually found himself scrolling through a long list of taglines while his assignment laid forgotten.

‘Oof. Now you’ve found the sweet spot. Keep going.’ Renjun had smiled at your reply and had found himself hurriedly looking for something better.

‘Geico: So easy, a caveman could do it.’

‘Mmm, didn’t think you were a kinky boy, Huang Renjun. Go on…”

Renjun had actually laughed out loud, making Jisung look up at him quizzically and replied ‘1010 Wins: you give us 22 minutes, we’ll give you the world.’

‘Yessss! Right there, right there!’

Renjun hadn’t even realized he was grinning wide and standing up from his desk, a list of taglines open both on his laptop and his phone while he scrolled to find the perfect response that would make you happy. ‘Rice Krispies: Snap! Crackle! Pop!’

‘So close, so close, I am almost there!’

‘Washington Post: Democracy dies in darkness.’

‘THAT’S IT, THAT DID IT, THAT HIT THE SPOT!’

Renjun had actually belly laughed at the entire conversation. He didn’t remember the last time he had laughed this way because even Jisung was looking at him with an amused smile, asking “What’s so funny?”

So yes, Renjun had adopted you like a habit. But it wasn’t just through text. When you weren’t the one waiting for him on campus with a couple of cups of coffee in hand, he found he would go looking for you. You would spend all your free time together, just like this. He would find himself missing you on days he didn’t get to see you. He found himself disappointed when you didn’t have time for him because you and Donghyuck were on a very important mission or you had to meet your friends or you had extra work that was demanding your attention. You had just inserted yourself in his life in such a manner that Renjun didn’t even notice.

Perhaps you had nothing to do with it, but Renjun’s life had been treating him pretty well, too. Maybe he was more inspired these days, because his work was getting better and his professors were noticing. His painting instructor had held him back after class one day and offered him an internship at his studio. While it wasn’t huge, it was enough that Renjun had thrown his fist in the air in celebration as soon as he had left class. And you were the first person he texted and he was glad he did because you had texted back a freakout that made him grin like an idiot. You had come to see him as soon as your own class had ended and you had flung yourself in his arms and had jumped around excitedly before dragging him along so you could buy him an artist’s apron as a present.

“Do you have any more classes?” you ask him as you stare at the evening sun through your fingers.

Renjun’s about to reply when he is interrupted by the sound of your phone buzzing in your pocket. You fish it out and sit up, telling Renjun “Hold on…” before answering it. “Are you here, Yeri?”

Renjun goes back to scratching away in his pad, thinking. Maybe he should introduce himself now when Yeri comes to pick you. But what would he say? ‘Hi, I’m Y/N’s friend?’ Everyone on campus knew that the two of you weren’t exactly just friends. It was thanks to your stunt during that one online class, where he’d met you. ‘Hi, I’m Y/N’s boyfriend?’ But he wasn’t that, either. While the two of you had become pretty comfortable in each other’s company, you hadn’t really done anything, or had any serious talk about what you were. You two always found yourself tiptoeing “the line”. Actually, no. It was Renjun that tiptoed that line. After his two failed attempts to kiss you, the conversation had just not taken that turn ever again. You two hadn’t leveled up on the PDA front, either. Sure, you had cuddled into him in the back of the cab that one night, and he had half-carried you to your apartment till Yeri took you from the doorstep. But you didn’t seem to remember any of it, so it was basically back to square one. Sure, you had hugged him in joy when he had gotten the internship, but did it really count when the two of you hadn’t even held hands yet? Aside from the innuendo-filled condom tagline talk, the two of you hadn’t really done anything that would constitute as… something a couple might do.

“Okay, but how long would it take?” you’re saying into the phone, a gentle crease growing between your eyebrows. Whatever you heard back must have been distasteful because you grimace. “Okayyyy, Yeri, I’m hanging up now!” you say pointedly and groan, laying back into the grass.

Renjun chuckles “All good?”

“Yeri has brought home a ‘distraction’.” you say, making air quotes, and a face like you’ve tasted something sour. “I’m banished from my own home for the evening.”

Renjun looks up.

He thinks about his next words carefully. “Um… what are you gonna do?”

You groan once more and say “I’m probably going to crash at Lia’s till my exile is over. So inconvenient!”

“You could come over to mine.”

Renjun didn’t know how it happened, how he found the courage to think it and then actually say it out loud, but now there’s no going back because the two of you are walking down the hallway to his place. He doesn’t know why, but his throat is a little dry and he peeks over his shoulder to see that you seem a bit nervous as well. He takes a deep breath and decides to break the tension.

“Here we are.” He says as he punches in the code. He holds the door open “Hello, MTV. Welcome to my crib.”

It works because it makes you smile. “So, this is where the magic happens.”

“Mhmm, but I hope to God my roommates have at least attempted to clean it up some, because I did text them a head’s up.”

“Lead the way, Huang Renjun.” you say and he does. He walks you into his living room where Jisung is currently sitting, playing video games. The smell of something delicious makes his head turn towards the kitchen where he finds Jaemin.

“Hey, Y/N!” he calls out then wipes his hands on a towel before coming in to give you a hug.

“Hi, Y/N!” Jisung says without looking up.

Renjun is amused and a little confused. Perhaps you and Jaemin got even closer while he wasn’t noticing, but Jisung? When had the two of you met? By the looks of it, Jisung was comfortable enough with you that he wasn’t even minding his manners and greeting you properly. Probably because he was too busy dwindling his thumbs on his controller furiously.

“Damn, Jisung, you’re really going at it, huh?” you say to him easily.

“Mhmm. I would’ve been doing even better if Jaemin hadn’t interrupted and kicked me out of my own room because you were coming over.”

There is a two second silence before Jisung’s audience of three begins talking at the same time.

“Jisung!” Renjun yelps, bringing his fingers to the bridge of his nose.

“Oh, no, we aren’t going to like… do anything--” you find yourself explaining at the same time, face heating up.

“Jisungieeee!” Jaemin also sings out to scold, yet he grins as he mock-chokes the boy.

“You are so dead.” Renjun gives the back of Jisung’s head a death stare.

“Nooo, our Jisungie means well, don’t you, Jisungie?” Jaemin coos while Jisung dodges his kisses.

Renjun shakes his head and places a hand to your arm to guide you along. “Let’s go.”

“I’ve made food if you crazy kids get hungry!” Jaemin calls after you and it’s the most animated he’s been in a while.

His friends being, well, his friends was probably worth it because Renjun is feeling a lot better as he brings you into his room. It had been a while since he had brought a girl over and looking about, he can tell that his mates did a good job at hastily cleaning it.

“Damn, Huang Renjun. You’re a clean boy.” you’re saying as you look about. “I thought you’d be the artfully messy type.”

Renjun grins as he runs his fingers through his hair. “We can mess it up together if you’d like.” But Renjun mentally smacks himself in the head as soon as the words leave his mouth because you’ve looked up at him and quickly looked away, muttering something awkwardly.

“I… I didn’t mean that. I just meant with like, paint and, like…” Renjun blows air out of his mouth and then your eyes meet. Before you know it, you both are giggling at each other because the awkwardness is probably making you a bit delirious.

Renjun watches as you take a deep breath to stop the giggles and turn to start looking around. “Oooh. Mr. Fancypants is a tea connoisseur.” you say as you run your hands over his teabag display box.

Renjun chuckles “Do you want me to make you some?”

“Sure. Let’s have tea, Mr. Fancypants.” you take a seat on his wheelie chair and your eyes go to the artist’s apron you had bought him that is currently hanging on an easel. You give it a fond smile.

“What flavor would you like?” Renjun asks as he puts the kettle on and sets up two mugs.

“Umm… I don’t know tea. I’m a coffee drinker.” you reply, your fingers tracing over the pictures he had at his desk.

“I’ll make you a simple chamomile, then. I’ve seen you and Jaemin enabling each other’s coffee habits and I don’t approve.” he knots his eyebrows.

“Oh no, no, no. Jaemin is on a different level. I took a sip of his coffee by mistake once and my entire life flashed before my eyes. I don’t know if that boy drinks coffee or straight up cocaine.”

Renjun bites his smile because he’s still holding onto the look of disapproval. “That would explain the random spikes and falls in his energy.” he says as he pours out the water in the mugs and seeps the teabags. “Here you go.” he sets your mug on the desk and takes a seat on his bed.

You take a sip “So, which one is your bunk?”

“Top.” Renjun also wants to make an innuendo but he stops himself because the awkwardness surrounding the fact that you and him are alone in his room has only just subsided with the tea.

“Isn’t the bottom bunk more comfortable?” you muse as you drink. You seem to be enjoying your tea because you haven’t set it aside yet.

“Of course it is. It’s why Jisung has it.” he comments, cocking his eyebrow. “And I sleep here on this bed.” He pats where he’s sat.

You grin as you sip then quickly wipe your chin as some tea spills through your smile. “Where do you keep all your paintings?”

“In the studio. On that top bunk. Behind that door. At my grandma’s house.” he lists off on his fingers.

“Why behind the door? If I had your talent, I’d basically cover every bit of my wall in my art. Like the most egomaniacal artist in the world.” you fantasize, looking up at the ceiling.

Renjun chuckles. “I kinda like my space to be a bit cleaner, you know? Because I’m always around art. It kinda helps with my imagination, having a clean environment. It’s almost like a clean canvas.”

“Interesting.” you’ve said and it sounds like you genuinely mean it. “It’s still a bit sad. All the work you’ve created should have a home. It shouldn't be hidden away behind doors or on top bunks.”

“You can give some of them a home if you’d like. If you have space, I mean.” Renjun gives you a fond look. You haven’t replied but you’ve set your mug down and looked at him with a very tender look in your eyes. You stand up.

“I wanna see your bed.”

Renjun grins. “Be my guest.”

“Ooooh.” you make an excited squeal, almost like you're about to enter Dexter’s Laboratory. You plop yourself on it and bounce up and down, almost as if to check the pliability of it.

“So this is where the magic happens.” you giggle and then Renjun finds your gaze moving to a picture frame on his headboard. “Is that your grandma?”

“It is.” Renjun smiles as he watches you pick your feet up and make yourself comfortable.

“She looks exactly like you.” you say, looking back at him with an affectionate look.

“A lot of people say that. People in school used to think I’m adopted because I looked nothing like my parents.” Renjun scoots back to sit next to you.

“Are you close to your parents?” you ask gently, looking at him.

Renjun looks away.

The two of you hadn’t had that many deep conversations. And anytime you did, he had found a way around it so that nothing was shared, nothing was learnt.

But no one had ever asked him that… not in so many words. He finds himself shrugging and responding before he can stop himself. “Nah. They don’t even talk to me. They’ve never really cared.”

“How do you know that, Renjun?” you’re asking him in a very soft voice. The kind of voice that has Renjun sharing more than he wants.

“They pretty much abandoned me very young,” Renjun laughs ironically. “They would fight all the time, you know? Like, they really would go at each other one moment then make up the next moment. They kind of forgot they had a son.” Renjun finds himself saying while his eyes fixate on a loose thread on Jisung’s bedsheet. He realizes he’s warm and comfortable and that’s when he notices that you’ve put an arm around him.

“That must have been so hard, to go through that.” you’re speaking to him so softly and your head and your body is angled towards him, giving him all your attention while Renjun talks into the abyss.

“They were just like… kinda dysfunctional, you know? They fought like crazy and I had to hide away so I wouldn’t hear them. And then the next day, they’d be in each other’s arms like nothing happened. They would pretend like everything was all right. Like the trauma they gave me meant nothing.”

You’re not speaking anymore, only listening. Your hand around him has started to gently stroke his arm. Your other hand softly combs through his hair.

“It was such a vicious cycle and they wouldn’t stop. I think they were kinda addicted to it. They would’ve been happy living like that with each other if it weren’t for me.” He had never shared so much with anyone. But now that he had started, it was difficult to stop.

“Renjun…” you say empathetically and pull him into you. Renjun pauses for a moment, but decides to give in. What did it matter, anyway? He rests his head on your shoulder.

“If it weren’t for my grandma, I wouldn’t even be alive, you know? She saved me from all of that and took me in. She raised me. It wasn’t even her responsibility, but she raised me.”

You are holding him to you and soothingly stroking his hair when you say “Then I think your grandma is the luckiest person in this world. Because she got to see you grow up to be such a good man.”

Renjun feels a lump in his throat grow and before he knows it, there are tears stinging in his eyes. You turn your head and press a kiss into his temple and slowly rock him. It was odd, being here like this, because Renjun realizes that this was the first time you had kissed him. But more than anything else, it was the first time someone had held him like this.

The last time he remembered being held was probably when he was a child, and it had been his grandma. No one since had held him in their arms to listen to him, to comfort him, to love him without any conditions. No one had tried to take his pain away without wanting something in return. The thought puts more tears in his eyes and he finds himself leaning his weight into you.

He allows you to hold him and comfort him and coo at him. You’re speaking to him gently but Renjun isn’t hearing your words. He’s only concentrating on the soothing sound of your voice and how melodic it is. He liked hearing you talk. He’s concentrating on how you’re rocking him, and how the movement is slowly lulling him. He liked how warm and soft you were and how protective your arms were. He liked the smell of chamomile on your breath. Had you enjoyed chamomile? He thought you had. Maybe you would’ve enjoyed a different flavor more. Renjun decides he should make you an Earl Grey next time; it would probably be better suited to your caffeine tastes. Maybe you wouldn’t like Earl Grey as much either, but it would be nice to discover that bit about you. He’d make you try all the flavors till he learnt which one your favorite was.

“How come I never saw your cat?” He asks sleepily after you’ve been quiet for a while.

“Hmm?” you ask, confused.

“Your cat. Galbi. How come I didn’t see him when I came over?” Renjun can feel your smile against his temple.

“Oh. Yeri had dropped him over at the vet’s that day. Do you want to meet him?” you ask him.

“Yeah, it would be nice to meet him.” Renjun says and brings an arm up to cuddle closer into you.

“Okay. Next time you come over, you can meet him… shoulder gangster Renjun.” you’re only whispering at him now as you tease him.

“Mmm.” is the only reply Renjun can manage as he chuckles lazily. He didn’t even feel like killing Donghyuck for telling you about that because he feels so good like this, in your arms. Renjun hasn’t even noticed that you’ve laid him down till he realizes how horizontal he is.

It felt nice. Being held by someone, being protected by someone, being comforted by someone. Your hands haven’t stopped soothing him for a single moment ever since they started. Renjun hadn’t even noticed that you’d put the covers on him. Or that you were kissing the top of his head till he feels the warmth. It all felt so nice. He barely registers that your shirt is wet from his tears. All he feels are the relaxing patterns you’re drawing onto his skin. It’s the last thing he feels as he drifts off. And though you're gone in the morning, Renjun can swear this is the most sound sleep he's slept in many nights. He feels a thousand times lighter, like someone had lifted a heavy weight off of his chest and he was finally breathing fully.

He smiles as he grabs his phone and sees your name right on the top of his notification list. He reads your message:

‘Hey, shoulder gangster. Sorry I left without telling you but you were sleeping so soundly, I didn’t want to wake you. I wanted to ask you something AND YOU CAN TOTALLY SAY NO. But my brother’s hosting a spring art festival of some sort at my parent’s house this weekend. A lot of his artist friends from his company will be there. Do you maybe wanna come with me?’

And there it was.

Yes, it was funny how quickly people form habits without really meaning to. And in his new habit, Renjun had forgotten the real reason he was with you in the first place.

Eyes on the fucking prize, Renjun thinks as his reality comes crashing back on him.

308 notes · View notes

thebadboyfanclub · 4 years

Text

I Got You (Napoleon x Reader)

This is the third time i’m trying to post this fucking thing, tumblr won’t let the posts I do from my laptop under search results but they will show posts I do from my phone. Anyways, enjoy!

“This better be worth it Waverly”

“Ohhh (y/n) dear trust me it will. Let me introduce you to your new colleagues”

As she walked in the room with one big desk and a few chairs, three of them were occupied by two men and one woman, probably in her 20s. Her eyes however focused on one particular man.... The man that was one of the reasons you thrived in the illegal field.

“This is Miss Gaby Teller, the most important person in this case, next to her is mister Illya Kuryakin, her supposed fiance and-”

“Napoleon Solo. The thief”

She bitterly interrupted Waverly, he was of course aware of (y/n)’s past with Napoleon, it was one of the reasons he requested her to join this case, keeping from her that piece of information of course.

“(y/f/n), you’ve grown up”

“you got old”

“Right, now that everyone knows each other, (y/n) please take a seat and i’ll explain the plan”

As she took a seat from the other side of the table, directly in front of Napoleon, she tried to focus on Waverly and ignore Napoleons intense stare that almost drilled a hole on the side of her head.

“Ok, so since Illya is here to be the love interest for Gaby and Napoleon is here to just get some Italian legs in the air, what am I here for?”

“You dear (y/l/n), you will be portraying miss Brigitte Richard, an heir to the Richard well know Cigar, he is a close friend of mine and graciously agreed to take his daughters name”

“Won’t they know what his daughter looks like?”

“His daughter has been kept away from the public eye and she had transferred in Britain during high school, that’s also where she went to College and recently decided to stay there. I will give you a file of hers to study. Your goal is to get close to Victoria vinciguerra during the event, maybe even seem interested in mister Solo, of course for show, nothing more”

“Of course, everything is only just for show when it has to do with Napoleon”

(Y/n) was dressed in her best attire, her long red dress that hugged her waist so beautifully, of course some silver diamond earrings on her ears and her hair up in a perfect updo, her heels were comfortable at least, but if she had to run the dress would not hold for long until it gives a show to anyone around her, she prays that it didn’t have to happen, or she would be royally screwed,

“Miss Richard , your father was right you do have your mothers eyes”

What a fool, she thought, this is who she was hiding from? a woman that complimented her for the resemblance in her eyes.... she wasn’t even close to being related to this people. However, on the outside, she smiled brightly at the tall blonde lady

“Thank you so much, god rest her soul she at least she was generous enough to pass them down to me, my dads brown eyes are great but a tad bit boring don’t you think?”

The blonde gave a tight lip smile to her comment. Of course, if she knew that her real parent had never seen this type of luxury, the lady wouldn’t even spare a glance.

“I don’t believe we’ve met, Victoria Vinciguerra”

“Brigitte Richard, my father made sure to keep me away from all of... this, he wanted his kids to be humble”

“I’m really sorry for your brother”

“It’s alright, I miss him but... c’est la vie”

(Y/n) had almost swallowed the file Waverly had given her, she even looked into the cigar company, just in case anyone asked questions. As the two ladies kept talking, she started hearing commotion,she turned her head towards the direction it was coming from and saw one familiar man falling to the ground.

“What is going on over there?”

“Excuse me dear”

Victoria started walking towards him and of course (y/n) followed. When they finally reached the crowd that was already forming a circle around him, there he was fanning himself the invitation dramatically, in true Napoleon fashion. (Y/n) kissed her teeth in annoyance, he was supposed to discreetly blend in, not cause a god damn ruckus the minute he walks in.

“Thank you, Thank you”

“I wonder what they do to people without invitations”

That is when she decided to take actions. She weaseled her way out of the crowd and kneeled in front of him to his level, offering her glass of champagne to him.

“Are you alright sir?”

“Yes, thank you very much Darling”

“I’m Victoria Vinciguerra, she is (y/f/n). I do believe an apology is in order. I’ll take it from here”

You helped him get up on his feet and took two steps to lean in and talked to her.

“of course miss Vinciguerra... next one is mine”

She giggled as she walked away in triumphant. To be frank the rest of your job was to keep an eye on these two, yet she could still say she completed the most important part.What she didn’t expect was the growing fire in the pit of her stomach that was directed to Victoria, looking at her talking to Napoleon so nonchalantly made her teeth hurt and her breasts ached with rage.

“It’s such a lovely day to be so pouty miss”

“Well sir... there is nothing really here for me to smile about”

“Not even me?”

“I think I am better off being the reason for someone to smile”

“Roberto Russo, charmed”

“Brigitte Richard”

Roberto was a handsome man, tall, light brown hair, hazel eyes, sharp jawline, full lips and extremely well dressed, no doubt he knew his way around women and money. What a better distraction and cover up than him?

What (y/n) had not calculated was Napoleon picking up at her “strategic” flirt and filling like punching the hell out of this pretentious little Italian boy that grew up spending daddy’s money. He restrained himself from walking over to her and taking her hand, guiding her away from everyone, keeping her all to herself.

“I saw you were talking to my aunt”

“Oh you are related to Victoria?”

“Yes, my dad is her brother. I actually haven’t spoken to her today, come with me?”

“How could I ever refuse?”

As he offered his arm she smiled and linked hers with his, walking over with her head held high as they got close to Napoleon and Victoria

“My dearest Roberto, how are you?”

she kissed her nephew at both of his cheeks and yet no smile was shown. She really was cold, Roberto however smiled brightly, feeling excited to show his knew “catch” to his aunt.

“I’m doing well... who might he be?”

“Jack Devinsky, Nice to meet you”

Roberto looked at Napoleon up and down, almost well not almost... judging him harshly. Napoleons sure looked rich but there were levels to how rich you were, especially when men judged one another.

“Roberto Russo. Well... aunt Victoria may I occupy you for a minute”

“Of course, anything for my nephew”

“It will only take a minute dear”

“I am counting”

She replied at him, he took her hand and placed a gentle kiss as he stared directly in her eyes, winking at her as she left her with Napoleon. They stood there in awkward silence for a few moments, they haven’t really spoken since the case started, (y/n) made sure to avoid him.

“You look stunning if that isn’t obvious”

“Thanks”

She said dryly. She barely even looked him in the eye, all she could see was that damn night, the night she lost everything, the night her heart shuttered, the night he showed her all the cruelty of the world he always talked about.

“You are mad at me”

“Do you blame me?”

“No, it still upsets me though”

“That sounds like a personal issue to me”

The event was a success. which meant (y/n) could finally relax and wear her pajamas, pour a drink for herself and lounge in the couch her room had. She still wore his necklace, the gold star necklace he had bought her way back when... she took the charm in her hands and felt the cold metal.

How much more could she take with him around? it took her so much time to heal and now here he was again, scratching the wounds she had closed up all by herself. She was pulled out of her thoughts when she heard a knock at her door. She got up to answer it and was met with the man of the hour.

“Napoleon”

“May I come in?”

She sighed before stepping aside to let him in. Even when all she wanted was to punch him in the face, her heart took over her and let him walk into her room and her life once again, even when she had swore to take revenge when she saw him again.

“What do you want?”

“To talk”

“About what?”

She was well aware she was snapping at him, could you blame her? He had swore to protect her, help her when she had nothing and no one, taught her everything and then one night she came home to find all his belongings missing... and that damn letter tore her apart, she didn’t sleep for days, she waited for him to return for months and yet he never did.

“(Y/n) I know-”

“YOU KNOW NOTHING

”her voice booming through the entire room, it was like a glass of emotions was overflowing, threating to spill and make a mess. He saw the pain in her face, her lower lips trembling, her hands forming fists... still what caught his eye was one thing, the necklace. She was wearing his necklace, after all these years she didn’t throw it away. He took a breath through his nose before continuing.

“(y/n) you have every right to be upset-”

“Damn right I do”

“Will you just listen?”

“listen to what Napoleon?! What?!What?!What?!”

Next thing that was heard was her glass smashing at the wall, Vodka dripping down and small pieces of glass going everywhere. Napoleon was shocked, he should have known this wouldn’t be easy, he had wanted to reach out to her over the years, he had even went through with finding her, yet every time he chickened out last minute and walked away from it. Now, here she was in pain, yelling and smashing things... she had become his enemy

“I’m sorry”

“You are sorry? Sorry? for what Napoleon? for leaving me? for doing it in such cruel way? for lying to me?”

“I never lied”

“You swore to me that you loved me, that you... cared”

There it was, tears. She couldn’t even control it, as her voice cracked and the waterfalls started, she didn’t also want to cover them, she wanted him to see what he had done... to hell with being the bigger person. He wanted to hug her, comfort her, make her feel loved but now all he could do was to try and reason with her.

“I had to leave”

“Why? What could possibly be the reason... money? paintings? women?”

“You know I would never cheat on you”

“Oh yeah, cause leaving our house in the middle of the night is so much better”

She tried wipe away her tears, silence falling between them once again. As a way to calm and hide her emotions, she kneeled and started picking up pieces of glass, her back turned to him. Napoleon went to her side and even when he wanted to pick her up and kiss her, he controlled his desire

“(Y/n) stop, you’ll cut yourself”

“I’m fine Napoleon”

“(Y/n) the maid can do it”

“I said I’m- FUCK”

a piece of sharp glass had cut her as she accidentally gripped it a bit too hard. Napoleon saw the blood and got up immediately to find some tissues, while (y/n) got on her feet and brought her hand close to her chest, closing it to a fist as a way to stop the pain. When Napoleon approached she turned her back once again

“I said I’m fine”

“(Y/n) you are bleeding, let me care for you”

She had started crying again. As she turned around and opened her hand to him Napoleon gently placed the tissues on the wound, dabbing away the blood carefully.

“Why did you leave?”

“I thought I was protecting you, a way to keep you away from all of the things I was doing”

“Yet... here we are”

He looked up at her. Her lower lip was in between her teeth, tears freshly running down, her beautiful eyes were now red and puffy, her nose was running and he still found her heavenly.

“You kept the necklace”

“I tried throwing it away, or ponding it... I couldn’t find the courage... it’s too pretty”

“I tried coming back to you... multiple times”

“Why didn’t you do it?”

“I don’t know, I just didn’t”

She finally kept eye contact with him, getting lost once again in those ocean blue eyes, the eyes she looked at when they were laying naked on their bed, the eyes that looked at her when she woke up. With his one hand Napoleon slowly reached over and wiped a few tears with his thumb

“You are too pretty to cry over me”

“I missed you Napoleon”

She whispered looking down on the ground in embarrassment. She was everything he ever wanted, a woman that loved him and had his back and he tossed that all away, his intentions were pure yet the damage was gigantic. He hesitated for a minute, before taking her in his arms for a hug, her head nuzzling on his neck as she held on to him for the first time in what felt like centuries. Napoleon kissed her head, smelling her shampoo that was always the same, lavender.

“I missed you too munchkin”

She giggled at the nickname. Napoleon had met her when she was struggling to survive, she was this delicate little thing that looked everyone with kind eyes, yet once he got to know her he saw the passion, the fire, the potential she had to become something great, he didn’t want all that potential to go on illegal things that could possibly get her in jail or worse kill her. So from the beginning of the relationship he called her munchkin.

“Will we be alright?”

“I got you munchkin, I got you”

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bigfrozenfan-fanfics · 3 years

Text

Chapter 11 - Kolgrimr

Links: Chapter overview, Character list, Map, Glossar Rating: M over all Publishing cycle: each Friday at 6:00 pm CEST dst/UTC +2:00 on (link)

Remarks: all my chapters contain carefully selected music tracks. It’s your own decision if you want to use them or not while reading. The purpose is to musically support the respective mood of the plot. If you can please use a browser for reading (not the Tumblr app) due to the text formatting and music.

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It was an idyllic place. The rays of the midday sun glittered on the calm sea and fine water droplets enveloped them as they came closer to the rushing waterfall. Colorful flowers blossomed everywhere and a few butterflies rose up, circling around them curiously. Elsa watched their wild fluttering with fascination and tried to catch one of them, but without success.

“This place is beautiful, Anna. Thank you for showing it to me.”

“You're welcome, Elsa.”

Elsa stepped to the side of the waterfall and held her hand into the tumbling currents. Drops of water splashed in her face and she smiled.

Anna watched her sister and rejoiced with her. She seemed so different now in her new life here in the North than in her past days when she was a ruler in her home, especially now, in her Northuldra attire. She looked happier and more relaxed. Nothing seemed to bother her anymore. No bad memories from the past distracted her and she obviously enjoyed life. It seemed leastways.

“Is it just as beautiful in Arendelle?” Elsa asked aloud to drown out the sound of the waterfall. She looked at Anna with a dreamy smile and came closer again.

“Well, it's different. There is more going on there, many more people live in Arendelle and there are many big houses. But we also have a waterfall, even if it doesn't look as stunning as this one. Our home is beautiful in other ways. You'll love it.” Anna was about to say 'and if you remember everything, then ...', but didn't say it after all. She didn't want to destroy this moment.

“Well, I will see soon and I already look forward to it.” Elsa hesitated briefly, stepped up to Anna and then asked, “Which of us is actually the older one?”

“That's you, Elsa, five years older than me. You're almost twenty-five years old now.”

Elsa nodded and quietly repeated that number. “How far is Arendelle from here? How long does it take to get to there?”

“About a good day's journey by wagon, a little faster on the horse,” Anna said and almost wanted to add that Elsa was much faster on the water while she was riding Nokk, but let it go. “Why do you ask?”

“From your letters it's clear that I had an important task here and because of that you missed me very much. I had the impression that we both got along very well with each other. But why did I stay here and not ride from Arendelle to do this from time to time? Apparently I hadn't been with you for many weeks, so what could have been so important about it?”

Anna felt the tears rise up inside her. If only Elsa had thought so at that time. “It was your own decision, and I had the feeling that you felt happy about it. I didn't want to be selfish, but you had found yourself and your destiny here. I didn't want to stand in the way of that, and besides, we both had this task together, just in different places.”

“But you are the queen of Arendelle, and surely you have a lot of other duties, I can imagine. So what kind of task was that?”

Anna hesitated. Would Elsa understand if she explained what she was until recently? But at some point she had to find out anyway, and if her memories came back one day, it would become clear to her all by itself, just all of it. They had sworn years ago never to hide anything from each other again, and it was she who made Elsa that promise. It was now up to her not to break it and to tell Elsa the truth.

“Um ... so at the risk of you doubting me, but believe me, I'm telling you the truth. The short version is this. We both are, or rather were the bridge between man and nature, between the nature spirits and our two peoples. We are both half Northuldra. You were the fifth spirit who, together with the other four nature spirits up here in the north, kept the balance and were the interface to their magic. You should have seen yourself at the end, in your bright white new outfit, when we saw each other again just on this beach. After you had found out the truth about our past, me having destroyed the dam with the help of the earth giants, and the forest as well as the Northuldra finally being freed again. You died in the process, and later came back to life.” Anna paused briefly and then quietly added, “You can't imagine how I felt when Olaf dissolved in my arms and I believed at that moment that I had lost you forever.” She lowered her head and a single tear rolled down her cheek.

Elsa looked at her with open mouth in disbelief and fell into silence for several long moments. One could clearly see that she was torn between doubt, amazement and anger that she could remember absolutely nothing of it.

“So not only can I magically build a living snowman, but you mean to say that I am a higher being beyond that?”

Anna took a deep breath and raised her eyebrows. “Um ... well, actually ...,” she didn't know what to say.

“I don't want to be that. I want to be normal like you, like any human being. Everything's all right here, isn't it? The plants are growing and thriving and everything is so beautiful in this place,” Elsa made a sweeping gesture with her arm, “The Northuldra are doing very well too. Everything is already in a balance that could not be much better.”

Anna couldn't believe how her sister suddenly thought about all this and just looked at her speechlessly and smiled.

“How was I back then, before everything you said about me, and what did I do in Arendelle ... except for building a living snowman? Do we have any brothers or sisters? Do any of our parents still live?” Elsa asked and could hardly contain her curiosity.

The moment Elsa mentioned her parents, Anna's good mood vanished in an instant. Tears began to collect in her eyelids. “It's a long story, Elsa, which I'd better not tell you until we get to Arendelle. But we have no other brothers or sisters, and our parents, they are ...” Anna's voice broke and she began to sob softly, “Unfortunately, they are no longer alive.”

“So we have only the two of us and you are all alone in Arendelle,” Elsa said sadly. She took a step towards her sister and pulled her into a deep and long hug. “I owe you an apology. I promise never to leave you alone again. Nothing holds me here anymore, Anna. I'll come back to you to Arendelle and stay there.”

Anna could no longer hold back her tears and sobbed unrestrainedly again into Elsa's shoulder. But this time they were tears of joy and Elsa felt a deep understanding for her sister and regret that she had not been there for her for a long time.

~~~

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Gyda worked on her kota, stuffing some of the largest holes between the wooden boards with moss and tufts of grass. It was very warm and the work was exhausting for her. She wiped the sweat from her forehead and was just getting up from her wooden stool when a familiar voice behind her asked, “Can I help you? It's a shame nobody's building you a new cabin.”

She drove around. “Kolgrimr! Are you mad showing your face here during the day?”

“Hello mother, nice to see you too, and as for your question, it soon won't make any difference. Tonight I will put my plan into motion and avenge my father.”

Gyda took a step towards him and stood in front of him with a reproachful expression. She had to look up to him because he was more than a head taller than her, taller even than most Northuldra men.

“Do you want to jeopardize everything just by wandering around so carelessly? You could be seen ... and next warn the others. Come on, get in my kota quickly.” Gyda pulled him behind her by the hand and he willingly let her.

Once inside, she turned to him and asked, “What are you planning to do?”

He passed along her with a grin while she did not let him out of her sight, sat down on one of the furs on the floor and put his long birch stick beside him. “Can you spare some food, Mother? I'm starving.”

She blew out the air and asked sarcastically, “Anything else, son?”

But, of course, she couldn't refuse her son anything and went to a low table with a little basket on top. She fished out two strips of smoked reindeer meat and gave it to him. He took a big bite of it and chewed it with relish. He still had that crazy grin on his face.

“As of this morning, everyone's looking for me anyway. I could read it in their heads. That Yelana is indeed a smart one. I just wonder how she knows about me.” He looked at her knowingly and bit off another big piece of meat.

She wandered broodingly through the room while his amused look followed her. Then she stopped and turned to him. “From me. But she had already known it somehow. She is indeed very clever.”

“Does she also know that I visit you regularly in the evening?”

“Don't play with me, Kolgrimr! You already know the answer.”

“I'm sorry. You're right, of course. There is hardly anyone with whom I have difficulty reading his mind. You're not one of them.”

“We never got along very well, Yelana and I, and if it hadn't been for this thing of the angry nature spirits and that fog, I might be the leader of our tribe now. But she took advantage of the situation, and everyone accepted her immediately.”

“Maybe you shouldn't have retreated there and gone for an open confrontation with her.”

“Perhaps. However, I certainly wouldn't have been as understanding to the rest of the men from Arendelle as she was. Questionable if more of our brave men and women would then have perished in the wake of my decisions. What's worse is that you couldn't succeed your father, to be the fifth spirit. This would have changed everything for both of us. Instead, the nature spirits and Ahtohallan itself chose a person outside of our people, on top of that a descendant of that damned king.”

“Yes, and I still don't understand it. I could feel it and I even saw it in Ahtohallan itself, as you know. Back then, until a few years ago, it was even easier for me to enter the glacier, even if only for a very short time. But the cold inside became more and more unbearable for me over time and I was sure that Ahtohallan didn't want me there anymore without having to kill me. I must have become unworthy and should stay away of my own free will.” Kolgrimr laughed gloatingly and then clenched his hands into a fist. “But I managed to wrest a few secrets from Ahtohallan before it denied everyone access. Once there was a bridge behind the ice tunnel and it was easy to enter the great hall. But one day Ahtohallan destroyed that bridge and I just made it out before it fell into the depths behind me.”

“But it was of no use and who could have guessed that the new fifth spirit would master ice magic and create a new access for herself. At least that's what I heard later. I guess she proudly told everyone in the camp and bragged about how great it is inside Ahtohallan and how easily and naturally she can go in and out there.” Gyda pointed her index finger at him and looked at him vengefully, “And that's another reason that bitch has to vanish. She has robbed you of your inheritance and blocked your path forever. She must die.”

He sighed, “Tonight I will simply walk into the camp and destroy this brood from Arendelle before they can leave as planned. The fact that even their new queen is with them is very convenient. So my revenge will taste even sweeter. Then I'll see.” He scratched his chin and thought for a moment. “Maybe I should take this opportunity to make sure that someone finally builds you a new kota. You deserve better than that.”

He reached into a side pocket of his cape and pulled out two spearheads and a grindstone. The tips were flattened on one side to form a curved edge. He began to sharpen them slowly and deliberately, one by one. Finally he reached for his battlestaff and mounted the finished tips on both ends. His mother had been watching him the whole time with a thoughtful look.

“You wouldn't want to hurt any Northuldra, would you? These are old hunting spikes and deadly in battle,” Gyda complained and looked at him worried.

“Don't worry, mother, none of our people will be seriously hurt. But whoever gets in my way should realize immediately that this is no joke and in that I'm serious. At least I hope nobody is stupid enough to take the chance.”

Then he reached under his cape and pulled out a long, richly decorated knife behind his back. He held it out to his mother with both hands. “Remember this?”

Gyda nodded without a word. She would recognize it among thousands. The handle had been carved from one piece of reindeer antler and polished smooth according to old traditional craftsmanship. It was his father's knife.

“This one is intended for the royal siblings.” He laid it down gently and his crazy grin returned to his face as he looked at it.

“They will be at dinner, and they will all be sitting together. They have no chance, any more than Father had a chance. He would be proud of me.”

~~~

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I hope you have enjoyed this chapter! Please leave a comment if you liked the story, I would be pleased to read your opinions, even criticisms. If you want to be tagged as soon I publish the next chapter please let me know, except you are already tagged :-)

Credits : Many thanks to HARU (@ xlayers) for the commissioned fantastic fanart! It’s so beautiful, and to see scenes of my story come alive in this way makes me so happy. There will be many more from this outstanding artist in the coming chapters!

Remarks: Don't be confused that Anna still wears her Frozen II outfit in this fanart. HARU haven’t created the outfit with her new jacket yet and i hope we'll see this one day. But Anna’s wearing it in my story.

Tagging: @karma26 @whether-near-to-me-or-far @annaofthenorthernlights @igotelsapregnanthelp

#frozen #frozen2 #frozen3 #fanfic #epic novel #the broken bridge #chapter 11 #end of the first part #bigfrozenfan

17 notes · View notes

chuckbass-love · 4 years

Text

Intrusion | Andy Barber

A/N : I’m so excited to be entering my first ever writing challenge on this blog. This is probably the first of many entries and i hope everyone enjoys. This is for the Shameless Hoes for Chris challenge. Feedback is welcomed and encouraged, it’ll help me improve.

Disclaimer: My work is not to be posted anywhere else other than MY Tumblr, Wattpad and Ao3 without my permission. However, reblogs are welcome.

Thank you so much for doing this challenge @stargazingfangirl18 & @navybrat817 enjoy...

Pairing : Andy Barber x Reader

Word count : 2,462

Summary : You accidentally walk in on Andy naked...

Warnings : explicit language, sexual content and smut. 18+

I used scenario prompt 13. ‘Accidentally seeing the other naked’

GIF NOT MINE!!! Credit to whoever made this gif, if anyone knows who made it pls let me know so I can give credit. I genuinely just search gifs up on google and I never manage to find out where the original gif is from bc of so many people re posting gifs. I never wanna give credit to the wrong person! So if this gif is yours or if it’s someone you know then let me know and I’ll credit them. Thank you💗

It’s Friday afternoon and you’re stuck at work in the last meeting of the day before you get to go home and relax for the weekend.

You’ve got plans to hang out with your neighbour Andy tonight. The two of you got rather close once him and Laurie split, he got quite lonely in that house which was understandable.

You recall the time you saw him get takeout for the third time that week and you couldn’t stand the sight of it. So you made some lasagne and took it over to him in an oven dish.

He was beyond grateful for the kind gesture and even invited you in to eat with him to which you gladly accepted.

Ever since the two of you have developed quite the friendship. He wasn’t ready for anything romantic so despite your little crush on him, you decided it was never going to happen. You had gotten used to it being strictly platonic.

You always had plans with him every Friday night and tonight was no exception. Tonight is movie night at his place.

“Right okay, that’ll be all then guys” your boss calls out, breaking you from your daze. You have to admit, you didn’t pay attention during that meeting. Hopefully it wasn’t anything too important though.

You gather your stuff and head back to your office to collect your bag before heading out to your car. Once you reach it you check your phone to find a text from Andy.

‘Hey, just checking we’re still on for tonight. I’m gonna jump in the shower, back door is unlocked so let yourself in’

You smile down at your phone before starting the car and driving out of the parking lot. Once you reach your road and pull onto the drive next to your house, you contemplate showering first before going over but decide against it. Instead you walk across the road to Andy’s, going straight to his backdoor.

You notice some popcorn on the kitchen counter, he must’ve picked that up on his way home. You start to wonder around whilst you wait but he seems to be taking forever.

Surely he wasn’t still showering, he must have been in there for 30 minutes now. You wonder over to the staircase and start climbing, noticing that the shower isn’t on and you don’t hear any noise coming from the second floor.

“Andy, are you in he- OH SHIT” you curse as you walk into his room to find him stood there butt naked. You quickly rush out of the room and run downstairs. You’re utterly mortified. You can’t imagine he’s feeling any different.

Well, now you’ve seen your friend naked. Guess you can tick that one off the old list of things to do. You put the popcorn bag into the microwave and stand there in shock, attempting to process the sight that stood before you no less than a minute ago.

As much as you hate to admit it, the crush you had on him was still very much present now. Walking in on him naked has not helped in the slightest. You can’t get over his body, hell even his dick is huge. Just like you always imagined it to be.

You try to wash away the impure thoughts, luckily for you, you’re snapped out of them by his voice.

“So... about that”

“That was my fault, i’m sorry. I just wondered where you were. I shouldn’t have snooped” you ramble.

He lets out a deep sigh, walking over to you. You get the popcorn out and pour it into a bowl before walking away from him and into the living room. You plop yourself down onto the couch, seconds later he joins.

“What movie have you picked?” you ask, in hopes that he’ll drop the awkward subject. Thankfully he does.

“I chose American Psycho” one of your all-time favourites. You grin at his suggestion as he sets it up on the tv.

“I love this movie” you kick your feet up onto the couch, your skirt riding up your thighs slightly but not enough to give anything away.

-----------------------------

The credits roll up and you yawn and stretch, moving the bowl to the coffee table in front. It’s been a long week at work and tired is an understatement, you are well and truly shattered.

You sit upright and turn to Andy who is looking back at you, his lips curling into a smile.

“What?” you giggle nervously, unsure of what he’s smiling at.

“You just look really good” you both freeze, did he really just say that? You sit there for a second, not sure of how to respond to him but soon enough the sarcasm comes.

“Well, don’t i always?” you flick your hair in a sassy motion, he chuckles “I can’t deny that” is this what you think it is? is he hitting on you?

“Anyways, i bet-”

“Did you like what you saw?” you know exactly what he means but you decide to play dumb.

“I’m sorry what?”

He shuffles closer to you on the couch, closing the space.

“You know what i mean, did you like my body earlier, when you walked in on me?” you try to fight the smile that tugs at the corners of your mouth but it’s no use, your cheesy grin comes out to play and you feel your cheeks heat up.

“I’ll take that as a yes then” he traces his finger over your bare arms until he reaches your shoulder. His mouth soon replaces his finger as he presses a kiss to your shoulder, then moving the kiss to your neck, then jawline and then finally he reaches your mouth.

Your faces are inches apart and you can feel his breath hitting you, you can’t help yourself anymore. You tried but failed. You crash your lips to his passionately. All your feelings for him come out in the kiss, you can just tell he feels it.

His kiss is rough and nasty but also intimate and loving all at once. You feel like you see fireworks going off in your mind, like all of time is standing still for the two of you.

You get the impression that he’s wanted this for a long time, just like you.

You break away and your chests are heaving.

“That was one hell of a kiss” you pant, he releases a small laugh, nodding his head in agreement to your statement.

“I’ll admit, i’ve wanted to do that since the moment i first met you” you just give a look as if to say ‘i know’

You can’t believe your ears though, you felt it but to hear him say it out loud is something else entirely.

“I’ve had a crush on you for so long” you look everywhere but his eyes, you feel nervous now, really, really nervous.

“I know” you cover your face with your hands, had you made it that obvious?

“You actually admitted it to me when we were drinking once. I ignored it because i wasn’t in any position to act upon it despite feeling the same. But i’m more than ready to act upon it now” you make direct eye contact with him and within seconds, he pulls you onto his lap so you’re straddling him.

He grabs a hold of your hair, pulling your head back as his mouth attacks your sweet spot. You feel him start to bite down, almost as though he intends to mark his territory. Like you belong to him now.

You let out a breathy moan, biting down on your lip at the intense feeling, he’s not holding back. You were sure to wake up with more than just a couple of hickeys in the morning but none of that matters right now. You want to live freely in this moment.

“Let’s take this elsewhere” he stands up and your legs wrap around his torso.

He makes sure the doors are locked before taking you to his room and throwing you down on the bed like you don’t weigh a thing.

He removes his shirt and pants, leaving him in just his boxers. You can see the huge situation forming and you can’t help but lick your lips at the sight and thought of him eventually being inside of you.

“Now, let’s remove this shall we?” he tugs at your blouse, you untuck it from your skirt and he rips it off your skin. That’s one blouse you won’t be wearing again.

“I’ll buy you a new one” he mutters whilst sliding your skirt down to reveal your red laced panties.

A grunt leaves his mouth as he removes them too, exposing how soaked you are for him. You spy his dick getting harder and harder.

“All this for me baby?” you hum in response, desperate for him to touch you.

“Please Andy” you whimper underneath him.

“Please what?” you prop yourself up onto your elbows “touch me” you beg, he smirks down at you.

He starts peppering kisses along the inside of your thigh, teasing you until he’s inches away from your sex. You try to buck your hips up but he pushes you down.

“Patience baby girl” he warns and you relax onto the bed, awaiting his touch.

It feels like you’ve been waiting forever but just when you go to speak up his mouth starts sucking on your clit and he slides two fingers inside of you, without a warning.

“Ah yes, just like that” your eyes roll to the back of your head, the pleasure he’s giving you consumes you entirely. He’s skilled, you gotta give it to him.

“Please fuck me daddy” did you really just say that? You feel the touching come to a halt and he crawls his way back up so he’s face to face with you.

“Daddy huh?” you open your eyes to find a cocky expression plastered across his face.

“I’m sorry-”

“You want daddy’s cock huh? Well then you’re gonna have to beg for it sweetheart” you gulp, his mere presence turns you on and is words only make matters worse. You feel shivers run down your spine.

“Please daddy, please fuck me” you put on your seductive voice, spreading your legs wider for him and reaching your hand down to palm him through his boxers. You then use your other hand to rub at your clit.

“I need it, so badly” your eyes go wide, your teeth tug at your bottom lip. You know for certain that he’ll give in now. Sure enough... he does.

He sighs as he watches you beg for him, he can’t hold it any longer. He gets off the bed to rid himself of his boxers. His face returns to it’s position between your legs and his tongue licks up your folds, stealing one last taste of you.

“You taste so sweet” you giggle at him, pulling him up the bed.

You pump his hard cock a couple of times before urging him to bring it closer to your entrance. He tuts at your desperate state, taking your hands, lifting them above you and pressing them down into the mattress.

“No touching”

You feel his tip pushing at your tight hole and all of a sudden he rams himself into you, shifting you up the bed.

“Oh fuck” you curse as he stretches you out but the pain soon gets replaced by mind blowing pleasure. Your back arches and you try to remove your hands from his grip but you fail.

“Is this what you’ve wanted all this time?” thrust “to be fucked like this, fucked like the dirty girl you are” thrust “bet you walked in on me on purpose, wanted to see me all exposed” thrust. You wrap your legs around him, signalling for him to go deeper. Your wish is his command.

He releases your hands and you hold onto his biceps. He grips your legs, forcing them all the way back to your head.

“Andy, fuck” this new angle is allowing him better access, he’s hitting your cervix repeatedly. You know you won’t be able to last long if this goes on. You clench down onto his length, earning a grunt from him.

“Such a tight fucking cunt. That’s it, cum on this cock princess” his words push you closer and closer to your peak. You always guessed he was a talker in the bedroom and hearing it now is a million times better than all those nights you imagined it whilst touching yourself.

“Keep going, i’m gonna cum daddy” you whine, digging your nails into his biceps, the sharp pain causes him to jolt slightly, he only uses the pain to fuck into you harder. The sound of his skin slapping against yours mixed with your combined moans is like heaven to your ears. All your fantasies about this moment were nothing like this, this was better in every way.

With every thrust, moan and hit to your cervix your toes start to curl a little more. You feel it, it’s coming.

“FUCK” you release all around him, clenching down harder than ever before. Your back arches, your now chest to chest. He sits up, leaning back and pulling you with him. You’re now straddling him, you clench down again, milking him for all that he’s got.

He twitches inside of you and you feel his hot seed fill you up. You throw your head back and he wraps his arms around your body, squeezing you tight.

You stay like that for a couple of minutes, allowing you both time to ride out your intense highs. He eventually lifts you off of him and you both fall down onto the bed.

“Well that was quite something” you both burst out into laughter.

He stands up, walking over to the bathroom and whilst his back is turned you can’t help but check out his ass. He was definitely a sex god, sculpted to perfection.

“Here, let me clean you up” he bends down to wipe up the mess the pair of you made before cleaning himself up too.

You can’t believe that just happened. It happened so quickly, you’re still in shock.

He joins you in bed, pulling you onto his chest and his arm drapes around your shoulder. He starts tracing his finger along your back, making you shiver.

“You up for staying the night because i’d quite like to do that again in the morning” a smile forms on both of your faces as you lean your chin on his chest, looking up into his eyes.

“I’d love to”

You stay like that for a a while before eventually drifting into a deep slumber. It finally happened. You feel so happy.

#andy barber #shamelesshoesforchris #chris evans #andy barber smut #andy barber x reader #andy barber fluff #defending jacob #chris evans smut #chris evans fluff #chris evans x reader #writing challenge #smut

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xcamay · 4 years

Text

Recruiting Chloe.

Hey there! I can’t believe it’s been years since I last published a fanfic on tumblr. And it’s been months since I last finished one... woo! It kind of feels great and rewarding though hehe. However, this is my first time writing a Choices fanfic, so I do hope it’ll be okay... Here goes nothing! Book: Queen B Pairings: Chloe x Veronica, and a little bit of Zoey x MC (Kate). Yes, I know many people don’t ship Chloe and Veronica, because “Veronica deserves better” and “Chloe’s an airhead and a meanie”, but I’m holding onto the fact that there’s more to Chloe than what we know... Warning: not entirely canon-compliant (seeing as I haven’t played since chapter 6 aired... I apologize if it sounds inaccurate sometimes). Also! This takes place after Veronica joined MC’s posse. And let’s forget about the Bacon-alia, okay? AO3 link ________________________________________________________________ “8:12 AM,” Kate slides her phone in her pocket and yawns, stretching her arms above her head, “Congratulations Zo, you got me out of bed early on a Wednesday. You know, the day we don’t have class in the morning.”

“Oh come on, I already apologized. But I really was craving some croissants this morning and I wanted you to try them,” Zoey smiles as she bites into her pastry, humming.

The two young women continue to stroll down the street at a relaxed pace, eating their respective croissant, joking around and sharing knowing smiles and glances. They stop next to a trash can, throwing the small bags while Zoey finishes her croissant, pinky finger raised.

“So? Verdict?” she offers Kate a wide smile, an eyebrow arched.

“Okay, you were right – they’re worth the awful alarm clock. Maybe we should get some more often. It’d be like our moment,” Kate grins as she steps closer, making Zoey grin back.

“Don’t we have enough moments already? You know, as roommates.”

“Is it really enough?”

“Do you think it is?”

“Do you?”

“Oh my god, Kate. Shut up and kiss me.”

“Your wish is my command, milady.”

They both smile before their lips tenderly meet for a few delightful seconds.

“Hey Zo,” Kate murmurs against her lips, “Let’s go back to our room.”

Zoey pecks her best friend’s lips one last time and nods, smiling. As they resume their walk, Kate slips her hand into Zoey’s.

“Wait a minute,” the new girl suddenly speaks, stopping in her tracks and squinting, “Is that Chloe over there?”

“Where?”

“There. Inside the coffee shop.”

“Huh? Oh, yeah,” Zoey blinks, “Wow. She… she looks so sad.”

“I wonder what happened… Oh well. She probably had another fight with Satan.”

“Not really, no.”

Kate jumps the moment she hears a new, additional voice next to her, “Holy shit! Veronica! Where did you come from?”

The famous beauty influencer rolls her eyes, her lips slightly tugging upward, “Wouldn’t you like to know.”

However, her light smile vanishes as she looks at her blonde-haired friend inside the coffee shop. She seems to be tormented, her brows furrowed and her gaze fixed on the table.

“This is supposed to be our moment,” Veronica sighs, an unexpected veil of sadness crossing her eyes.

Kate and Zoey glance at each other.

“What do you mean, your moment?”

“Chloe and I come here every week, on Wednesday mornings precisely because we don’t have class before 10. It’s just the two of us, for breakfast. No Poppy, no The T, no homework, no livestream… except if it gets interesting, of course,” Veronica smiles a little, but it promptly fades away, “There’s nothing else, no one else. Just Chloe and me. It’s our moment,” she pauses a second, then winces, “Or well… I guess it used to be our moment. We’re… not really talking to each other anymore, so well.”

Kate taps her chin several times, “I think it can still be your moment. Nothing’s here to stop you. Except if you don’t want it, of course.”

“No way. I still want it to be our moment.”

“I feel like there’s more to the story than what you’re telling us,” Zoey hums, barely trying to hide her curiosity, “Veronica, do you… uh…”

The two roommates share a glance, hesitating. Should they really ask something as private as that? As they ponder the answer to that question, Veronica beats them to it.

“Do I have romantic feelings for Chloe?”

They nod, and the ombré-haired girl sharply breathes in.

“I do.”

“Then go! Go get your girl!” Kate exclaims, almost bouncing on her feet like a child who was promised an ice cream.

Veronica raises her eyebrows, “You just want me to recruit her for you.”

“Of course not,” the new girl answers, at the same time as Zoey bluntly says, “Yes.”

“Zoey!”

The latter’s eyes widen and she immediately corrects herself, “No, of course not!”

The influencer rolls her eyes, prompting Kate to look sheepish as she scratches the inside of her elbow.

“One of you is at least being honest.”

“Alright… yes. And why not, anyway? With what we now know and with you helping us, I think it’s better if we get Chloe on our side. And I think she will be more willing to listen to you than us. It’s better if you recruit her yourself. But! We kind of want you two to be reunited too, you know?”

“Let’s kill two birds with one stone,” Zoey adds, serious, “Recruit her. But, most importantly, get your girlfriend back. Shoo, go.” ________________________________________________________________ As soon as she steps into the coffee shop, Veronica makes a beeline for the booth she usually occupies with Chloe on every Wednesday morning. However, she feels her heart break at the sight: Chloe is sitting there, alone, staring into space. It seems like she has barely sipped her hibiscus tea – two or three swallows at the most.

“Hey there.”

The unexpected voice startles Chloe, whose eyes widen when she realizes who is standing right next to her. Her heart rate instantly skyrockets.

“V-Veronica! You… Wh-what are you-”

“Is this seat taken?”

“N-no. But… I-I’m sorry but I have somewhere to be,” Chloe says as she abruptly stands, bumping into the table and almost knocking her white mug over.

“No you don’t,” Veronica hastily says, stopping the girl in her tracks. She lightly bites her lip, before adding in a whisper, “Chlo, please… Stay with me?”

“I-” Chloe gulps, eyes darting everywhere.

She looks conflicted, distressed – so much that it hurts Veronica inside – but eventually sits down again, fiddling with her fingers. She looks at everything, everyone but the beauty influencer sitting across from her.

“So,” Veronica clears her throat, trying to get Chloe’s attention, “We need to talk.”

“V, not now…”

“Then when? You’ve been avoiding me ever since you made up with Poppy. We haven’t even been able to spend some quality time together. We don’t laze around on the couch anymore, we also stopped doing our makeup together. You… you’re not coming to my room anymore. Look, we haven’t even had our Wednesday breakfast in weeks now.”

“You don’t understand!” Chloe seems alarmed for a second, but then she lowers her gaze, her light blue eyes reflecting a sorrow she is desperately trying to hide, “I… I-I can’t be seen talking to you…”

“Chlo, look at me.”

But Chloe weakly shakes her head, nibbling her lips, while Veronica resists the urge to grab her hand.

“Chloe.”

…

“Chloe St. James.”

This time, the girl looks up, albeit hesitantly.

“She won’t do anything to you. I promise.”

“She can-”

“Believe me, she better not.”

At this, a light (but pleased) smile graces Chloe’s features, which makes Veronica grin back. The moment only lasts a few seconds though, Chloe’s smile disappearing as she drinks a mouthful of her red-colored tea. The influencer clears her throat and places her hands on the table.

She wants to hold Chloe’s so bad.

“Chlo-”

“Sorry you had to wait,” a voice suddenly interrupts her – it’s the waiter who always serves them. They offer Veronica a welcoming smile, “The usual?”

“Uh, no, thank you,” then she hastily adds, an idea crossing her mind, “Just your best lava cake, please.”

At this, Chloe blinks, but keeps her mouth closed.

“Right away!”

And they leave. Veronica’s eyes land once again on her dearest friend, warmth, affection and worry dancing in them.

“I knew something was up. The moment you left me on read and started avoiding me, I knew something happened,” she sighs, “And surprise, surprise. Poppy’s the one behind all that, right?”

Chloe doesn’t answer – but her silence is enough.

“Chlo, she- she doesn’t have to control your life like that. You should be the one making decisions for yourself. You do whatever you want to do with whoever you want to.”

“I-”

“So what if you want to befriend Kate and Zoey? Or what if you want to spend time with me, the ‘traitorous cow’? She has no right to dictate your life.”

Chloe bites her lower lip, “V-”

“Chlo, you’re… you’re your own person. You’re not Poppy’s little lapdog-”

“I’m her second-in-command!”

“No, you’re- ah. Thank you.”

Veronica lets the waiter put the plate and the spoon on the table, before they leave. However, she doesn’t touch it, yet, capturing her friend’s attention once again.

“Chloe, no, you’re not her second-in-command. You’re the main pawn in her game, that’s all,” the blonde-haired girl lowers her gaze, pain twisting her features, and Veronica reaches for her – to no avail as Chloe’s hand immediately moves back, “Chlo…” she softly says, “You… do realize that, right? You know that ranking first is more important to Poppy than… you?”

“But she’s…” Chloe grabs her mug, seeking some support. Her knuckles quickly turn white before her shoulders sag, heavy, “She’s my best friend…”

“No, she’s not. Okay, she’s the first person who reached out to you here, I’ll give you that. But a best friend? Seriously? A girl who’s too blinded by her crown and who even goes as far as plotting revenge on you just because you ranked first for, what, a few hours? Do you really call that friendship? Is she really your best friend?”

Chloe bites her lips while sliding a shaky hand in her hair, the other still gripping tightly the mug’s handle.

“Chlo… You’re… you’re so much more than what she reduces you to.”

The blonde gulps with difficulty. She looks torn between so many things – what Poppy, her best friend, expects of her, their seemingly one-way deep friendship, her own needs and desires, the pressure which comes with her reputation at Belvoire, the dear friend she fell in love with…

“You deserve so much more.”

Veronica tentatively brushes Chloe’s fingertips with hers, her warm brown eyes never leaving her face, gauging her reaction. A tremor runs through Chloe, forcing her hand to let go of the mug and move back.

“Chlo…”

The beauty influencer can hear her heart suffocate, ready to crack. She is about to retract her own hand when she feels the tiniest, most hesitant caress on her fingers. Chloe looks at everything but Veronica, a light frown appearing on her face while her lips quiver, indicators of her internal, bone-crushing conflict.

“I-” Chloe starts, her voice clogged with guilt and sadness.

She draws in a deep, shaky breath and, finally, looks up when Veronica’s fingers interlace with hers. Her vision blurs as she holds back her tears.

“I miss you. I miss you so much.”

Veronica’s heart skips a beat, and she breathes back, “I miss you too.”

The grip around their intertwined fingers tightens, as if they are scared of letting the other go and losing her for good this time. Chloe’s first tears start rolling down her cheeks the moment their eyes meet, which prompts Veronica to immediately stand and sit on the booth seat next to her. She wraps an arm around her shoulders while the blonde-haired girl covers her face with her hands, sobbing quietly.

“Hey, hey,” Veronica whispers as she closes her eyes and presses her forehead against Chloe’s temple, heart painfully squeezing, “I’m so sorry I made you cry, Chlo… But you have to face the truth. It’s- it’s better if you do.”

“But it hurts…”

“I know… I know. The truth always hurts.”

Chloe shakily sniffs while slowly unveiling her face, trying to wipe all her tears away. She ends up smearing mascara under her eyes and removing her concealer. She looks so tired. Drained. Veronica’s brown eyes soften as she reaches for her purse and quickly pulls out a cotton pad and a vial filled with transparent liquid.

“My hero,” Chloe gives a weak smile, her light blue eyes still shining with tears, “I’m such a mess.”

“No,” Veronica gently dabs the damp pad under Chloe’s eyes, “You’re perfect.”

“V…”

Chloe’s body start shaking again from the tears she is desperately trying to hold back. No one has ever said things like that to her, not even Poppy, her supposed best friend. She could have, so many times – when they were getting dressed for a party together, for example.

You look nice in that dress.

This skirt’s color looks good on you.

Just… a compliment. Some recognition. A little something which would have made her feel like she was somewhat important, like she was worth it. But no. No one has ever said something nice to her. No one… except Veronica. But with Veronica… it only happened when they were in bed together.

You’re beautiful Chlo, she said the first time she undressed Chloe, making her blush.

You were awesome, she murmured once in the shower, pulling Chloe up and kissing her like she was the only one for her.

Chlo, you’re gorgeous, she groaned the day Chloe straddled her, their breathless moans mingling together in a sweet, loving melody.

You know what? I feel so lucky right now, she smiled when Chloe took her time removing her dress, slowly revealing her new red lacy lingerie.

I want you. And only you, she breathed in the crook of Chloe’s neck the day they had their most agonizing fight, kissing every inch of her jaw, throat and collarbone.

I love you, she cried out once, delirious, intoxicated by the friction, the caresses, the kisses they shared during their most passionate night. Chloe’s heart had never beaten as fast as it did that night.

Of course, all these times mean a lot to Chloe. She fell in love with her friend, after all. But right now, at the coffee shop, it means the world to her.

Veronica gently cups her face and brushes her thumbs on her skin, wiping away some tears. A tingling sensation dances in the influencer’s wrists the moment Chloe curls her fingers around them. Their eyes meet for a second and, when the blonde offers a weak smile, Veronica leans in, tenderly capturing Chloe’s lips. Something bursts in their chests, akin to fireworks, while their mouths slide together perfectly, in harmony. Once, twice. Chloe brings their bodies closer, arms wrapped around her lover’s neck, and the latter smiles, her hands landing on Chloe’s hips, right where they belong. Their lips meet again for the third time, impatient.

When they break the kiss, they press their foreheads together, the tip of their noses brushing.

“Babe, I promise it’ll be okay…” Veronica whispers as she strokes Chloe’s soft blonde locks, looping one behind her ear.

A soft, muffled laugh escapes Chloe’s lips as more tears roll down her cheeks, “You know, I really like it when you call me babe.”

Veronica chuckles and kisses Chloe one more time.

… Okay, three more times.

“Feeling better?”

“A little,” the blonde sniffs, hastily wiping some tears away, “I’m still scared though. What am I supposed to tell Poppy?”

“Nothing. Just… forget about her. We’ll deal with her later,” Veronica pecks the tip of her secret lover’s nose, “Just know that you’re not alone anymore, okay? We’re in this together,” and another peck – on the lips this time, “Babe.”

Chloe’s cute little laugh warms Veronica’s heart. She doesn’t look as downcast as earlier; she even looks relieved, like a huge weight has been taken off her mind, and her smile is more sincere, more instinctive. She looks more like herself – like the girl Veronica fell in love with.

“Now, I believe there’s a lava cake waiting for us before class starts. What do you say?”

Chloe snuggles against Veronica, burying her face in the crook of her neck, “Sounds perfect.” ________________________________________________________________ Meanwhile, outside the coffee shop, two girls give each other a high five, squealing in delight. ________________________________________________________________ Aaaaah I’m super nervous. :’3 But well, I do hope you guys liked that fic!

Thanks for reading and please, take care of yourself and your loved ones! See you. ♥

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talpup · 3 years

Text

Summary: Yami Sukehiro just wanted to join the Magic Knights and make his mentor proud. He knew there would be trails. He knew trouble would come his way. Knew he would be faced with discrimination for being a foreigner and a peasant. What he didn’t know. Didn’t expect. Was that literal Chaos would come his way. That he and his mentor’s sister would be at the center of world ending trouble. Or that he would fall in love with his mentor’s sister and face more than discrimination; but the jealousy of Nozel Silva who loved the same woman he did.

Please remember this fic is rated mature and has warnings of violence, abuse, sexual tension, sexual behavior, and other possible triggers. For a full list of story tags please check the fics AO3 (link to that at the top of my tumblrs homepage).

Doing a double update this week for two reasons. One of which is because I’m really excited to share chapter 101. A LOT will be going down next chapter.

Chapter 100

Yami rubbed his eyes, tired from the late night spent in Jax’s office. The secret meeting had felt like it would never end, everyone talking and theorizing about all they had learned. Yami could’ve kissed Greywright when the Commander called an end to it saying it was getting them nowhere. Exhausted from the long day and troubled sleep of the night before, Yami couldn’t have agreed more. The meetings talk had devolved into a mess of words that had left his mind fogged and dizzy.

Having told Jax he would fill Bran in on the rest in the morning, Yami had taken the younger man out for a ride to do exactly that. Jax hadn’t been happy. The Captain was protective of his squad and didn’t like another member being brought in and endangered by all this. Jax hadn’t been much happier about Yami going out for a ride either; but had relented now knowing the cause of Yami’s added aggression, and wanting to help in away way he could.

Back from their ride, Yami latched the gate behind Pilfer. “Any questions?”

“Too many.” Bran stepped back from No Name’s closed kennel. After hearing the whole of it all, his mind was even more fried than it had been after last nights meeting.

“Any questions I can answer.” Yami clarified.

Bran thought a moment, nothing and everything flipping through his mind at once. He shook his head. “None that I can formulate or think of now.”

Yami nodded, understanding. If Bran hadn’t been overwhelmed from sitting in on last nights meeting, he certainly was now. “If you do have any don’t go bugging Teris or Jax.”

“Does that mean I come to you?” Bran asked, a little too eagerly.

Yami nearly said no; but he was the one who had brought Bran in on this. He was responsible for the kid now. As if he hadn’t felt responsible enough for Bran before, what with being Vice Captain and the way Bran looked up to him.

Giving a nod, Yami grumbled. “So long as you aren’t a nuisance.”

“I won’t be.” Bran promised.

“I know it was said last night and I stared with it. But you really can’t tell anyone. Family. Friends. Sir Jorah. Anyone.”

“I know. I won’t.”

Thinking of how poorly he and Teris had masked their own knowledge about Ellara when faced with the Advisor a few weeks ago, Yami told. “And no letting on that you know. So stay well away from Olsen, Iban, and Ellara if you can’t act dumb.”

Before Yami could say that he should stay away from Iban and Ellara regardless, Bran told.

“I can act dumb! I’m real good at it.” Bran grimaced.

Yami chuckled and turned to the path that led up to the house. “Come on. Let’s get inside. I’m hungry.”

100.2

Jon turned the corner to see a squad member leading Jax down the hall.

“On your way to see Captain Julius, Captain?” Jon questioned.

Jax turned, his escort doing the same.

“I’ll take Captain Jax, Fragil. I’m on my way there anyway.”

Fragil nodded and left the two men, going about her business.

Pulling up beside Jax, Jon utterly softly. “You all must’ve learned something really important or disturbing last night. I woke up early this morning to find Captain Julius in his study surround by books. Don’t think he ever went to bed.”

“I didn’t go to bed either.” Jax yawned. “And it was both important and disturbing. How are things with Kess?”

“You say you learned something important and disturbing enough that you and Captain Julius didn’t go to sleep, yet are asking me about the Silver Eagles Captain?”

“No. I’m asking about your new betrothed who just so happens to be the Silver Eagles Captain.” At Jon’s look, Jax shrugged. “What? Someone elses troubles help take my mind off mine.”

“What makes you think the engagement is troubled? And how did you hear of it? We were only just betrothed yesterday afternoon.” Jon’s eyes narrowed. “Have you and my Captain been gossiping again?”

Jax smirked. “News like this travels faster than Wild Fire in a windstorm. So, are congratulations or sympathies an order?”

Jon gritted his teeth and opened his Captain's private study door.

“Stop!” Julius spun around, hand outstretched.

Jax stopped in mid-step.

Julius quickly created a time sphere for all inanimate objects in the room, freezing them in place. “Alright. It’s safe now.”

“Are you sure about that? Julius, what…” Jax slowly stepped inside, concerned eyes looking about the room.

Jon followed in the Black Bulls Captain's wake. He quickly closed the door behind, not wanting any servants or squad members who might pass to see the manic mess. And it was a mess. Books were piled as high as a man was tall. Countless tomes laid strewn open over each other, covering every surface from tables to chairs to the backs and arms of a sofa. There were even a couple books precariously balanced on a pot, crushing some poor plant. But it was the scrolls and loose leaf papers that really made the scene. They were scattered everywhere. Apparently out of room Julius had begun laying pages out on the floor. And when that wasn’t enough, he had taken to tacking things on the wall and pinning them to the curtains.

“Julius! What the--” Jax tripped over the curled part of a scroll, Julius’ spell making it immovable. The Black Bulls Captain cursed, taking several steps to steady himself.

“I had Marx transcribe what Bran overheard, and what the History of Chaos said about the portrait, along with what Teris read from Captain Shadow’s journal.” Julius said, as if that explained the state of his private study.

Jon looked between the two Captain's. “She was able to read it?”

Jax frowned. He was going to tell his friend that it still didn’t explain all this, but Julius spoke first.

“I can’t believe you let Teris keep Captain Shadow’s journal.” Julius said, neither man acknowledging Jon’s question.

Jax shrugged a shoulder. “Seemed reasonable since she’s the only one who can read the hidden message.”

Reasonable as it was, Julius wasn’t having it. “But you know how she is. What if she--”

“Became obsessed and stayed awake all night, littering the floor with paper and pinning things to the walls?” Jax cut in over his friend, looking pointedly around the room.

“I know about the journal you found.” Julius said, reasoning his behavior.

Jax made a face, feeling both guilty and grateful he hadn’t been able to tell Yami about the journal two days ago when Yami had called him out on holding a secret. “I’m going to tell them.”

“You can’t. Teris will--”

“Do the same as you and make a mess of the general study at my base?” Jax questioned over Julius. “Maybe. But we promised those two no more secrets. More than that, Teris and Yami have the History of Chaos. After what we learned last night. Given what you and Greywright came to suppose after I found that journal Iban told me about… What if you and Greywright are right?”

Julius’ eyebrows pulled together. He didn’t like Jax thinking he was right. He didn’t want to be right. It had been a crazy theory at the time. It was still a crazy thought. Just because what they had learned last night further pointed to such a possibility didn’t make the idea any less insane. But given everything else; talk of Chaos and primordial forces, and crazy zealots who wanted to end everything to start a new beginning. Was the notion that they were dealing with someone that old really that insane?

Sighing, Julius relented. “Fine. But at least wait a couple days. Give them tomorrow off to relax and unwind. They’ll need it.”

100.3

Ready for a nap after a hearty lunch, Yami entered Teris’ makeshift office. He shook his head, seeing her bent over Captain Shadow’s journal exactly as he figured she would be. “You gonna obsess over that thing all day?”

“I’m rereading, not obsessing.” Teris muttered, without lifting her head.

“What obsessive freaks like you and Julius call rereading. Normal folk call obsessing.” Yami teased.

“You’re far from normal, Sukehiro.”

Yami smirked, hearing the smile in her voice. He pushed aside the journal Jax should've taken away from her last night and set a plate of food in front of her.

“Hey!” Teris complained, reaching for the diary. Seeing the food, her brows furrowed. “What’s this?”

Yami leaned back against the table. “What’s it look like?”

“Lunch.” Teris’ eyes widened. “It’s lunch time?”

“Past.” Yami crossed his arms and stared down at her. “See what I mean about obsessing?”

Teris’ stomach grumbled. She blushed.

Chuckling, Yami encouraged. “Dig in.”

“Thanks.”

Yami kissed her head, hand smoothing her hair. “I’m gonna take a nap. If you’re not at the table for supper, I’m coming in here and burning that thing.”

“You wouldn’t.” Teris said with certainty.

Yami righted, hand falling to his side. “Try me.”

Feeling less certain, Teris turned in her seat to look at him. Finding his expression void of taunting or humor, she complained. “You’re terrible.”

A small grin cracked Yami’s somewhat stern expression. “Yet you choose to be with me. What’s that say about you?”

“That I’m either a fool or glutton for punishment.” Teris half grumbled, half played.

“Well I know you’re no fool. As for punishment...” Yami’s eyes raked over her, crooked smile growing. “The only punishment I’d ever give would be pleasurable for the both of us.”

100.3.2

Yami closed the door to Teris’ makeshift office feeling a light-hearted ease despite all they’d learned last night. After teasing Teris like that and seeing her beautiful blush, how could he not? Teris was capable of making all his troubles disappear with a single smile. She--

Yami’s footsteps stopped as he passed the narrow door of the servants stairs. “I told you to stay away from Teris. What are you doing sulking around her?”

“I’m not here for Teris. Why do you think I let you sense my presence?” Iban stepped out of the dark opening that led down to his lab.

Yami turned, watching the Blood Mage appear out of the enclosed stairwell.

Iban looked Yami over and tisked. “You really are having a time of it aren’t you?”

“A time of what?” Yami asked. Even without Bran having overheard the conversation between Iban and Ellara, it was always better to play dumb and hope Iban would give further information for free.

Iban stalked closer. “You don’t have to pretend with me, Vice Captain. I can help.”

Yami would’ve rested his hand on the hilt of his katana; but he rarely carried the weapon around the house. Instead he placed a hand on his left hip. “I already told you never to mention that dark magic ritual of yours to me again.”

“I am not speaking of the communicative dreams with the page of Chaos. I am speaking about the trouble you are currently having with the Darkness building within you. ” Iban said.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Creepy.”

“So that dark, consuming pull I feel is not beginning to effect your temper?” Iban questioned. “At first I thought it was simply because you have such a short temper as it is. But I was wrong. The force within you is greater.”

“Greater?”

“Greater than the Light that is within--”

Yami snarled, daring Iban to say Teris’ name.

Iban smiled and went on. “I think the Darkness within you is far greater than Alowishus Spade could have ever imagined.”

“But you can help.” Yami supplied with a huff.

Iban gave a single nod.

Yami’s lip twitched in another sneer. “You wanna help? Tell me about this Darkness that’s supposedly building inside me. Way is it so much stronger? What do the Agents of Chaos want with it? What do they have planned for the Winter Solstice?”

“Sorry, Vice Captain. Such answers are far too costly.”

If it weren’t for what Bran had overheard, Yami would've thought Iban was referring to the price it would’ve cost him. But now he knew otherwise. Alowishus Spade had forced Iban into some sort of vow of silence; and the the cost the Blood Mage was referring to was the cost to lives of Iban’s family.

“There’s people working on it. I don’t need your help.” Yami gruffed.

“Who? Captain Jax and Commander Greywright?” Iban’s eyes glimmered in the dim hall light. “Our Captain and Knights Commander are highly capable men. But this is so far from their field of expertise. No doubt that is why the Captain has not told you of the assistance I gave him several weeks back. Because Captain Jax has deferred to Captain Julius. And the Azure Deers Captain is overly protective of his little sister, and protege.”

Yami’s eyes narrowed wondering what he was talking about.

“No doubt you mean Captain Julius and Senior Investigations Mage Marx are working on it.” Iban went on. “Such great scholarly minds might be able to find something that may be of assistance. But will they find it in time? And will it help enough? I can feel the force seeping from your seams. It is like the pressure of an oncoming storm. Ready to burst and wash us away at any moment.” He tilted his head, staring Yami in the eye. “I wonder which you will do first. Kill everything in sight, including your friends. Or head straight to Teris to--” His words cut off in a gurgle.

Hand around Iban’s throat, Yami growled. “Say her name again and I’ll end you.”

“I—be—lieve—oo.” Iban choked.

It was a fight for Yami to force his hand to release the Blood Mage. He stepped back, corded muscles trembling with bridled energy. Never had he moved so fast without mana skin. He could have killed Iban. He had wanted to kill him. The only thing that had stopped him was a small lingering voice of reason. And that voice was quickly fading. Iban was right. He would soon lose control to the force inside him. He had to get a handle on this or else…

Yami looked down the hallway toward Teris’ makeshift office. He could sense her mana as bright as any ships warning beacon. Never before had he worried at how her mana called to him, but he started to now.

Regaining his breath, Iban followed Yami’s gaze. “She may be able to stop you. Call you back as she did once before. But do you really want to put her through that? To take the chance that she will be unable to? That you will devour her and destroy everything in sight?”

“I don’t want your help.” Yami rumbled.

Iban heard the conflict in his voice. “This one will not cost you, Vice Captain. After all it is a form of self preservation.”

Tempted as Yami was, there was one thing stopping him. “No doubt it entails black magic.”

“Yes.” Iban admitted. “It is unavoidable. After all it is black magic that is causing this. Or have you deluded yourself into believing that things Alowishus Spade is doing, including the rituals he put her through and has in store for you, is nothing but benign sanctioned magic.”

Yami glared and told again. “I don’t want or need your help.”

“I admire a man who doesn’t want to dabble in black magic.”

Yami looked skeptically at Iban.

“What? I do.” Iban exhaled, slowly. “That said. In this instance. You either get your hands dirty with black magic. Or you will see them soaked with blood.”

“You would like that, wouldn’t you?”

“What? Seeing you tainted by using black magic? Or seeing you stained in the blood of your friends?”

Yami ground his teeth, wishing Iban would stop calling such images to mind. “This force inside me is connected or part of my magic and mana, right? Why can’t I just use so much mana a day and stop it from overflowing?”

“That might work for a time.” Iban said.

Yami growled. Julius had given the same answer when Yami suggested it during last nights meeting.

“There is a mana source that could be of help. But I am fairly certain you would be even less likely to accept his assistance than you would mine.”

“Why?” Yami asked.

“Why Spade’s mana? He is Death. The father of Darkness.”

Yami almost ask how Alowishus Spade’s mana could be of help but it didn’t matter. Instead, he asked. “Why me? Teris didn’t have this problem.”

“Your counterpart is not a third seventh born son. Nor does she wield three types of magic from three different worlds. She is from this land. In tune to this lands magic. Her ties are deep. The roots of House Nova’s bloodline goes back further than the Clover Kingdom itself. The family one of the oldest this land has.”

Frowning, Yami shook his head. “I wield no magic from other worlds.”

“Do you not?” Iban questioned.

“My homeland has no magic.”

Iban sighed, annoyed at Yami’s small mindedness. “I am not here to convince you of your unique power, but to offer you a way to deal with the force growing inside you.”

“I said no.” Yami growled, wanting to pummel Iban till the answer got through his thick head.

“Very well. You know where to find me when you change your mind.”

Yami watched Iban turn back toward the servants stairwell, presumably to return his labs. A nagging worry made him call out in question. “What happens if we manage to stay out of the Agents of Chaos’ grasp and their sick ritual doesn’t go down? Do I stay like this? Does the force inside me continue to build until it takes over completely? Or will it just go back to normal?”

Iban looked over his shoulder wearing a crooked smirk. “It is both cute and sad that you think you have a chance of evading them. The man is Death. One would think that you would have grasped at least that by now. You cannot avoid Death, Yami Sukehiro. In the end, Death will always have its way.”

100.4

Olsen’s smile grew at the sound of rowdy banter coming from the dining hall. He heard Venice ask about tomorrows plans and something made him stop short. As a gentleman, Olsen made a point never to eavesdrop. Especially when a lady was talking. It didn’t matter that Venice's question might not be addressed to anyone in particular. Or that the rest of the squad was likely at the table making the conversation far from private. It was still unchivalrous.

Yet Olsen had no control over himself as he inched quietly closer, and listened in, eyes unfocused.

100.4.2

“I’m not sure.” Teris answered Venice's question.

“You should take the day off.” Jax encouraged from his seat.

Teris turned to the Captain. “Really?”

“Yeah. You both should.” Jax said, looking to Yami who sat to his left. He smiled, pleased Venice had given him a way to go about Julius’ ask without raising too much suspicion. The Azure Deers Captain had been right, of course. Whether he was going to tell Yami and Teris about the journal the day after tomorrow or not; his Vice Captain's needed a days break.

Yami’s eyes narrowed. Jax had managed to get the entire squad, save for Iban, two days off little less than a month ago for Vanessa’s birthday party. Encouraging them to take a day off so soon after that seemed suspect.

“What are you playing at?” Yami asked.

“Nothing!” Jax assured, his tone and expression affirming the answer for the lie it was.

Seated to Yami’s left, Tobin nudged him with an elbow. “Don’t go questioning an offer of a day off.”

Yami’s hand curled into a fist. He didn’t want to hit his friend; but these days there was a constant underlying urge to hit something. And, playful or not, Tobin’s nudge nearly had him doing so.

He noticed the way Iban watched him, gold eyes shining. Yami’s hand twitched wanting to wipe the smug, knowing smirk off the Blood Mage’s face. Swallowing, Yami forced his hand open. It didn’t matter if expending a sizable amount of mana wouldn’t work long term. He just needed something to help right now.

“Jack’s been bugging me about going over to the Green Mantis base for a day of sparring.” Yami eyed Tobin. “You game?”

“For squashing that gangly bug? Do you even have to ask?” Tobin grinned.

“That means Teris and I can have a girls day.” Venice enthused.

“It’s been far too long since we’ve had one of those.” Teris said, excited by the thought.

Looking at Venice over the rim of his cup, Jax said. “I find it amusing you and Tobin think you’re getting tomorrow off.”

Abril laughed at Venice's expression.

“Abril will cover for me.” Venice volunteered the other girl.

Abril laughed all the louder.

Jax shook his head. “She can’t. I let her and Bran have tomorrow off a week ago.”

Venice's head snapped to Abril. “What are you two doing?”

“Going to Raque to see Ricte.” Abril answered.

Bran glanced nervously at Gendry. While Gendry frowned at Abril.

“What happened to Ricte worked and couldn’t have any ol’ day off?” Teris asked, protective of Abril.

“Oh! I wanna go to Raque! I haven’t been in so long.” Venice whined.

Thinking Teris wouldn’t have much of a day off without her friend. Never mind that he didn’t want her going out alone. Jax sighed and told Venice. “Fine. You and Tobin can have the day off.”

“I don’t care about Tobin. I just want to go to Raque with Teris.” Venice said.

“Hey.” Tobin complained.

Venice looked at Teris. “You good with spending the day at Raque?”

“A day at the beach sounds grand.” Teris smiled.

“Almost as grand as Gendry and I kicking Jack and Tobin’s ass’s.” Yami said, in attempt at cheering Gendry.

“Hey!” Tobin complained again.

Rolling his eyes, Jax submitted to Yami’s sly addition of Gendry getting a day off. “So long as Iban and Olsen stick around in case a mission order comes in and actual work needs to be done.”

100.4.3

Eyes still unfocused, Olsen quietly exited the house. He created a cloud of water vapor and took to the air, having a sudden explicable and overwhelming need to see Ellara.

Comments are VERY MUCH appreciated and really make my day. Thank you to those who have left hearts. And a special THANK YOU to those who have recently commented or re-blogged. It really means a lot.

I’ve worried for a while that readers would have a hard time keeping everything with the Chaos plot straight given the long, slow draw of that plot and it seems a that worry has come to life. Below is a list of Alowishus’ past lives. If any of you would be interested in a list of chapter and scenes where the Chaos plot is prevalent please let me know, all it would take is a slight amendment to my personal fic notes.

Fin Spade – 1st life, son of Erin (who was Yurist's son) and Mira Spade; Fin was the one who stole the Future of Chaos out of labyrinth #297,353 only having it for a short time before Erin stole it back and "joined" it where it would be safe. Some years later Fin killed his father Erin at a placed known as the Dais.

Garo Belin – 2nd life, son of a middling merchant family; After starting to remember his past life as Fin and thinking he was going crazy, Garo went to the Dais (the place where the geyser labyrinth will eventually be, and currently is in fics timeline). There Garo found Erin Spade's skull and died doing the spell that put Erin’s soul in the skull.

?? – 3rd life; remembered 1st & 2nd lives when he was 10yrs. Collected Erin Spade’s skull that Garo spelled, and finally got some answers from Erin. Because of that he found a purpose that the other incarnations have worked toward and built upon. He's also the one who created what is now known as the Agents of Chaos; and is the one who was/is still called the "Master of Master's".

?? – 4th life

?? – 5th life

Everard Spade – 6th life; was Master of the Agents of Chaos; Captain Shadow killed him 3yrs before she was locked in the geyser labyrinth. Jax currently has his old journal thanks to Iban telling him where to look.

Alowishus Spade – 7th life, currently 380yrs; spent several adult years working on his own before rejoining the Agents of Chaos. Challenged and killed Alric (Iban's third great grandfather) for the right to be Master of the Agents of Chaos.

*Note: thanks to learning and using corpse magic, Alowishus is by FAR the longest lived of all his lives. His second longest life was his 1st incarnation Fin who lived 77yrs.

Next chapter snippet:

“We’ll sort that out later. For now surrender and come with me, and I will see no one gets harmed.”

“And who might you be?” Teris asked.

“Commander Fanzell.” Fanzell said.

It was then that Teris noticed the diamond on his grimoire.

#yami sukehiro #julius novachrono #Black Clover #light in the darkness

4 notes · View notes

phoenotopia · 4 years

Text

2020 May Update

I hope you're all staying safe and healthy during this time of Coronavirus!

We continue towards the finish line, slowly, but surely. Coronavirus did throw a few wrenches in our plans. Our talks with a publisher about a possible sponsored appearance at an upcoming event stalled.

But that was always just a possibility. We have a backup plan. If we didn't win a sponsor, we were just going to pay our own way to a convention. That's what most indies do! Anyway, that's canceled too. It doesn't seem like there'll be any conventions to showcase in the near future...

Nevertheless, we did move forward in other areas. We've got the press materials ready as well as the game's official launch site up. You can view it in its prelaunch state at this link. NOTE, It is in a "prelaunch" state, so some media links are being withheld until reveal time. But there are a bunch of new pictures and artwork you can look at.

You might notice the link reads "phoenotopia.wordpress.com". The plan is to direct "phoenotopia.com" to it in the near future. That means if you wanted to reach this tumblr specifically, you'll have to visit it at its tumblr link, "phoenotopia.tumblr.com" (which, I just noticed doesn't work... huh). Anyway, since this is a dev blog, I'll talk a little bit about the journey of creating the website.

SQUARESPACE vs WIX vs WORDPRESS

I actually tried 3 different services (in the above order), before I settled on wordpress. I did a bunch of researching, and most reviews seemed to point at WIX >= SQUARESPACE >>> WORDPRESS.

I went with Squarespace first, since it was recommended a bunch on some youtube videos I saw (guess marketing works). Even though it didn't win outright in the reviews, my impression of it was "less quantity, but more quality." I tried it and found it serviceable. It was kinda sluggish, with some not so intuitive areas. I had to ask for help a few times for some things that would seem simple ("how do I change the BG and font color and of the music player?", etc).

That was last year, when I *thought* I was near launch and would need a press site soon. One year later (present day), it was time to create a press site again, and since my website with Squarespace expired (I had only signed up for a trial period), it was a good opportunity to try Wix, especially since Pirate had lots of praise for Wix.

My impression of Wix was that it was... too distracting. After I chose a theme, in the editor view I felt bombarded by menus. Everywhere you move the mouse, things kept lighting and popping up. And it was slow. So I guess it was sorta like Squarespace, but maybe even a little worse?

(Easy ways to preview the website from phones and tablets was one of wordpress’s neat features)

What prompted me to try Wordpress was one of their slogans "35% of the web uses WordPress". If it's good enough for 35% of websites, it's good enough for me! I ended up liking it most of all. It's definitely less featured, which suited me, since I'm not trying to create something too fancy either. Unlike the other website builders which emphasize free-form, wordpress was more rigid. I couldn't drag and drop an element just anywhere - I found that comforting in a "I can't screw this up" sorta way. The most important thing was that it was fast. Loading the editor view to Wix took 11 seconds vs 4 seconds with Wordpress. And the speed advantage of wordpress extends across every action. Similarly, when Chrome launched 10+ years ago, it was also less featured vs Firefox, but it became my choice browser. I guess speed is something I value highly.

Anyway, my experience is from a drag/drop perspective with minimal coding. This is also NOT a paid advertisement. However, if wordpress would like to send some money my way, I would not be opposed... (call me!)

Achievements, Bugfixes, and Cleanup

Lots of small tasks and polish was done over the past 2 months. I finally fixed the time tracking bug - important because the Speed Run achievement depended on it. I also finally finished implementing all the technical stuff for the achievements. There was a bug where some enemies would stack up too many light sources, causing them to appear too bright and drain system resources. That's now also fixed. Lots of other small ones that don't bear mentioning.

A neat trivia about the game is that there's a final super hard achievement for those seeking to prove their mastery over the game. The player has to beat the game having never picked up a heart or energy upgrade. When playing under this constraint, some enemies can even kill the player in one hit! In the game's most current iteration, even I failed to achieve it, so I'm definitely going to have to go in and tweak things a little more.

Age Ratings

I went and got the game's age rating. I did a little research on this - it's quite fascinating. ESRB would be the age ratings board for the United States (where I'm based). But if you were in Europe, you'd get a PEGI rating. Then there's ACB for Australia and so forth. So if you wanted to launch a game globally, you'd have to deal with this process over and over, and each country rates things a little differently... that's a lot of work!

Enter IARC (International Age Rating Coalition), which aimed to simplify the process by being the one standard that you apply to, and from which you could then get the equivalent rating for all participating countries. IARC is an entirely automated process - probably necessary due to the boom of digital titles across all platforms, particularly mobile.

IARC is great for me, because they relaxed the standards for getting a rating. From my understanding, the process used to be more difficult. And you'd have to pay ESRB a hefty chunk to get a rating, but with IARC, it's totally free! So long as it's for digital and it's used only on licensed sites and store fronts. If I wanted to launch the game physically, I'd have to deal with ESRB on an individual basis again.

Without further ado, here's Phoenotopia's IARC ratings:

Fascinating... Phoenotopia is rated "Mature" in Australia... but for "Horror". Which seems suspect. The horror elements are rare (remember Dreadlands?). But when I was answering their questionnaire, they provided a video example of what they considered "horror", and it was pretty mild. About as mild as my game, so I checked that box. It is what it is...

We also got a "Teen" rating for ESRB for reasons of Fantasy Violence and "Mild Blood". This one is kinda iffy. In the game, if you hit a giant bug, it spits out a few drops of green blood. Does that really count as blood? Ocarina of time skirted by with an E rating 2 decades ago, and it let a dude spit out green blood. However, since IIARC is an automated process, I didn't see any place to dispute. But also, I wouldn't have disputed it anyway. A "T" rating is cooler than an "E" rating!

I'd like to mention this is not a paid advertisement for IARC. However, if IARC would like to send some money my way, I would not be opposed... (call me!)

Submission

I expect to polish the game for about 2 (maybe 3) more weeks. After which, I'll be submitting the game to the console "authority". From my understanding, I'll then have to wait a month while they "inspect" the title. After which, I'm then cleared to have an official launch date - which I'll probably set to be 1 month after getting approval.

So the plan is to have a very short marketing campaign. The reveal trailer will basically drop 1 month before release. And we're going to sprint to the finish line. Some marketing campaigns are 6 months to a couple years. Ours will be one month... Let's hope it works.

Wrench

That's what the plan looks like right now, but there is a possible upcoming wrench in this whole thing. I recently learned that my version of Unity is too old. Games running on old Unity versions are not automatically accepted - so I'll have to apply for an exemption. If the exemption gets rejected, we can't launch without upgrading, which will require *significant* work...

This came as a surprise to me. When I started dabbling in games development a decade ago, the most common advice I found online was "Make Games, not Game Engines." I interpreted this to mean lock in your technologies. There's always going to be a new and shinier bell or whistle, but if you keep chasing it, you're not going to work on the actual content of the game. That's probably what kept me to releasing the original game on Flash. That was a game I was making as a hobby while working a full-time job. By the time I quit my job to go full-time indie dev, Flash had long been a dead technology. But I remembered "do you want to build game engines or games?" And so I pressed forward.

So that mindset could potentially backfire here. If PC was the lead SKU, we wouldn't have these issues since PC is more relaxed as a platform. Consoles, as I'm now learning, have an ever forward shifting window of technologies. If we get rejected for the exemption, there's a couple ways we can play it. One, we go through the pain of upgrading which will take months... Two, we pivot and make PC the lead SKU again, but have to handle porting that plus its specific features, which will also take months...

So why is updating such a big issue? Unity has changed drastically over the years. When I started, it was a lot less 2D friendly. They didn't have an official 2D tilemap solution, so you had to build your own or buy a 3rd party library from their asset store. I used 2DTK for tilemaps - 2DTK is now entirely deprecated. Similarly, I had to search for and purchase a good asset to display crisp text - since you couldn't even do that in Unity back then (heh). That's the story for a lot of old Unity stuff. Think of it as a first mover's "disadvantage".

Hopefully it won't come to that, since I'm pretty spent as a developer. I've been ready for this to be over, and I know many of you feel the same. Hopefully soon! As usual, I'll update in 2 months at the latest (end of June). An update might come earlier if we have some good news to share sooner. Until then!

Fanart and Cosplay

This first picture comes from roccy_chair and shows Gail basked in light. I like how her pose and equipment together form an "X". That's a neat hidden symmetry. The way she floats also kinda reminds me of Crono's "Shining" spell. Perhaps Gail should have the ability to cast spells? Hmmm...

Cody G returns with a new art depicting the 2 Moonstone enthusiasts. I like Fran's starry-eyed expression here. That's true love on display. I also like how the Moonstones are depicted as flat and coin-shaped. Very unique! Also note Gail makes an appearance in the back :D

Thanks to M1shaaa for this cosplay of Gail! There's a lot to like here! The vibrant pink hair. The costume with 3 stitches across the vest. The pose with slingshot, accurate to Gail's depiction in the box art. Amazingly, this might also be the very *first* cosplay of Gail! Will and Pirate both alerted me about it excitedly since they were pretty stoked. We joked that we crossed the final milestone in terms of fandom.

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ripley95 · 4 years

Text

Echoes of Old Embers

Chapter 3

Pairing: F!Shepard/Kaidan Alenko

Rating: T

Chapter length: 2.9K

Story Synopsis:

After surviving the war, one of Shepard’s biggest regrets was rejecting Kaidan at Apollo’s. Fate has a way of bringing Jane and Kaidan back into each other’s lives. A misunderstanding with his family makes Kaidan and Shepard relive old history and question where they stand.

Link to Chapter 1 on AO3

Chapter Synopsis:

Shepard regrets agreeing to go with Kaidan to his family orchard. As she contemplates leaving without Kaidan’s knowledge, she ends up getting caught in an awkward turn of events. Through circumstances beyond her control, she’s left reminiscing about what things used to be like when they were together.

Link to Chapter 3 on AO3

Tumblr Links:

Read the chapter here below the cut:

Shepard woke up to the sunlight slowly creeping in through the room. Soft hues of orange painted the walls with their warmth. It was unfamiliar and enough to make her sit up in a panic, having forgotten where she was. As soon as she sat up, she saw Kaidan still sleeping soundly on the couch across from the foot of her bed. It was enough to make her sudden adrenaline rush subside. It would seem that she had gotten more accustomed to her hospital room than she thought. She was finally free of it, yet subconsciously missing the comforts and stability it provided.

She looked out the window as she allowed her breathing to regulate itself, hoping it would help her calm down more. They were in one of the only highrises that was actually finished at this point, and Kaidan’s apartment was situated near the top. One of the perks of being a Major if Shepard had to guess. Because of that, the view was almost entirely unimpeded. She could see the mountains up to the north, their peaks still tipped with snow. Everything was beginning to be painted in that same orange glow of the sun that was currently hitting the wall.

She couldn’t help but notice grey clouds off in the distance, too. She knew Kaidan would have known better anyway, but it appeared as though he accurately predicted the weather. Even if she could have gotten camping gear without taking it from someone in need, this really wasn’t the best time to be living in the wilderness.

Her breathing had now calmed, so she turned her view to give the apartment a once-over, still not wanting to get up just yet. It was a tiny bachelor setup. The walls were cold and empty, just as she would have expected from the Alliance. Apparently, there was no surplus in the budget to be littering their walls with knick-knacks or cheap art. She had a clear view of the kitchen. The whole living space shared one larger room—the perfect depiction of a bachelor apartment. She wasn’t particularly surprised by that, again, remembering that this was temporary Alliance housing. They relied on efficient use of space, and for someone with Kaidan’s rank, these rooms were typically meant for single person use. It wasn’t exactly homey by any means, but it served its purpose well enough. Though, something about it felt homey to her, despite its cold aesthetic. She figured it probably had to do with the warmth of the sun coming through the window or the fantastic view of nature off in the distance. Part of her couldn’t help but wonder if it might have had more to do with the other body sleeping on the couch across from the foot of her bed.

Her gaze lingered down to Kaidan then. She let out a sigh and plopped her head back down on the pillow, remembering what was in store for her today. That’s right. They would be heading to the orchard later in the morning. The clarity of the situation that came with a good night’s rest suddenly left her feeling unsettled over the prospect.

After spending the evening with him, they both quickly fell back into that place of comradery and comfort with each other. It was as though nothing had changed between them. It was the exact closeness that she had been craving from him for so long now. She had fallen asleep, perfectly content and happy with the day’s events. She was glad that they could have spent so much time together with no responsibilities weighing them down, but the sobering reality of morning left a bitter taste in her mouth.

He showed her around Vancouver and took her to all of the places that were important and meaningful to him growing up here. Sure, half the city was in shambles, but he still managed to bring her to all of the areas that held memories for him. The entire time, she couldn’t help but picture Kaidan as a young boy running around the crowded streets with his family. This whole place was a part of who he was and what turned him into the person that he is now. He even took her to one of his favourite pubs that was still standing, and she finally got to try the lager he was always talking about. As they both suspected, Shepard wasn’t a fan. It had quickly turned into a fun night, all the same, getting a sample of what Kaidan’s life was like here.

It was the first time she could remember genuinely smiling in years. The only other time she could think of was at the party she threw in Anderson’s apartment on the Citadel, but even then, it was weighed down by thoughts of the war. This was different. They didn’t have a care in the world. It was almost a new feeling for her.

By the time they made it back to Kaidan’s room, she was so tired and stiff that she hadn’t even put up a fight at his insistence on giving her the bed. She had quickly gotten dressed in her pyjamas and promptly passed out without so much as saying a goodnight to the man who was gracious enough to give up his sleeping arrangements for her.

Waking up now with a fresh perspective of the previous day’s events made her feel like it was all a little more intimate than she had been expecting. She saw the city through the lens of a man she once loved. All of the places that he took her and the experiences they shared felt reminiscent of something he should be doing with someone special. Guilt consumed her then, making her regret agreeing to go to the orchard with him. She hoped that she hadn’t left him with confused feelings over their relationship like the ones she was currently experiencing. It made her realise just how difficult this week with his family was about to be. It would be unfair to put him through that.

She glanced over to the front door from the comfort and safety of the bed. It wasn’t that far away. She contemplated leaving as she glanced back to Kaidan, who was still as sound asleep as he was before. There was a small recreation centre on the first floor of the building where she could shower and change. She was almost certain she could escape quietly enough without him noticing.

She sat for another moment to mull it over. It would hurt his feelings if she left now, but in the long run, they’d probably both be better off without her complicating their feelings for each other again. If she was honest, it was making it easier for her . She didn’t know if she could make it through a week of being with the Alenkos without breaking down at some point.

That was enough to make up her mind on the matter. She slowly and quietly began to sit up, and as she extended her leg out to hit the floor as quietly as she could, searing pain rushed through her calf and up into her thigh. The same leg that had been shattered after the blast from the Citadel. It needed so much reconstructive surgery that she wasn’t able to walk on it for months, and was still regaining full mobility and muscle mass. It was the majority of the reason she wasn’t fit for active duty yet. She fell back on the bed, hissing out in pain, figuring that they must have overdone it yesterday when they were walking around everywhere.

She heard rustling from the other side of the room almost immediately.

“What?! What is it?” Kaidan asked as he rushed over to her side.

She couldn’t respond, the pain was so bad. She hissed out again as another jolt rushed through her leg.

“Your leg? Muscle cramp?” he asked quickly, having been able to discern that from the way she was grasping at it.

She nodded in confirmation, her eyes screwed together tightly. The bed dipped beside her, and she felt gentle hands over her leg as he helped stretch it out.

“Does that feel any better?”

She nodded quickly and huffed out a “Yeah.”

“Where does it hurt?”

“Back of my thigh,” she forced out, as the pain eased slightly.

He waited for her to relax a bit more before moving to sit between her legs. That finally made her open her eyes to watch what he was doing. He lifted the stiff one gently and rested her calf on his shoulder, running his hands down the smooth expanse of her leg in search of the offending muscle.

As his thumbs started digging into the back of her thigh, she hissed out in pain again.

“I take it, that’s the spot?” he asked, looking concerned.

She nodded in confirmation, not particularly wanting to speak again, but watched him as he worked the muscle. His gaze went directly back to her thigh and his task at hand, ever the gentleman as always, not letting his eyes stray anywhere unseemly.

Meanwhile, the more he massaged her leg, the more relaxed she felt, and the more her own eyes drifted to his bare chest, still as toned as ever, perhaps with a few more scars adorning it now. Probably from the Mako blast right before the beam in London if she had to guess. They weren’t there when she saw him at Huerta after what happened to him on Mars, so they had to be more recent. Already healed over, but recent nonetheless.

She still remembered that day. Sending him back to the Normandy with Liara. Back when she didn’t regret her decision at Apollo’s because she was so sure she was about to be facing certain death. Of course, that hadn’t stopped her from desperately wanting to tell him that she was still in love with him right then and there, but at the time, she was glad for her better judgement. Or maybe it was against her better judgement now that she was alive and well, staring at him square in the chest.

“Is that better?” he asked, and she was mortified to see that he was looking back at her now. She just hoped he didn’t notice how long she’d been ogling him.

She cleared her throat. “Uh, yeah. Thanks.”

He set her leg back down gently to let it rest but didn’t move from his spot. “Does that still happen a lot?”

“No,” she said as she rested her head back against the pillow. “I think we might have just pushed it a bit yesterday.”

“You should have said something, I would have been fine coming back here earlier.”

“I felt fine yesterday. I think I’m still just getting used to having limitations, and I haven’t exactly figured out what they are yet. I haven’t had much of a chance to test it out before now.”

Kaidan nodded at that. It was only her first day out of the hospital yesterday. They probably didn’t allow her to push herself too much outside of physical therapy. She would have expected to go back to her room hurting after a session there, but this was her first time testing out the waters on her own.

“All right,” he said, sounding pleased enough with her answer. “As long as you’re okay now, I guess. I’ll make sure you take things easier at the orchard,” he said as he finally got up.

Oh right… The orchard. So much for her escape plan. She started to sit up before Kaidan stopped her again.

“Hang on. Just stay here. I’m going to get you some water and breakfast so you can let your leg rest for a minute.”

His nurturing attitude was doing nothing to help her already very confusing feelings for him. “That really isn’t necessary,” she called out.

“No, maybe not, but I’m not the one who’s still recovering. I can grab you something to eat, Shepard,” he said with a sly grin.

She let out a barely audible grunt of frustration as she sat up a bit, before relaxing against the headboard to prevent a lecture from him.

She heard dishes clattering lightly and cupboards open and close. She glanced over at him. He put on one of his Alliance issue T-shirts that had been strewn across the back of a kitchen chair after starting a pot of coffee with a grin on his face. He seemed content to just be for the moment. It was a nice look on him. Like the weight of the galaxy wasn’t on his shoulders anymore. Time after war was doing him good. She realised she was staring again, so she tried to distract herself by fidgeting with the hem of her pyjama shorts.

He finished up quickly and brought her a plate of food. It wasn’t anything fancy, just a muffin and banana. He also brought her a cup of coffee and two water bottles and set those down next to her on the nightstand.

“I already know that you’re going to be too stubborn if I told you you’re not allowed to have coffee, but the caffeine will make your leg worse. I want you to finish all of that water to help compensate for it.”

“Yes, sir, Dr. Alenko,” she said with a grin and a mock salute before peeling the banana and taking a bite.

He quickly made his way back into the kitchen and grabbed himself a plate and some coffee of his own before plopping back down on the couch across from her. He stretched out his legs and put his feet up on the bed, that’s how close the furniture was to each other.

Jane couldn’t help but notice the muscles in his legs as he peeled his own banana. She still remembered what it felt like to have those thighs between hers, and was starting to remember how much she missed it. She gulped her food down a little louder than she thought was necessary, and cleared her throat awkwardly. She turned to the window again, hoping that she came off as being more suave than she felt in the moment.

It really was a beautiful view. She just hoped it was nice enough to distract any attention away from her embarrassing behaviour. The sun had a chance to rise a little higher, and the warm orange and pink hues were replaced with the more direct, harsh light of the day already.

They ate in companionable enough silence. She tried to finish her breakfast quickly, as another way to keep her distracted while she kept admiring the view.

“You okay?” she heard from the other side of the room.

Clearly, she was doing a worse job at keeping her cool than she had hoped.

“Hmm?” was all she offered as she glanced back to him, feigning confusion, hoping he wasn’t going to ask her about her odd behaviour.

“Your leg. Is it feeling better yet?”

“Oh,” she said. She had all but forgotten about that at this point. She started stretching it and trying to loosen it up a bit. “It’s still a bit sore, but much better now,” she said, almost surprised at how much better it actually was. It usually would have been hard to walk on for hours after an attack like that. It was kind of him to have done that for her.

“Good, I’m glad to hear it. You’ll get a good chance to rest it today, at least. The skycar ride isn’t too long, but we’ll still be sitting for a while. You should make sure to stretch it at some point after we land, though.”

She nodded at that as she finished off the last bite of her breakfast.

Kaidan got up and walked over to her to take the empty dishes back to the kitchen. As he bent down to take them, his old, familiar scent flooded her senses. He must still use the same soap because it quickly brought back memories of their time together. She remembered seeking those arms out for comfort before hitting Ilos. She remembered huddling herself closer to him, nuzzling her face against his chest and learning that smell for the first time as he held her under the sheets of their first night together, desperately trying to get any sleep they could before going after Saren.

“I took a shower last night after you passed out,” he said, bringing her back to reality. “So it’s all yours now. I can pack everything up, and then as soon as you’re done, we’re free to get out of here.”

“Great,” she managed to get out more clearly than she would have thought possible in the moment and offered him a smile.

She watched him head back into the kitchen with their dishes before she finally managed to get up and grab her stuff. She made her way to the bathroom and started the shower. She huffed out in frustration as she looked at herself in the mirror. Her chance at escape was long gone now, and she was finding it hard to get thoughts of Kaidan out of her head. She went back over to the shower and made sure it was set to cold.

#my fic on tumblr #f!Shepard/Kaidan Alenko #f!Shepard x Kaidan Alenko #fShepard #Kaidan Alenko #mass effect #fanfiction #mass effect fanfiction #friends to lovers #angst #mini slow burn #my writing

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themuffinbee · 4 years

Text

Lore Olympus Novelized, Chapter 1

Hey all! I’ve moved my non-official fan adaption of Lore Olympus from Ao3 to Tumblr for anybody that might wish to read it. Hope you guys enjoy!

The plot and dialogue belong to the incredible Rachel Smythe.

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Raindrops pelted the windshield as the slick streets of the Underworld glowed with fluorescent blue and electrified neon. A beautiful sight if anyone cared to notice, though few ever did.

Hades didn’t, not anymore. He hadn't for a very long time.

At the present moment, like most moments, he had other things on his mind much more important than kaleidoscopic puddles of dirty city water. Important things like how it was only 9:15 and the night was already turning to shit.

Said shit-turning was mostly due to the absence of a particular river nymph, whose sultry silhouette should be right there, waiting under the awning of her apartment building. That was what she had agreed to with a little wink and a smirk only six hours ago, anyway. There was no way she had forgotten about it either. Not after the way she had gleefully crowed about receiving one of Hera’s coveted invitations to the night’s festivities. She had the damned thing pinned to her refrigerator, for crying out loud.

That left only one real question: what had he done to piss her off this time? He hadn’t even seen her since before the end of the workday. Then again, that had never managed to stave off her ire before.

Eyes scanning for a streak of blood-red among all of the mirrored blue, Hades drove yet another circuit around the building, tapped out yet another text message, made yet another call. The phone rang once, twice, three times—

“Hey!” Minthe answered, voice low and relaxed. Carefree.

“You’re late, where are you?” Hades tried his best to keep any impatience out of his tone. Minthe didn't like it when he got impatient.

He heard the sound of sloshing water in the background as she asked, “Did you get me that purse I wanted?”

“Um, yeah…” he began, “I did, but—”

“Oh, great!”

Another splash sent his heart sinking in his chest. Surely she wasn’t in the bathtub. She knew he had all but begged Hera for that damn invitation, there was no way she was taking a bath right now. He tapped his fingers against the steering wheel. “You’re coming to the Panathenaea with me, right?”

The other end of the line went silent, and he found himself holding his breath despite knowing her answer.

“Hmm…” She drew out her simpering hum long enough to sound playful. At least, it would have, if he hadn't known better. “...I don’t think so.”

Hades bit inside of his cheek and counted backward from ten in his mind. “What do you mean?”

“What I mean is that I don’t particularly feel like being seen in public with you today.”

Oh, screw this.

"Real classy, Minthe," he said, anger finally leaking into his voice. He glanced at the clock again and felt some of that anger turn into nervousness.

9:19.

There was a large difference between late, fashionably late, and late. Hera, of course, had worked out how to tell which was which down to an exacting science. He really didn't feel like getting pinned under that calculating gaze or chastened by that arched I told you so eyebrow. Or, even worse, being the beneficiary of her well-meaning but oh-so-condescending pity.

"Come on, stop messing around," he said, sounding pathetic to his own ears. "I can't go to my brother's party by myself."

Not again.

Minthe sighed, then explained as though she were speaking to a particularly dense toddler, "I don't feel like being seen with you in general."

It wasn't the first time she'd said something like this, but the words still hit him like a slap in the face. Normally, there would at least be a reason for her to say these things. Maybe one of their infamous knock-down, drag-out fights, or even a careless word on his part. Something. But this...this was completely unprovoked. Things had been...good...between them recently. No fights in almost a month, she seemed happy most of the time, and the two of them had settled into a comfortable routine between work and after work. It had been nice. Normal. Or, at least, as normal as the two of them were capable of being.

He opened his mouth to ask what the hell had gotten into her, what he had done to make her so angry, but Minthe’s voice halted the words in his throat

"Hades…" she said, tone as languid as a string of cigarette smoke, "all the fine suits in the world won't change the fact that you stink of death."

That...that was a new one.

His teeth ground against one another as he tried to think of some kind of coherent response, willing himself not to give in to the outrage and panic that threatened to fill his mouth with poison. When no ingenious plan or even the will to salvage this whole mess appeared, Hades did the most sensible thing he could: he ended the call.

His limbs and head felt heavy as he sank his forehead onto the steering wheel, but not nearly as heavy as the weight that felt like it could tear a hole in his jacket pocket.

Ha. He had really thought she would consider...

Gods, what an idiot he was.

----------------------------------------------------

Even two blocks away from the party, Hades could tell the night’s festivities would very much resemble his youngest brother himself: loud, flashy, and obnoxious. Thunderous bass beats reverberated his car windows in place and splashes of light reflected off of the clouds like multi-colored lightning. The music only grew louder as he entered the building, now joined by the sounds of drunken party-goers.

As if he didn’t have enough of a headache already.

If all went well, he could make a few strategic appearances here and there, suffer through a five-minute conversation with his brothers, and be home with a bottle of his favorite scotch in under an hour. Most important of all, he needed to avoid—

“Hey! Hey! HEY!”

...Hera.

He turned around to see the golden Queen of the Gods, dripping with jewels and looking as resplendent as ever. Also, drunk. From the gentle sway of her walk and tilt of her stance, she had to be at least on her third drink of the night.

“Where is your date, Blue Boy?” She cocked her head with a grin.

“Gone,” he answered, unable to keep from averting his eyes. There wasn’t much point in trying to lie to her, there never was. Being married to a pathological philanderer for two thousand years had given her the ability to smell bullshit a mile away. “I need a drink.”

She studied him for only a moment before her face melted from a cheerful smile to tired annoyance. “Well, I, for one, am grateful! I don’t have to spend the evening with that nymph trash.”

Ah. So she was drunk enough to be honest. Fourth drink, then.

...Nymph trash, huh? It wasn’t that all nymphs were trash. After all, Amphitrite, Queen of the Sea and bride of his least annoying brother, was technically a nymph herself. Hera wouldn’t ever speak of any of the Nereids like that, not if she didn’t want saltwater running through her taps for a month. No, his nymph was the one who was trash.

Hades began twisting a scrap of paper from his pocket between his fingers at the thought of his sister-in-law. “Did Poseidon bring his wife?”

Hera glanced down at his restless hands, then back up to his face, wearing that dreaded look of pity as she answered, “...Yes.”

Anger and anxiety had been battling it out in his brain the whole night through, and anger finally seemed to gain the upper hand.

“Great!” He threw his arm out to the side. “So I’m the only one alone?”

With her most self-assured smile, the kind that could convince almost anyone to throw themselves off of a cliff, Hera said, “Relax, no one will notice.”

Hades glared at her out of the corner of his eye. “You did.”

“Hera!” An unfortunately familiar voice boomed across the hall as the host of the night’s event, the purple pain in the ass, strode into view. Zeus, looking every bit the smug asshole he was with his white suit and diamond laurel, grabbed his wife about the waist and spun her around. “Hera, I’ve been looking for you everywhere! You look beautiful tonight!”

“Oh stop! You’re embarrassing me!” she cooed.

Zeus leaned in close, their noses almost touching as he whispered, “How ‘bout we get outta here?”

Oh Gaia, he wasn’t about to start making out with her, was he?

Hera wrapped her arms around her husband’s neck, words covered in honey. “You big silly! You can’t leave your own party!”

Zeus began nibbling on his wife’s ear and she giggled like a teenager with her first boyfriend.

Hades sighed. Yes. Yes, they were about to start making out in the middle of the hall. Now that he thought about it, he had walked in on the two of them making rather inventive use of one of their couches a few years back at a party much like this one. That was more of his brother than he had ever wanted to see.

Hades tugged at his cuff links and cleared his throat.

Zeus looked up with an empty smile as he finally met eyes with his brother. “Ooooh! Hello, Hades. I didn’t see you there.”

Sure you didn’t.

Then the King of the Gods and idiot extraordinaire glanced around. “Hey, where’s your date?”

Hera groaned, “Zeus, I wish you knew when to shut up.”

This was going to be a long night.

----------------------------------------------------

“Hey, Artemis! What do you think?”

Persephone stuck her hands out to the sides and tilted her hips, hoping that if she struck a pose like she had seen on the cover of one of her cousin’s magazines she might look a little more...mature? Stylish? Less like a bumpkin straight from the country that had only spent a total of forty-eight hours on Mount Olympus?

Something like that.

Artemis looked her up and down with her dark eyes, then frowned. “Persephone...you can’t wear that. You look like a relic.”

Darn it. She had been afraid of that. The fashions on Mount Olympus were so different from those in the Mortal Realm. Like, way different. Her gauzy, loose tunics and chitons and shifts weren’t going to cut it up here, especially not at one of Zeus’ swanky parties. At least Artemis wasn’t the type to soften her opinion and hem and haw, dancing around the problem without actually saying there was a problem. Persephone rather liked that about her.

But that still meant there was a problem. A big one. Persephone’s pose wilted, hands coming up to her cheeks as if she could hide her embarrassment behind them. “But this is the only dress I have right now…”

“I’ve got something you can borrow!” Artemis smiled, still a little pitying, but Persephone had already accepted that she would be encountering a lot of that in the next few weeks. It was inevitable, really.

Either way, her cousin’s words brought a flood of relief. Persephone bounced on the balls of her feet and clapped her hands together. “Thanks! You’re a real lifesaver!”

Artemis may have been one of the three sacred virgins, but that didn’t mean she didn’t know how to turn a head. The Moon Goddess’ dress sparkled with sequins like stars in the sky and paired perfectly with her indigo skin, which was very visible with those high slits up the side of her thighs. Oh yes, Persephone would be in good hands on the fashion front.

She smiled. Maybe the night wasn’t going to be so bad after all.

Chapter 2

#my fics #Lore Olympus #Lore Olympus Novelized #Persephone #Hades

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imaginariumpod · 4 years

Text

For the defense of slowing down: a study of slowness in cinema.

Leisure - Poem by William Henry Davies

What is this life if, full of care,

We have no time to stand and stare.

No time to stand beneath the boughs

And stare as long as sheep or cows.

No time to see, when woods we pass,

Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.

No time to see, in broad daylight,

Streams full of stars, like skies at night.

No time to turn at Beauty's glance,

And watch her feet, how they can dance.

No time to wait till her mouth can

Enrich that smile her eyes began.

A poor life this is if, full of care,

We have no time to stand and stare.

For the defense of slowing down: a study of slowness in cinema.

This article is one that I have been meaning to write for a while and that is very important to me in a lot of ways, but also I feel like with the amount of people staying at home and who have had to slow down their pace of life one way or another in the past months, it just feels oddly relevant. A lot of people have been forced to ease the pace of their lives, and have had the time, maybe for the first time in years, to spend on things they couldn’t before. People who have been trying to take care of themselves in any way they can, by maybe learning how to cook or bake bread, maybe finally having the time to just take a nap and not feel any guilt because they aren’t productive.

This might be more personal than usual because I feel like I really do need to put this subject in perspective to myself first, and then in perspective to the general context and climate that is shaping our world. We live in a culture where productivity is valued more than anything, where you are expected to go above and beyond, and to run yourself to the ground in the pursuit of success, of money, of efficiency. If you don't have a side project or four, it might feel like you are a bit of a failure because don’t you know you have to take advantage of every opportunities out there to make a name for yourself ? This hustle culture that is becoming predominant everywhere, but especially in western culture, is definitely a byproduct of capitalism in a way it never have been seen before. You only have to take a look in the self-help section of a bookshop or a library to feel exhausted : The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business, or Ready for Anything: 52 Productivity Principles for Getting Things Done.

While I think being a hardworking person and trying to be productive in order to achieve your goals, there’s definitely a point where it’s too much for one person to handle, and when this constant stress of needing to be successful all the time and to always go above and beyond what is needed becomes a societal expectation placed on all of us, that’s when it becomes dangerous. There’s a certain climate that is saying that we need to be constantly productive to be valuable to the system, or else, what is the point of you existing.

And my friends. the only point is you being alive. And being content. and that’s what matters in the end.

The point isn’t to further a corporation’s agenda, the point isn't to exhaust yourself trying to play the game of a system that is designed to fail you. The point is that, maybe, someday, you wake up a bit earlier than usual, and you drink your tea in a world that is still quiet and peaceful. The point is, maybe that you feel safe, that you feel content, that you feel loved, and you have the time to just breathe.

And to just be.

Take a breath.

So most of my friends know this, but I feel like I need to share this to give my proper perspective on this subject. Before finishing my Bachelor’s degree in Art History, I had previously done two years in architectural design. It seemed like a good idea at the time, it was a creative endeavor that seemed fulfilling and yet also a smart move practically speaking. I wanted to be able to find a job after finishing university, and maybe continuing on to grad school to eventually become an architect. That was the initial plan when I was 20 and started university. Fresh-eyed, full of hope and determination.

Those two years were a nightmare.

To sum up really quickly, I was so stressed and anxious, I ended up having constant panic attacks and breakdowns for a whole month, every single day of that month, which made me take the difficult decision to give up on that degree. I had an actual burnout before my 22nd birthday and had to take a full year off to recover from this.

I think it’s then, that I truly was hit by how dangerous fatigue and exhaustion could end up being, both mentally and physically. How, when pushed by the constant pressure to perform and to catch up to a standard that keeps rising, and to a speed that keeps getting faster and faster, one is bound to crack at some point. The stress and anxiety that this puts on people can easily get to be too much to handle. That year off, being forced to slow down, to reconnect with myself and with who I am and with what I wanted from life really was one of the most beneficial things to me and I just wanted to give a bit of my story to make you understand where I am personally coming from, when it comes to slowing down, and to slowing the pace of life. Unfortunately, most of us have a story that resembles this in some way shape or form. I know I was incredibly lucky to be able to take that year off, and it's a privilege many of us might not be able to have.

So this is why I think i can say, that for a lot of us, we are just tired. We are so tired. I know I am exhausted. Life can just be so tiring, there’s this really fine line between being productive and having an active life and being run to the ground. It’s a fine line that a lot of us thread, and it can get overwhelming very easily. Indeed, «life has become fast-paced, as people try to live up to these expectations. Yet, while many people might be materially affluent, their quality of life and work-life balance are often unsatisfactory, and potentially lead to stress and burnout (Schor, 1998).» I feel that especially for the current modern life experience, a lot of us can relate to that, in ways it may not have been felt before in previous generations. Time has always been precious, but it just feels like there’s never enough hours in the day to be able to finish all the things you want to do.

The luxury of time. Time to do nothing.

It might seem that we have more time, but «that free time is used to cram more activities into the day and to travel further to work». Which means that we are all trying to manage to do everything at once, whether it’s working, and trying to continue learning, and needing to keep yourself in shape, and to keep your space clean, and also needing to keep a social life, and sleeping well, and etc and etc. It feels like you always have to do this and that and the list of expectations and goals to meet is never ending and constantly adding up. Indeed, «it is not just free time that people desire, but more time for meaningful things». You are just one person, and there’s only so much one can do before it gets to be too overwhelming. And in those moments, I think it’s important to just. Take a deep breath and Slow down.

We need rest. we need fulfillment. I think there’s a lot of disenchantment toward modern life, by the dream that have been sold to us since we were young. Just work harder and you’ll make it. Work more hours, do more things, put yourself out there, run yourself ragged to the ground and then you will finally get what you deserve (money ! fame ! success ! love ! Family ! Friends! ) and yet all we have is exhaustion and stress and anxiety and pain. I think this whole context has made it so that there’s a resurgence lately of an appreciation for slower media, whether we are talking about movies, books or something else.

I think it can be really interesting to mention the newest Animal Crossing game (Animal Crossing : New Horizons) that has been played by a lot of people since its release, which has been considered like «the video game equivalent of a relaxing getaway — and we could all use that kind of respite right now.» Those kind of slower paced games where you have to build your own life and take care of a city, village or, in this case, island (slow-life simulation games) let players exerce control in their island in a way they feel they might not be able to in their own live. This is a very wholesome game that players can get really engrossed into, and that can provide them with much needed relief and escapism from the troubles of real life, when things get really hard. Those type of games also need you to take things slowly, one step at a time, which I think is very interesting when we think about low-stress sources of entertainment.

«In this, the game forces you to take it one day at a time. You can bypass this by "time traveling," or setting your Switch system clock ahead of time to advance quicker than the game intends for you to, but this isn't how it's meant to be played. You're supposed to feel a sense of slow, but meaningful progression throughout the course of your island adventure, and artificial time changes take away from that»

I could also mention the growing popularity of the cottagecore aesthetic on various social platforms such as tumblr, Instagram and twitter. While being predominantly a visual and aesthetic trend, cottagecore does reflect a growing desire by younger people in their teens and early 20s to have simpler and slower life. Dreams of just living in a tiny house, with maybe a vegetable patch, and all of the time in the world to just bask in the sun. As «[a]n obvious backlash to the hustle culture embodied by Fiverr ads, cottagecore attempts to assuage burnout with a languid enjoyment of life’s mundane tasks.» This aesthetic trend then seems an answer to the growing consumerism and rapid pace of life.

This seems like an unattainable fantasy to most of us, which is why I think a lot of people have been gravitating toward those aesthetics and ways of thinking and living. «It’s a romanticised idea that we could leave behind all the stress and craziness in our lives to go live off-the-grid, where emails can’t reach us and our only task is baking bread or making jam. » I know this isn’t something that everyone longs for, but to me, this sounds like a dream and something that seems like a distant hope. I do wish I could take some time off in a small cottage or mediterranean house, maybe not forever, but maybe spend a few months with the freedom of having the time to myself and using that time the way I desire. Just so one can breathe, reconnect with oneself and have enough energy to keep moving on. «Cottagecore is the perfect escape, it’s soothing and calming but it’s also relatively attainable. Maybe we can’t all go live in a cabin in the woods, wearing nothing but flowy dresses while tending to our garden of wildflowers. But we can learn to cross stitch, we can bake bread, we can buy some watercolours, we can have a picnic in our backyard.»

I am always so anxious about so many things and the only thing I want at any given moment is to have a small house and no responsibilities greater than doing the groceries and watering the plants in my garden. I think that life has gotten very hard and difficult to handle, what with the climate crisis, the political unstableness, the economical unstableness, the rise of the alt-right, and now the whole global pandemic going on, it’s easy to understand why people would feel drawn toward comforting things : « Rebecca Jennings ties a push for coziness in branding (and trends like cottagecore) to the feeling that "things are bad, and people are anxious about whatever ongoing horrors are metabolizing in geopolitics, the environment, and capitalism." »

I want to be safe financially and fulfilled. I want to have the time and space to do the things I really want to achieve instead of giving my time away to a system that does not care about me.

I want to have the calm of heart that I have lost years ago and that I yearn to regain.

nostalgia & aesthetic

There's an aesthetic of nostalgia that is really present in a lot of slow living content and slow media. I don't think ANY of us want to go back in time where things weren’t better for any of us unless you maybe are a white straight cis man, and even then.... In my opinion, slow living and wanting to slow down is not a rejection of technology or modernity in itself, but inherently a rejection of capitalism. You do not have to be productive to be valuable, and to be deserving of happiness, of peace, of love and of dignity. You deserve all of that no matter how useful or not you are to the capitalist system. It’s not about going back to oppressive social norms, but moving forward from them.

I also feel like slow living brings a self care as deeper than the shallow superficial and capitalist self care that's being sold to us. I’m not going to deny that it feels nice to do an extensive skincare routine before sleeping, but there’s a lot to be said about a nightly ritual that makes you feel more grounded in yourself and taking care of yourself and the body you inhabit versus the gigantic capitalistic machine that is the Beauty Industry™. The same way the simple acts of taking of yourself and taking the time to slow down can be a revolutionary act of self-love, they can also be taken advantage of and capitalized on by the huge capitalist industries that use wellness, self-care and self-love as marketing tactics. In our era, it feels simply impossible now to get away from the “treat yourself” campaign. Industries have tapped into the real desire of people to live a more meaningful and happier life by making it mostly into a trend, and not an intentional change to someone’s lifestyle to make it better.

I am of the opinion that slowing down shouldn’t be a trend, but a very deliberate act taken in order to take care of ourselves, of our mental health and our physical health. I think it’s a very essential need that we have to not feel burnt-out and to not feel trapped and stifled by our own lives, and having the space and energy to pursue our dreams and desires.

(Not to say the culprit is capitalism … but the culprit is capitalism) (also not to advocate for revolution on a public platform but revolution)

What I mean by slow media, and slowness in media is that content that tends to be more of the slice of life genre. They are peaceful, quiet. Maybe nothing much happens at all, but it rings very true and very real. Those moments of calm are soothing when maybe the rest of my life really is not. The way someone relates to art and media is very personal and can vary a lot, but the escapism that this sort of stories provides and I feel that with the faster pace of life that has become the norm, it might become something that we seek more often than not.

To me, this sort of media feels like relief.

slow cinema

Cinema has long been a medium that is very efficient at communicating epic and grandiose stories. Movies that are jam packed with action and drama and heightened emotions and tension. And while those movies can be very good and entertaining, I think there’s also a place in the world of cinema for movies that are slower. In fact, there’s a distinct genre of movies where the focus is not on a very fast paced plot or extravagant action scenes and dramatic events, but where the importance is placed on the mundane. Where the slow moments of everyday life and the quiet emotions that we all feel take precedence. It’s possible to name filmmakers such as Yasujiro Ozu or Agnes Varda.

We could also talk about movies such as the Before Trilogy by Richard Linklater (Before Sunrise (1995), Before Sunset (2004), Before Midnight (2013)), where each movie spans a very short period of time and consists entirely of conversations between two people. Those movies are slow, ordinary and yet extraordinary in the sense that it’s two people who have found each other and are speaking and connecting. There’s nothing much that’s happening in those films, and yet it’s impactful.

The movies made by those directors who tend to favor slower cinema often showcases a simpler plotline, but a more complex emotional arc. They are full of slow and quiet scenes, which makes those movies soothing, calming and nostalgic.

What is slow cinema though ? in the academic sense, slow cinema is often defined as «a modern cinematic production trend that emphasizes slowness and duration of time» Even though there’s a lot of more contemporary cinematic examples of slow cinema in more experimental movies such as directors Abbas Kiarostami or Tsai Ming Liang whose movies are very much in line with what is slow cinema. When it comes to slow movies, «Flanagan writes that the stylistic features of ‘slow films’ are “the employment of (often extremely) long takes, de-centred and understated modes of storytelling, and a pronounced emphasis on quietude and the everyday,”» The techniques used in slow-paced movies will often communicate a romanticization of everyday life, of routine, of moments that are quiet and peaceful.

There’s a lot of emphasis put on the passage of time, whether it’s a slow drag of time, with nothing much to do, the quiet moments that punctuates our daily lives or the years passing by and the plotlines in those movies spanning years, generations and even lifetimes. I think this is one of the reason why this kind of cinema can be really relevant in our times, where we feel that time is a precious commodity that isn’t ours anymore, and where time is filled with the pressure of being constantly productive, slow cinema poses itself as the antithesis of that.

«Slow Cinema situates itself solidly within art cinema both in aesthetic and methodology: it is defined by authorship that hinges on the representation of reality. It carries with it a disposition towards the consumption of time that forces the audience to labour through and critically engage with the film itself.»

It’s possible to see that this type of cinema is something that’s very sought after lately, as proven by this letterboxd list The Absolute Beauty in Everyday’s Mundanity, which has been liked by a total of 6,092 people at the moment of writing this article (including me). Containing 209 movies that fit into what the list maker considers as being slow movies that showcase the beauty of everyday life, this list demonstrates that there’s a very definite space for movies that have a more deliberate pace and who, instead of trying to heighten the stakes and action constantly, do take the opportunity to just. Slow down.

An enchanted month.

Elizabeth Von Arnim (1866-1941) was a english author active during the early 20th century. She wrote both fictional and non-fictional books, and the ones I have read from her are very in this vein of slow living, taking the time to just sit in a garden, and let time heal you. It's from her book Enchanted April (1922), which is one of my favorite books and that I wholeheartedly recommend, that the consequent 1992 movie, released by the BBC, was adapted from.

Von Arnim made a point to give a prevalent place in her books to the spaces where one could feel at ease and free from the constraints dictated by social norms and what people might expect from you : «In the garden, Elizabeth von Arnim could think, reflect, and distance herself from the oppressions and duties of the highly rigid and strict German culture that she had adopted through her marriage to Count Henning von Arnim. In observing the varying seasons of nature in conjunction with an active pleasure in literature, she perceived the garden as a metaphor of her life in terms of the development of her soul, and in this context, she believed herself to be in "the process of becoming".» I think it’s possible to draw a parallel between the demands of life that are growing increasingly harder to handle. While Von Arnim puts is mostly in relation to the social norms that were in place during the 1920s, it’s possible to see that the desire for slowing down during the 2020s stem mostly from a tiredness of the ultra-capitalistic world we live in.

The story of Enchanted April starts during a dreary month of march. Grey. Tiring. We have all went through months like these where the responsibilities and list of things to do, and slow drag of the days gets to be unbearable. Mrs Lotty Wilkins sees an a journal advert to rent a castle in Italy for a month, and under the grey drizzling London skies. And she yearns for that moment of respite. Far from her obligations, from her nagging husband and being able to take time for herself for the first time in years.

Eventually, four immensely different women will end up in this castle in San Salvatore, Italy, for a whole month. Each of those women have a distinctive purpose in this book, but they all seem to be looking for something similar: an escape from their frantic and boring daily life, a relief from routine, from the lack of connection and intimacy that they feel. In the midst of those charmed italian gardens, you feel like they can finally take a breath, loosen up and rest.

«She moved about with quick, purposeful steps, her long thin body held up straight, her small face, so much puckered at home with effort and fear, smoothed out»

And just reading that, or watching the movie, gives me a similar respite. The sun lits all the shots, the wind blows gently in the tree leaves, and the clothes that are worn are looser, more comfortable. This movie is charming, humorous and delightful. But most of all, it’s slow paced and soothing. You have drawn out scenes where nothing much happens but the moments are peaceful and reassuring. I rewatch it every april, because while I cannot take a month off to spend it in an isolated italian castle, oh god I Yearn So Much For It.

Even though, this story is set during the 1920s, thus being a contemporary story written by Von Arnim, I cannot help but feel that this story is one that is still deeply relevant today, in the 2020s. The thoughts of the characters seems very familiar and relatable : «For Lady Caroline Dester, the process of change is longer, more involved, and more isolated. She approaches San Salvatore with a “dream of thirty restful, silent days, lying unmolested in the sun, getting her feathers smooth again, not being spoken to, not waited on, not grabbed at and monopolized, but just recovering from the fatigue, the deep and melancholy fatigue, of the too much”»

In Enchanted April, this month in Italy is a moment of quiet rest for these four women, bt also a time dedicated to oneself and to introspection. «Initially, each woman desires to be alone for long stretches of time: Mrs Fisher in her room, Lady Caroline in a chair in the top garden, and Mrs Wilkins and Mrs Arbuthnot in the gardens and hills. Each is free to reflect on her life and begin to have a clearer understanding of herself in relation to others. »

A late afternoon:

Yasujiro Ozu (1903-1963) is one of the prominent filmmakers in Japan during the first half of the XXth century. His movies had a very distinct style and technique to them that made his work really unique to himself. A lot of filmmakers tried to replicate or imitate the stylisation of his work, but there was something in Ozu’s work that was very particular to the period of cinema he lived in. He was active from the later half 1920s until his untimely passing on his birthday in 1963. This means he lived through the Second World War as well as through a time of great change and evolution in the world.

It’s possible to write a hundred pages on Yasujiro Ozu alone because there’s a lot to say about him and his movies, whether it’s about the narrative and the story he chose to portray or the techniques and stylisation that characterize what is an Ozu movie. I thought it was relevant to mention him when talking about slower movies and slower paced media, because of the impact that he had on film, especially when it comes to using the medium to tell stories of lost and quiet moments.

With the increased modernity and a rapidly changing world, Ozu’s films, such as Tokyo Story ( 1953), Late Spring (1949) and Floating Weeds (1959) tried to capture the very modern life he and his contemporary were experiencing and the way they dealt with these changes. Even though Ozu’s movies were particularly specific to a certain period and country, it’s indeed impossible to disassociate Ozu’s movies from the fact that they were made in Japan, and that Ozu went through the pre-war, war and post-war era and continuously made movies during these times.

Which means that his films do reflect a certain time in Japanese history which makes them incredibly specific and contemporary to the society he lived in. «However, I believe that the film is less about articulating the value of modernity against the challenge of tradition than observing the subtle state whereby the former unknowingly pervades the latter. In this sense, rather than the overt manifestation of free movement outside of the home, the trivial motion inside the confined domesticity are a more essential element in Ozu’s films. In other words, in Ozu, modernity exists within the everyday, a stable flow that undulates but hardly overflows.» Nonetheless, the issues and subjects tackled in those movies, such as intergenerational conflict, the difficulty that people have to catch up with a world with values that are rapidly changing, and modernity. Those problems are a universal experience, but were communicated in a unique lense through Yasujiro Ozu’s movies.

The focus of most of Ozu’s films is centered around the familial unit, and the conflicts and moments that arise between them as life moves forward. The everyday moments in a world that gets harder to navigate each day. The story of a daughter who is pressured to married, and the dilemma and conflicts between the societal expectations that people have of her, her own wants and needs and also the desire to be able to strike a balance between those two elements. I think that this, while not being necessarily being a universal experience, can still be an incredibly relatable one.

Once she gets married, she needs to move forward with her life and leaves her widowed father to live alone, which really showcases the simple and universal realities of real life. The plotlines of Ozu’s movies focus on simple and universal conflicts and problems, the stories he tells through those movies are nonetheless things that are universal and. the way he presents them are beautiful, quiet and, most importantly, real. «More broadly, Ozu’s omission of important events also speaks to his interest in the mundane, his desire to uncover the emotional nuances within small talk, daily routines, and other “boring” details of everyday life.»

There are quiet moments of silence, of rain falling while someone is folding clothes or eating. Laughter and companionships. Tears and pain and love and hurt and all of the very important emotions that compose the human experience. «the great filmmaker used to evoke a sense of melancholy and poetry in everyday existence.» which is something that truly is a balm to the soul in my own humble opinion. There’s a lot of vulnerability in this slowness, a very real sadness and emotionality that is very raw and yet mundane in its encompassing universality of the human experience.

The stylistic choices that Ozu decides to take all tend toward this one goal of showcasing the quiet movement of life, while hinting at the tumultuous feelings that people might feel, and the world around them. His movies were simple and slow but very meaningful as well. «Ozu’s films often violate the stylistic conventions of mainstream filmmaking. For example, one “rule” in classical Hollywood cinema is that every shot should clearly and obviously advance the narrative. Yet Ozu’s films frequently feature what commentators call “pillow shots” – namely, shots of landscapes, objects, or interiors that have no apparent connection to the protagonists and what they’re doing plotwise.»

His movies focus on the relationships between people and the world they inhabit, and the growing modernity, and also capitalism, of it. «As you’ll quickly come to see, Ozu is hardly a fan of modernity. In films like The Only Son, Late Spring, Late Autumn, and An Autumn Afternoon, he suggests, among other things, that economic modernization has engendered inequality, feelings of alienation, empty consumerism, and the Americanization of Japanese life.» Those feelings of alienation that we currently feel toward our own lives, our own time and our own time are very relevant for us in 2020. While I do think that those movies represent a certain time and a certain context, and you cannot talk about Yasujiro Ozu without really contextualizing both him and his work, I think it can be really relevant to today. Ozu made movies for himself and for the society he lived in but that doesn't mean that those movies can’t still be important today.

Ozu did impact international cinema, as can be seen for exemple with the movies of Wes Anderson, as seen in this visual essay that compares their body of work. both narratively and stylistically. I won’t go into more details about Anderson here, because he is one of my favorite directors and i hope to write an entire article on him soon, but i thought it was relevant to mention this. Most importantly, Yasujiro Ozu left an imprint on japanese cinema that can still be seen to this day in contemporary movies. I could mention filmmakers such as Naoko Ogigami, with movies such as Rent-a-cat (2012), Close-Knit (2017) and Kamome Diner (2006), all movies that have a decidedly slower pace and kinder vibe to them. Hayao Miyazaki and the movies Studio Ghibli produced also are an example of that slower cinema, but we’ll touch upon this a bit further down the line.

(rent-a-cat [2012] d. Naoko Ogigami)

a little world of our own

With this in mind, it’s easy to see that there’s a sub-genre of japanese cinema that really make a concerted effort at incorporating the concepts of slowness in their stories, whether it's the slower pace of the story or actual slow living principles. Those movies often address the fantasy of leaving everything behind (your work, your problems, your issues, your sadness) to go live in a small town or quitting your job to follow your dreams, or simply to feel like your time is yours again. This list on letterboxd which showcases many movies of that genre in japanese cinema (currently 157 movies on date of writing this article)

A good example of this type of stories would be the duology of the Little Forest movies, as well as the subsequent korean adaptation in 2018. These movies were both adapted originally from a manga by Daisuke Igarashi. Little Forest : Summer/Autumn (2014) and Little Forest : Winter/Spring (2015) follow the story of a young woman who leaves her busy city life to go back to her hometown and decides to live in a slower way, taking care of her vegetables and living according to the seasons. The two movies are infinitely slow, focusing on the main character cooking, resting, eating, and eventually resolving the conflict that she has with her mother. The life she lives in these secluded parts seems uneventful but happy and calm which seems all that she desires. She doesn’t need to contribute to the capitalist system of society to be deserving of being able to live in peace, and this makes her feel less alienated from the world she lives in.

Spirited away

I also don’t think it’s really possible to mention slower moments of everyday life in cinema without talking about the movies that probably were the first introduction to this for many of us. The movies of Studio Ghibli, with Hayao Miyazaki at the helm of it, are little masterpieces of animation. The movies are intended for a younger audience but can be appreciated by everyone. Studio Ghibli movies are another example of filmmaking that manages to capture this slower pace in media. Between all of the adventures and events that are happening in those movies, there are moments of slowness. Of calm. Of quietness.

As Robert Ebert told to Miyazaki, during an interview with him « I told Miyazaki I love the "gratuitous motion" in his films; instead of every movement being dictated by the story, sometimes people will just sit for a moment, or they will sigh, or look in a running stream, or do something extra, not to advance the story but only to give the sense of time and place and who they are.» Miyazaki proceeded to explain what this concept was for him «"We have a word for that in Japanese," he said. "It's called ma. Emptiness. It's there intentionally."» Those slow moments between the action are very deliberate, to slow down the story and to slow down the pace. Contrary to the generally accepted school of thought in modern Hollywood cinema, which is that every single scene needs to move the story forward, Miyazaki lets his story and movies breathe. This way of building the story gives it an added sense of calm and soothingness, but also it gives it another sense of realism. Instead of following a strict narrative outline, this fluidity makes the story feel more real and relatable.

Despite being an animated movie set in a very obviously fantastical universe, Studio Ghibli movies tend to be very realistic in the way they portray the characters, their complexity, and also what are the real underlying conflicts. For example, in Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989) «The primary conflict isn’t about magic—it’s internal and invisible and wholly human: Kiki’s brief period of lost motivation and artist’s block. She gets it back when she wants to help Tombo, whom she loves. Simple as that. She doesn’t have to wage an epic battle to prove her worth» The stakes might seem lower in this movie, very mundane and ordinary but I think this is what makes it so special.

The quiet moments and details that might seem innocuous and useless at first and slower the pace of the movie in itself, are ultimately what gives it this feeling of genuineness. It lets the characters and the plot have the space to evolve and to grow.

« Although these scenes may seem slow or unimportant, they give space to develop the characters and to heighten dreams or feelings the characters are having such as feelings of isolation, wonder, or anxiety. It is in these moments of stillness that the audience can contemplate with the characters and feel what the characters are feeling. These moments remind the audience the importance of stillness in such a fast paced world and highlights the beauty of a slower paced life»

Studio Ghibli movies insert those slower moments in between more faster paced and action packed scenes but also in the midst of world-changing events such as wars, as shown in Howl’s Moving Castle (2004). This demonstrate how people still live on during those crises, even with the danger looming over their heads. Which is something that I think can be very relevant in today’s time where the past twenty years have been increasingly more unstable and the … few months of 2020 were a Shit Show in itself, if you want my opinion. So this kind of media gives me hope that we can live through this, that moments of happiness and peace are still to be found.

A charmed life

Slower cinema is something that has existed for as long as cinema existed, but I do think that it’s a very current feeling to want to be able to slow down the pace of our lives, and be able to enjoy time in a more meaningful way. Personally, I know life has gotten ridiculously hectic for me in the past two years, and while there’s a lot I always want to be doing and I’m very happy about how my life is coming together, this doesn’t mean that sometimes, it doesn’t feel Very Overwhelming and alienating to constantly feel the need to be productive. What we can bring to the capitalist system isn’t what determine the worth and value of who we are as people. «"As speed is seemingly equated with efficiency and professionalism, however, slowness can become a way of signaling an alternative set of values or a refusal to privilege the workplace over other domains of life.”» I hope to be able to live my life on my own term and to be able to spend time on things that are important to me and feel like my time is my own.

Slow media is everywhere lately, whether it’s in cinema, books, games, but also in a more broader sense with the slow life movements, the minimalist trends, but also a general awareness of sustainability, the amount of mass production and mass consumerism in our modern world.

In order to sustain that fast pace of constant production of things, you inevitably have to sacrifice on either the quality of the product, the work conditions or on the materials in order to be able to keep up with the extremely high rhythm sustained by capitalism. It can also be compared to the fast work pace imposed on people who work on the sets of movies or video games for example. I think we all heard of the debacle with the Sonic (2020) movie as well as Cats (2019) and the pressure that was put upon the vfx artists to re-do the movie and complete it extremely fast, which brought poor working conditions on them.

Slowing down is, in my opinion, of the utmost importance for us to be able to live better, but also to be able to do better things. To have better working conditions, to be able to have a better craftsmanship, people having more time to do things and do them better instead of scrambling to constantly catch up to a production rhythm that is just simply way too fast. This ties in with the environmental aspect of slowing down, because if you take more time to make things that are of a better quality and that will last for a long time, there won’t be such a need for a constant production of those things but unfortunately that’s capitalism Babey.

a quiet respite

Ultimately, the act of slowing down and taking a stand against the fast pace imposed on us by the constraints of capitalism is a very personal one, but I think it's worth considering. And when it’s not possible to actually slow down, I hope those movies and these slower medias can give you a respite even if life isn’t giving you much of one. I do think that having the opportunity to meaningfully slow down the pace of your life, and taking the time to think, breathe, and reconnect with the more mundane parts of your life can be beneficial, especially when there’s a constant pressure to perform and to excel in this fast-paced modern life.

I just hope we can try to take care of ourselves deeply, connect with ourselves but also with each other. We need time to feel, breathe and actually live and not just beat to the drum of a corporation and of this sadistic capitalist system who will never care for you. Corporations do not want you to slow down and they want to get your money by any means necessary, which we have obviously witnessed a lot during this Global Pandemic. Which is why I think there's a real pushback against this fast pace of life and the mass consumerism, by slowing down,

On this note, i hope you appreciated the article, i hope you are taking care of yourself during those hard times and i hope the media you are consuming is something that makes you feel better, and i hope you don't put too much pressure on yourself.

please just breathe. hopefully it will be okay.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Slow Life & Slow Cinema :

Matthew Flanagan. 'Slow Cinema': Temporality and Style in Contemporary Art and Experimental Film. University of Exeter as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in English in October 2012.

ZEESTRATEN, J. Strolling to the beat of another drum: Living the ‘Slow Life’, Master’s Thesis, Lincoln University, 2008. <https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/e0c6/f533e7d8f9254eddbadc0fe6dbb7d4a5ea8c.pdf >

SCREENING BOREDOM THE HISTORY AND AESTHETICS OF SLOW CINEMA Orhan Emre Çağlayan. A Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Film Studies University of Kent February 2014

ELSON, Logan. Slow Cinema Modality: Applying Bordwell to Tsai Ming-Liang, Trent University, JUST, Vol. V, No. 1, 2017

LAVIN, Mathias. Prolonger Ozu, avec Kiarostami, Akerman, Hong Sang-Soo.

FLANAGAN, Matthew. Towards an Aesthetic of Slow in Contemporary Cinema, 16:9, 2020 <http://www.16-9.dk/2008-11/side11_inenglish.htm>

RASSOS, Effie. Everyday Narratives Reconsidering Filmic Temporality and Spectatorial Affect through the Quotidian, A Thesis Submitted in Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of Media, Film and Theatre University of New South Wales August 2005

LETTERBOXD. The Absolute Beauty in Everyday’s Mundanity. Hungkat, 2020. <https://letterboxd.com/kun/list/the-absolute-beauty-in-everydays-mundanity/>

LETTERBOXD. A Slice of Japanese Life. Seraphimjc, 2020. <https://letterboxd.com/seraphimjc/list/a-slice-of-japanese-life>/

Enchanted April:

BOLLARD, Jennifer Jane. The Felicitous Space of Elizabeth von Arnim, Master’s Thesis, University of Canterbury Christchurch, New Zealand, 1995 , <https://ir.canterbury.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10092/11887/Bollard_thesis.pdf;sequence=>

VON ARNIM, Elizabeth. Enchanted April, Waking Lion Press, 2008 (first published 1922)

YOUNG, Katie Elizabeth. More than "Wisteria and Sunshine": The Garden as a Space of Female Introspection and Identity in Elizabeth von Arnim' s The Enchanted April and Vera, Master’s Thesis. Brigham Young University, 2011. < https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4032&context=etd>

Yasujiro Ozu:

The Cinema Cartography, Yasujirō Ozu - The Depth of Simplicity, Youtube video, 2015 <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2G7oeyOsfSg>

JOO, Woojeong, The flavour of tofu : Ozu, history and the representation of the everyday. PhD thesis, University of Warwick, 2011.

BETH, Suzanne. Destruction, puissance et limites du cinéma dans les films d'Ozu Yasujirô, Doctorate Thesis, Université de Montréal, 2015. <https://papyrus.bib.umontreal.ca/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1866/13600/Beth_Suzanne_2015_these.pdf?sequence=2&isAllowed=y>

EMERSON, Andrew. The Beginner’s Guide: Yasujiro Ozu, Director, The Film Inquiry, 2019

<https://www.filminquiry.com/beginners-guide-yasujiro-ozu/>

Criterion. The Signature Style of Yasujiro Ozu. On film. 2015 <https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/3836-the-signature-style-of-yasujiro-ozu>

Thompson, pp. 19-20, 327-331; David Bordwell, Ozu and the Poetics of Cinema (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1988), pp. 73-74.

CATLEY, Anna. Wes Anderson & Yasujiro Ozu: A Visual Essay, Youtube, 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbXRpiVO1po >

Little Forest:

SREEKANDAN, Nikhil , Little Forest: Film Review , The Inkline, 2018. <https://the-inkline.com/2018/06/17/little-forest-film-review/>

https://snackfever.com/blogs/magazine/a-refreshing-cool-breeze-found-in-the-little-forest

Studio Ghibli:

EBERT, Robert. Hayao Miyazaki interview. 2002. <https://www.rogerebert.com/interviews/hayao-miyazaki-interview>

The Magic and Artistry of Studio Ghibli’s Films, The Artifice, 2017 <https://the-artifice.com/magic-artistry-studio-ghibli-films/>

JAREMKO-GREENWOLD, Anya. The Low-Stakes Pleasure of Kiki’s Delivery’s Service. on Birth, Movies, Death, 2017. <birthmoviesdeath.com/2017/07/18/the-low-stakes-pleasure-of-kikis-delivery-service>

STEY, George Andrew.. Elements of Realism in Japanese Animation, Master’s Thesis, University of Ohio, 2009. <https://etd.ohiolink.edu/!etd.send_file?accession=osu1250700496&disposition=inline>

Cottagecore:

SKELLEY, Jemima. Cottagecore Is the Soothing Online Aesthetic We All Need Right Now, The Latch, 2020. <https://thelatch.com.au/cottagecore-aesthetic/>

HAASCH, Palmer. People online are flocking to 'cottagecore,' an online aesthetic that idealizes agricultural life, to calm their hyper-stimulated nerves, The Insider, 2020. <https://www.insider.com/cottagecore-isolation-aesthetic-tumblr-explained-social-distancing-2020-4>

SLONE, Isabel. Escape Into Cottagecore, Calming Ethos for Our Febrile Moment, New York Times, 2020. < https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/10/style/cottagecore.html>

animal crossing:

VINCENT, Britanny. Find fulfillment in Animal Crossing New Horizons' slice-of-life gameplay, CNN underscored., 2020https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/30/cnn-underscored/animal-crossing-new-horizons-review/index.html

WEBSTER, Andrew. ANIMAL CROSSING: NEW HORIZONS IS A CHILL, CHARMING LIFE SIM THAT PUTS YOU IN CONTROL, The Verge, 2020. <https://www.theverge.com/2020/3/16/21179238/animal-crossing-new-horizons-review-nintendo-switch-features>

#slow living #cottagecore #slowness in cinema #cinema #film

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darks-ink · 4 years

Text

Absurdism Chapter 9

It’s the Danny show today, featuring MVP of this chapter: Danny’s phone.

Rating: Teen/K+ (a lil swearing, because teenagers, man) Warnings: - Genre: Family, Hurt/Comfort Additional Tags: Sibling Bonding, Family Bonding, Alternate Universe - Halfa Jazz AU, Jazz makes friends

[AO3] [FFN] [more Absurdism on Tumblr] First Chapter | Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

---

Chapter 9: Doppelganger

Danny let loose a barrage of (low powered) ecto-blasts, watched as Jazz’ shield wavered but held. His core rumbled in his chest, proud.

Because, sure. His presence here wasn’t ideal, and he supposed it wasn’t strictly necessary either. Based on what he had seen, Jazz would’ve managed alright on her own, too. But he was here, wasn’t he? So he might as well help.

Plus, there were only so many situations in which he got to help, and he got rewarded by people actually liking him. As Phantom, he saved Amity’s people over and over and over, and what did he get? Hatred and vitriol. Even the few that liked him changed their minds on a whim, like when Walker—

Oh.

Like when Walker attacked with Wulf.

Danny had completely forgotten about Wulf in this universe. Jazz never went into the Zone, so she never got in Walker’s bad graces. Which meant that the prison ghost never sicced Wulf on her.

Uh. Well. That was… That was something he needed to deal with. This Wulf might not know him, but still. He couldn’t leave the ghost in Walker’s hands.

“What are you thinking about?” Jazz asked, her voice snapping him out of his thoughts.

“Huh?” he said, eloquently.

She rolled her eyes. “You zoned out on me. What were you thinking of?”

He debated not telling her, but… he would have to go in the Zone to free Wulf. She needed to know if he wasn’t around to fight ghosts for her.

Instead he shrugged, a sheepish smile on his face. “I just remembered something I did in my timeline that hasn’t happened in this one. So I, uh. Figured I should go do that.”

“Why would you do that, instead of me?” she asked, raising a skeptical eyebrow. “It’s my universe, isn’t it?”

Danny made a face. “I mean, yeah, but it’s… complicated. Look, Jazz, it was a really rough confrontation, and one you avoided in this universe.”

“Okay, so?” she challenged, crossing her arms and looking every bit the stubborn teenager she was.

“So,” he said, “it makes more sense for me to handle it than for you to handle it. Besides, in my timeline I wasn’t strong enough to win, and I’m not gonna make you go through the same.”

“If you weren’t strong enough then, what makes you so certain you are now?” Her eyes were narrowed, bright and set.

He rolled his eyes. “Because I’ve got two years of additional experience. It’ll be fine, Jazz. And even if it won’t be, I need you to stay here. In my original timeline I got Sam and Tucker to bail me out when I took too long. I need you to be that backup in this universe, alright?”

She glared at him for a moment, before inclining her head in a nod. “I guess. But I’ll need to know where you’re going, then.”

“Right. In the Ghost Zone, kinda close to the Fenton Portal, there’s this huge purple building. That’s Walker’s prison, and that’s where I’m going to free Wulf. If I’m not back for our next training session, I need you to come look for me there.”

Her eyes grew wide. “A prison?! You’re expecting me to break you out of a prison?”

“Well, yeah. It’s a Ghost Zone prison. Regular world stuff, including us in our human forms, can go right through it. Which is why I’m not expecting it to be much trouble, but, well.” He shrugged. “You never know with Walker.”

Jazz squinted at him, but nodded, slowly. “I guess,” she grumbled, low. “Go flail at Walker. And Phantom… Danny?”

“Yeah?” he asked, meeting her eyes. She barely called him Danny anymore, wanted to keep him and her own brother separate. It was saved, now, for the special moments.

“Stay safe,” she told him.

He grinned back. “I promise, Jazz. I’ll be back before you know it.”

---

“Bye Mom, Dad!” Jazz yelled, and the front door closed. Danny peeked over the edge of the building he’d spent the night on, meeting her eye when she glanced up.

Jazz waved, a friendly gesture. Her eyes were narrowed, however, a warning. A non-verbal “stay safe”.

He waited for another moment or two before turning himself invisible. Go time.

Invisible, he left the roof. Phased through the walls and floors of FentonWorks until he reached the lab. It looked like his parents’ lab usually did; shiny chrome, with all kinds of half-assembled inventions scattered everywhere, and everything lit with the sharp white light of the ceilings lights, combined with the eerie green of the Portal.

Well, no time to get nostalgic and homesick. He had a job to do!

Determined, he pushed onward and through the Portal. The Ghost Zone was…

It was just like always, really. Maybe it was just because he didn’t go there all that often, but the place always looked the same to him. That’s kind of why he insisted on making maps, but he would just have to do without those for once. That would be fine, right? It was only one time.

It only took one time without supervision for him to get trapped in a different universe, his traitorous mind whispered to him. He ignored it.

Walker’s prison was pretty close to the Portal, but… but Danny didn’t want to go directly there. It was selfish, yes, but he wanted to see a little more of the Zone first.

Amity Park was always his home, but this Amity wasn’t his. He never felt quite right, quite at home. Always had to hide, stay out of sight. In the Ghost Zone, he could just be. No ghost would be able to tell that he didn’t belong, and even if they could, somehow? They wouldn’t care.

It was just… freeing. To go where he wanted to, and have no one care, not really. Because in here, the ghosts could tell how strong his core was. Most wouldn’t be eager to pick a fight with someone like him.

He flew, directionless and course-less. No destination in mind. Just flying for the sake of doing it.

Which, of course, was the moment he stumbled upon a familiar face.

The brakes of Johnny’s bike screeched as he tried to stop before hitting Danny, twisting the handlebars to dodge. Danny jerked himself the other way, but it wasn’t quite enough; his foot hooked on Johnny’s leg, forcing them both to a sudden stop.

Danny coughed, pushing himself back onto his feet. Johnny hadn’t fallen all the way down, but he was clinging onto his bike rather perilously.

“Shoot, sorry,” Danny apologized, one hand coming up to rub his neck. “Should’ve been paying a little more attention to where I was flying.”

Johnny squinted at him, a suspicious air about him. “Yeah, man. You lookin’ for more fights, or something?”

“No, just too caught up in my thoughts. Sorry.” He grinned sheepishly at Johnny, then realized… “Hey, where’s Kitty? Aren’t you two usually glued to each other’s sides?”

“How would you know?” Johnny asked, eyes narrowing even further. Then he scoffed, shook his head, and looked away. “If it matters, we’re fighting. Kitty’s jealous because I keep looking at other ladies even if we’re out together.”

“Ah.” Danny made a face and dropped his hand back to his side. “That’s… unfortunate. Not to get all up in your business or anything, but… have you tried talking it out? Communication is important, y’know.”

The biker ghost grumbled. “I don’t want relationship advice from a little punk like you. What’s it even matter to you? It’s not like we’re causing trouble in that city you and the girl are protecting.”

“You aren’t, no.” Danny finally placed this moment. If this matched with his universe, and chances were that it did, this was when Kitty overshadowed Paulina to make Johnny jealous. And he really didn’t want Jazz to deal with any of that—if she would even fall for it, knowing that it had happened to Danny. “Look, Johnny. I know Specter and I didn’t make a great impression when we met, but we’re not just fighting ghosts to protect humans. We want to make Amity a good place for everyone, and that includes you and Kitty whenever you come by. I don’t want you two to drag innocent humans into your fight, alright? Just talk it out like grownups, yeah?”

Johnny rolled his eyes. “Like grownups? You sound like a kid. How old do you think we are?”

“Not that old.” Danny shrugged. “Look, you get what I’m trying to say, don’t you? I might not look like it, but I know a thing or two about relationships. Talk with each other, and even if it doesn’t work out, at least you’ll know what’s up. Now you’re both agitated and frustrated and neither of you knows what’s up.”

“Ugh.” Johnny grunted. “Yeah, I guess that that makes sense.”

He settled back onto the bike properly, then leaned over the handlebars to point at Danny. “But I ain’t doing this for you, you hear me? I’m doing this for me, and for Kitty.”

“Of course,” Danny agreed peaceably. “Wouldn’t expect anything else.”

“You’d better believe it, punk.” Johnny squinted at him for a moment longer, but whatever he saw seemed to satisfy. His bike roared to life as Johnny drove off, following the narrow rocky pathways towards the Portal.

Danny watched him go for a moment, then heaved a steadying sigh. Well, that was one problem less for Jazz to deal with. But enough stalling; he should get going, before he runs into another (un)friendly face.

He made his way to the prison quickly, and then promptly realized that he hadn’t actually planned ahead this far. Well, unless you count “break in and free Wulf” as a plan, which… well. Danny might consider it a suitable plan, but Sam, and Tucker, and Jazz all keep telling him it’s not, so. Maybe he should plan ahead a little better.

The whine of a siren snapped Danny out of his thoughts and, oops. He probably should’ve moved a little further away from the prison he was trying to break into.

Some of Walker’s guards approached him, clubs raised threateningly. Danny’s muscles tensed, fingers balling into fists, energy pouring from his core.

But, no. He forcibly relaxed himself, let the guards drag him into the prison. Who needed to break into a prison, when you could just get brought into it? Sure, it was a little unconventional, but he managed to break free just fine in his own universe. The timing was a little off, but he was sure he could still count on the same ghosts.

Actually, that would explain why he hasn’t seen some of his regulars in a while. He had completely forgotten that Walker had arrested them in his timeline, and that they hadn’t gotten free until their mutual jailbreak.

Whoops.

Rather than face off against Walker, Danny is brought directly to the regular cells. Huh. Guess that he’s considered a regular rule-breaker now. More proof that Danny had so far been successful with hiding his half-ghost nature from the others, which was… good, probably? He wasn’t keen on Vlad figuring out that there were two half-ghosts around for him to convince.

It didn’t take long for the guards to return to bring Danny to the canteen and, ah. Yep. There were all those ghosts he’d been halfheartedly missing. He felt kind of bad—he should’ve remember sooner. None of these guys deserve to deal with Walker. Oh well. Live and learn, right? He could deal with the guilt later.

Danny quickly moved over, sitting down at the table with Skulker, Technus, Desiree, and the Lunch Lady. All four look rather confused to see him. Lunch Lady, especially, was squinting at him rather suspiciously.

“Whelp,” Skulker said, cautiously. “What are you doing here?”

“Organizing a jailbreak.” He shrugged, faux casual. “I could try to break in first, but, well. This was easier.”

Skulker nodded thoughtfully, but it was Desiree who spoke up, an odd tone to her voice. “You really are something else, aren’t you?”

“I try.” Danny grinned at her, then inclined his head towards Lunch Lady, remembering that they hadn’t met in this universe. “Hi, sorry, I don’t think we’ve met yet. I’m Phantom, and you’re the Lunch Lady, yeah? I heard about you from my sister, Specter.”

The suspicious expression faded from her face now that they had finally been introduced. She nodded back, hesitantly. “Yes. The girl, she was most helpful with fixing the menu.”

“Yeah, she’s good at that.” Danny turned back to the group as a whole, where Desiree nodded in agreement. “Anyway, like I was saying. Jailbreak. Any of you guys want to help?”

Skulker’s metallic face split in a ferocious grin, and Technus followed suit, baring his oddly angular teeth. Lunch Lady nodded forcefully, and Desiree gave an affirming smile as well.

All things considered, the actual jailbreak was almost laughably easy. Hell, Danny had managed it once while he was fourteen, and on much worse terms with these guys. Doing it now, with much better standings? Piece of cake.

They overwhelmed the guards quickly, storming through the prison’s hallways. Danny flew along for most of the way, until he reached the junction where everyone else would head to the exit.

“Skulker,” he called out, moving over to the empty pathway. “I’m gonna split. You guys stay safe, and remember Amity’s rules, yeah?”

Skulker, still grinning viciously, saluted him. “You have my respect, whelp. Don’t disappoint me.”

And with that, he turned around and re-joined the stream of escaping ghosts.

“Well, no point in stalling,” Danny muttered to himself, twisting towards the special holding cells again. “Let’s go, Fenton.”

He found Wulf’s cell easily enough, the hallways empty and abandoned. All guards must’ve gone to stop the massive outbreak. A lucky break.

Once Danny had located Wulf, he shifted back to human form. He could break Wulf’s cell door, but he was fairly sure that Wulf could escape himself once he was free of the collar and chains. No need to draw unneeded attention.

Danny phased through the door, shivering a little at the weird feeling. It was intangibility, sure, but it wasn’t quite right. It felt differently from regular intangibility. The lack of control, maybe?

It was dark in the cell; Danny could barely make out Wulf’s cowering shape. The ghost was curled up in the corner, his black fur lit jaggedly by the glowing chains around his wrists. Two bright green eyes peered out at him, but they were narrowed to slits. Wulf didn’t trust him.

That was okay, though. He could work with that.

Slowly he crept closer, knowing that Wulf couldn’t get away if he wanted to. Danny crouched in front of the ghost, reached out one hand, then paused. He doesn’t think he has enough power to break the collar in human form. He’ll have to shift, making Wulf the first full ghost in this universe to know that Danny is half ghost.

He swallowed away his hesitation, and backed up a few steps.

Light flashed, the cell lit up bright by his transformation. He tried to make it quick, as if he could coax his shift to do such things, but it wasn’t enough. Wulf had balled up even further, his ears flattened to his neck. Scared. Scared of what Danny might do to him.

Danny crept closer again, hands raised placatingly. He wished he knew more Esperanto, wished that he could assure Wulf of his intentions. Instead he had to settle for trying to emit reassurance, his core rumbling soothingly in his chest.

He didn’t know if it worked, or if Wulf was just too scared to fight back, but Danny got his hands on Wulf’s collar. He swallowed away the hesitation, the worry, and wriggled his fingers in the tight space between the metal and Wulf’s soft fur.

And he pulled.

Energy poured from his core, through his arms and his fingers. Sparked bright green, straight into the metal of the collar.

And he pulled.

With a hiss—or a sizzle—the collar released. It clattered onto the stone floor, emitting a shrill beep as it deactivated.

Wulf opened one hesitant eye, flicking it to the collar and then back to Danny. He tried to shoot the ghost a reassuring grin, taking his hands off of Wulf’s neck again.

Rather than try to puzzle out the Esperanto, he reached for the chains on Wulf’s wrists, pausing before he actually touched them. The wide green eyes followed his movement, and stilled for a moment.

Then Wulf nodded.

With this permission granted, Danny quickly stuck his fingers underneath the metal cuffs. These weren’t electronic, but pure ecto-steel. All he would need for these was a bit of pure ghost-powered strength.

The cuff tore open with the groan and creak of metal. Danny quickly moved over to do the same to the other cuff, freeing Wulf entirely.

When the second chain fell away, clanging against the back of the cell, Danny stood up. Backed away from Wulf again.

Wulf hesitantly raised up as well, shoulders drawn high and head held low. His ears were still flattened, and his tail twitched uncertainly.

The ghost licked his lips, then asked, haltingly, in Esperanto, “Why did you help me?”

“It’s a long story,” Danny answered with a shrug. Even if he wanted to explain, he couldn’t. He wasn’t that fluent in Esperanto. “But you are free now.”

“Free?” Wulf repeated, ears slowly rising up. His eyes seemed extra bright, now, and didn’t move away from Danny. His tail twitched more vigorously, like a restrained wag. “I… am free?”

“Well…” Danny shrugged vaguely, unsure of how to make it any more clear. “Uh, yeah.”

Realizing that he’d said the last in English, he instead settled for making vague shooing motions at Wulf.

This, at least, had some effect on the ghost. Wulf’s muscles coiled, and with a sudden twitch, he unsheathed his claws.

Except the ghost bounded forward, suddenly, lunging towards Danny. He had just a single moment of doubt, had he somehow misjudged this situation?, before Wulf’s furry arm wrapped around him, dragging him along. He could hear a tearing noise, and then suddenly the cell was gone.

Oh. Of course. Wulf had grabbed him and taken them outside Walker’s prison. That made perfect sense.

Wulf had perked up now that they were outside the prison—and the Ghost Zone as a whole—because he stood tall again, his ears perked up and his tail wagging.

“Tell the story?” Wulf asked, cocking his head at Danny. “Why did you free me?”

Danny hesitated, taking a moment to look around them. They seemed to be in the woods somewhere in the human world, but he didn’t know where, exactly. He turned back to Wulf with an apologetic face. “I don’t speak very good Esperanto,” he explained. “Sorry.”

He wished he could explain, though. Wulf already knew about him being half-ghost, and Danny was sure he could trust Wulf. And—

And Wulf could make portals between worlds. Maybe he could even make one home.

Danny’s core churned with an unnameable emotion. Pain, regret, guilt. Could he somehow…

With a flash, he shifted back to human form. He patted down his trousers, quickly, ignoring Wulf’s confused look.

There! Danny pulled his phone out of his pocket, holding down the power button. He had realized, very quickly after coming here, that his phone was almost completely useless. He could use it for entertainment, sure, but no one could call or text him, and he couldn’t charge it regularly enough for it to really be useful. So he had turned it off, intending to save the charge so he could call his friends when he got home.

He opened the internet browser, quickly navigating to Google Translate. His fingers darted over the keyboard, and when he was happy with his message, he clicked the translate button. It wouldn’t be perfect, sure, but hopefully it would get the message across.

“It is a weird complicated story,” his phone started reciting, and Wulf perked up even further. He crept in a little closer, focus entirely on the phone in Danny’s hand as it continued to speak. “I am actually from a different universe. I am half ghost, and I accidentally traveled through a portal to this world. In my own universe, we are friends. Walker tried to have you attack me, but my friends and I took off your collar, and you helped me protect my town. I know that you are not the same Wulf, but I wanted to help you anyway, to repay you for everything you have done for me.”

They waited in silence for a moment, then Wulf nodded, a grin appearing on his face. “I am glad,” he said, tail wagging energetically, “that in another universe, I have made a friend so good that it carried over to another world entirely.”

Danny didn’t quite understand that whole thing, but he thought he got the gist anyway. He grinned back. “Well, you’re my friend.”

“Still, I wish I could help.” Wulf flexed his paws, almost experimentally, but his grin faltered. “I wish I could open a portal home for you, but I can’t. Only between here and the Ghost Zone.”

His core stuttered, churned painfully. That figured. He hadn’t thought that Wulf could, not really, but still. It hurt.

“It’s not your fault,” he assured Wulf anyway, patting his massive furry forearm. “I’ll figure something out.”

“I still want to do something in return,” Wulf insisted, shoving his head against Danny’s shoulder. “Anything to help my friend.”

Well, now his core heaved for an entirely different reason. Danny moved his hand to Wulf’s forehead, thinking it over. With one hand, he tapped out a new message on his phone.

“There is one option,” it started, and Wulf’s ears twisted towards the phone again. “In this universe, someone else is half ghost in my place. My sister. She is just as young as I was, and has less support. I think she will be okay, but it would be nice to be sure.”

Wulf pulled his head away from Danny’s shoulder, nodding vigorously. “It would be my pleasure to watch over your sister in your stead.”

“Good.” Danny rubbed his hand through Wulf’s fur, rugged but surprisingly soft, considering the circumstances. “Thank you, Wulf.”

It would be good to know that Jazz was safe when he left.

If he ever got to leave.

---

Harried footsteps echoed through the street as Danny turned down an alley. The heavy footfalls behind him continued; both Sam and Tucker wore boots instead of sneakers.

Light flashed in front of them, pale blue light bouncing off of the alley’s walls. Danny stopped, Sam and Tucker right behind him.

He cleared his throat, and the ghost mere feet away startled visibly. Its—his—bright green eyes shot upwards, towards Danny. The expression was so human, far more human than his parents’ research suggested. And it was undeniably guilty.

The ghost knew exactly who Danny was.

Slowly, the ghost clipped the Fenton Thermos in his hands back onto his white belt. From this close, Danny could tell that the entire outfit closely resembled the jumpsuit his parents had made for him, with the colors inverted. He wondered, darkly, how often the ghost had spied on them to mimic it so closely.

“Um,” the ghost said, then halted, like he hadn’t quite thought out what he actually wanted to say. He fidgeted with the cuff of one of his white gloves. His eyes, wide and unnaturally bright green, darted between the three humans opposing him.

“We need to talk,” Danny told him, trying to make it sound like a threat. They hadn’t brought anything to trap the ghost, and even if he appeared cornered, Danny knew he wasn’t. Intangibility was a bitch.

The ghost shifted, like he was strongly contemplating leaving. He grimaced. “Well, um. What about? It’s not like we’ve… met, ha ha.”

Really, he could not look any more awkward. It was almost impressive. If only the situation had been, well. Not this.

Danny glared at the ghost, and Phantom made a face. He didn’t leave.

“Don’t be an idiot,” Danny snapped. His nails dug into his palms as he clenched his fists. “I don’t know who you are, and quite frankly, I don’t give a fuck. You can haunt Amity Park all you want, and I wouldn’t give a single damn! But you’re messing with my sister, and I can’t let that fucking slide.”

Phantom shifted guiltily. He opened his mouth, but Danny cut him off before he could speak.

“I don’t want to hear it! Whatever dumb excuse you’re gonna give, I don’t want it. I know Specter is my sister, that she’s Jazz. I saw her go from human to ghost, when you two were fighting that shadow-y ghost. She was knocked out, you know that? And when she got up, she just went back out again, and I had to let her! Because I couldn’t tell her I know! Because you somehow convinced her that— that you’re her brother, or whatever!”

Phantom’s mouth tightened into a thin line. His eyes, still luminous and green, narrowed. He waited for several seconds after Danny stopped talking, before asking, caustic, “Are you finished?”

“No!” Danny snapped back. “You’re a fucked-up mess of a ghost, and you don’t even seem to realize how fucked up any of this is! You fucking modeled yourself after me, like an image of me as a fucking ghost! And somehow you convinced Jazz that you really are me, that you’re her actual brother, yet she barely talks to me. She probably spends more time with you than with me, because she doesn’t realize there’s a difference! And it’s your goddamn fault!”

The ghost lunged forward, and Danny’s heart stuttered, missed a beat. For a moment, he’d forgotten than he’d been yelling at a being strong enough to eviscerate him with barely any effort.

But Phantom didn’t cross the entire distance between them. He landed on the ground with such force that dust blew away, but without a single noise.

Light flashed through the alley again, bright white like lightning. It danced around Phantom, so blinding that Danny was forced to close his eyes. When it faded, when he could see again…

It was like looking in a mirror.

Phantom looked… human. His flesh was visibly warmer, the tone just slightly pinker, and his eyes were as sky blue as Danny’s own. His hair, previously white as snow, was now jet black. And his characteristic jumpsuit, the feature he seemed to have stolen right from the adult Fentons, had been replaced by clothes that could’ve been Danny’s own. A little more ragged than he would normally prefer them, sure, but still…

“Wow,” Sam breathed behind Danny, barely audible.

And the ghost—human?—smirked, wide and cocky. He threw out his hands demonstratively. “And that’s where you’re wrong! Because I am her brother, pal.”

Danny stepped forward before he really knew it, his hands wrapped up in Phantom’s shirt. It was like he was moving on auto-pilot, taking a backseat in the whole process.

His brain supplied, remarkably unhelpfully, that Phantom’s shirt felt oddly real. Not cold or slick like ectoplasmic clothing.

“You ain’t shit,” Danny growled in Phantom’s face, in that mirror image of his own. “You think you’re a big fucking deal, some kinda big savior, protecting our weak pathetic fleshy people from the ghost invasion, but you’re nothing. It’s all a fucking cover so no one can see the damage you’re really doing.”

Phantom’s eyes narrowed, the irises briefly flooding with bright green before they faded back to blue. “You don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said, coldly. His hands wrapped around Danny’s wrists. They were chilly, too cold. There was no force behind them.

“Don’t I? You’re out here, pretending to be Jazz’ brother, and you don’t expect me to be pissed about that? Shouldn’t you know better?” He let go of Phantom’s shirt. The last thing he needed was for the ghost to break his wrists when it got tired of being held.

“I’m not pretending,” Phantom hissed, eyes narrowed. “And I don’t give a damn about what you think of me. I’ve lived through the whole town hating me, through my own parents hating me. You’re nothing compared to all that.”

Sam scoffed, somewhere behind Danny, and he jerked. He’d almost forgotten that his friends were here, too.

“If you care so little about our opinions, why are you still here?”

Phantom’s mouth tightened again, his eyes darting over to Sam. His eyebrows were drawn together. He almost looked pained. “That’s… complicated.”

“More complicated than pretending to be Danny Fenton, son of avid ghost hunters?” Tucker asked, scathingly. “More complicated than pretending to be, what, half ghost?”

“None of that is pretend,” Phantom snarled. His eyes flickered green again as he clenched his fists. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Yeah, because you’re not telling us, dude.” Tucker huffed, crossing his arms. His eyes were hard.

“I…” Phantom halted, then shook his head. “I can’t. I shouldn’t.” He refused to meet Tucker’s eyes. Or Sam’s.

He looked uncomfortably human.

“You gotta tell us something,” Danny snapped at the ghost. Because that’s what Phantom was. Just a ghost. “You’re messing with my sister. And even if you’re not actively pretending to be me, well. I find it hard to believe that you’re missing the implications here.”

Phantom snorted. “I’m not an idiot, yeah. Why do you think no one but Jazz has seen me like this yet?”

Some cold burrowed in Danny’s chest. No one but Jazz. So that meant that Jazz had seen it. Had seen Phantom pull off a shift so similar to her own, which had made him look just like Danny.

“No one but Jazz, and now us,” Sam pointed out. “Why break the pattern for us?”

Phantom shrugged. His eyes had moved over to Sam, but he dragged them back to Danny almost immediately. “I fucked up.”

“So now what?” she asked, crossing her arms as well. “Are you finally going to tell us why this is all so complicated? Or are you going to continue pretending Tucker and I don’t exist?”

The ghost flushed, suddenly, his shoulders coming up. Somehow, against all logic, it was red.

Ghosts were supposed to flush green, weren’t they?

“It’s—”

“Complicated?” Tucker finished for him, dryly. “Try something new, man.”

“I’m…” Phantom paused again, then sighed. His shoulders sunk down like the weight of the world was on him. He looked so forlorn that Danny almost felt guilty.

Phantom reached into one of his pockets, producing a mobile phone. It looked remarkably modern, if a little scuffed up. Was that stolen?

It was quiet for a few moments as Phantom messed around with the phone. Finally, however, he seemed satisfied. He held it out towards the three of them.

Sam and Tucker leaned in closer, and Danny took the phone from Phantom. On the screen was a photo of… the three of them. But not one they had taken, he was sure. They were in his parents lab, he thought, and they were all smiling.

“Keep scrolling,” Phantom said. Danny did.

The next photo was of just Sam and Tucker. They were still in the lab, and both holding ecto-weaponry. In front of them was some sort of shooting range, with shots clustered on two of the targets. They looked like they were arguing, but it was good-natured.

They definitely hadn’t taken this photo. How had Phantom gotten it? Were there more shapeshifting ghosts like him?

Danny’s stomach squirmed. Sam reached over his hands to click over to the next photo. Sam stood impassively, arms crossed, watching Tucker. Tucker, who seemed to be holding an energetic conversation with an enormous bipedal wolf. A ghost wolf.

“Keep going,” Phantom instructed, quietly.

It was the three of them again, except… except Phantom was there, instead of Danny. His green eyes were scrunched up, his smile wide. Sam and Tucker, on either side of him, were grinning equally widely. A smear of green ectoplasm sat on Sam’s cheek, but she didn’t seem to care.

“You’ll know,” Phantom told them, and his voice was almost impossible to make out over the rushing sound in Danny’s ears. The phone shook with such force that he could barely hit the button to move over to the next picture.

It was a picture of the living room of their house. Jazz sat on the couch, a book held loosely in her hand. She wasn’t looking at it, though. No, she was looking at Danny, who seemed to have fallen asleep next to her. He leaned against her, his head on her shoulder. Danny looked about sixteen, the right age, but Jazz…

Jazz looked like she was eighteen.

Phantom took the phone back from Danny’s stiff fingers. “Like I said. Complicated.”

“What the hell, dude.” Tucker blinked at the two of them, at Danny and at Phantom. “What the fuck was that?”

The ghost shrugged loosely. “I’m sure you can figure that out yourself.” He pressed the power button on his phone, then stuffed it back in his pocket.

“So you’re, what. From another universe?” Sam asked. Her voice was a mixture of disbelief and awe, Danny thought, but it was hard to say for sure.

“Basically.” Phantom shrugged. He seemed awkward, now, but no closer to fleeing than he was at the start. “I kind of… accidentally came here. Portals in the Ghost Zone can lead to any point in time, but apparently to different worlds as well. I… didn’t realize. Didn’t realize I wasn’t home until I met… Jazz.”

“So you lied to her.” Danny frowned at him. It sounded… well, like bullshit, but he supposed it was possible. He couldn’t think of a more likely explanation, at least. “You made her believe that you were me.”

“No,” Phantom denied immediately, shaking his head. “No, never. I told her the truth from the start. She knows I’m not you. I’m just training her, just her mentor.”

“Then why does she barely spend time with me anymore? Why does she spend more time with you than with me?”

“You think she enjoys that?” Phantom made a face, lip curled in… disgust? “Fuck, dude. She’s been trying to spend time with you for ages. She hates that she’s spending more time with me than with you. She doesn’t even call me Danny, only Phantom. It’s not me, it’s you.”

Danny’s heart felt like it stopped, like it had turned into a clump of ice lodged in his chest.

“So if Jazz isn’t trying to use you as a replacement for her brother, why is she spending so much time with you?” Sam asked while Danny was still trying to process this revelation.

Phantom rolled his eyes, then raised a hand. Blue light flashed, and then suddenly he had… something. Was twirling something smooth and shiny between his fingers. Ice? Ice was something Phantom could do, right? “If you suddenly became half-ghost, and ran into a half-ghost version of someone you knew, a half-ghost with two-and-a-half years of experience, wouldn’t you spend time with them?”

He clenched his fist, and suddenly the ice was gone. Phantom’s hand wasn’t even wet. “I offered to teach her while I was around, and I help fight ghosts so she’s not as overwhelmed as I was. And the timelines seem pretty similar so far, so I know roughly what’s coming up, and I can help her figure out the tougher ghosts.”

“You’re a source of information,” Tucker said, understanding in his voice. Realization dawned on Danny, too. Phantom wasn’t a replacement; he was the half-ghost equivalent of a library. Jazz didn’t get comfort from him because he was family, but because he knew.

“Yeah, basically.” Phantom shrugged, but he didn’t seem as tense anymore. “And backup. I had… well, you two. If I ever got in over my head, I was backed up by my Sam and Tucker, and later on, by my older sister Jazz as well. But your Jazz, this Jazz, she doesn’t have that.”

“But what about your own world?” Sam narrowed her eyes at Phantom, considering. “If you were the only half-ghost there, shouldn’t you go back? Don’t they miss you?”

Phantom clicked his tongue. “I can’t. Portals in the Ghost Zone are unreliable, so I have no way of making sure I get there. It’s better if I stick around here, where I have some system in place, and where I can help. Plus, if I stay in one place I’ll be easier to find.”

“I’m not saying that Sam and Tucker aren’t great,” Danny said, past the emotions still lodged in his throat, “But are you really expecting those two to find you in a different universe?”

Sam scowled at him, and the itch in his neck made him suspect that Tucker was doing the same from behind him. What? He was just being realistic!

“Them, or Jazz.” Phantom shrugged at his incredulous look. “There’s this invention that can track me to bizarre extents. Jazz once used it to send me a message while I was ten years in the future. And if that doesn’t work, I have a ghost ally who owns an enchanted map, which can find portals to anywhere and anywhen you want, as long as it’s in the Ghost Zone.”

A heavy silence fell. Apparently Danny wasn’t the only one who saw the problem with that.

“So then why aren’t they here yet?” Tucker finally asked, conceding defeat. “You’ve been here for weeks, man.”

Phantom’s shoulders sunk down even further, his face falling. “Yeah,” he agreed. “I know.”

“So… now what?” Sam frowned at Phantom. “You’re just gonna stay here indefinitely?”

“Might as well.” Phantom sighed, heavy and exhausted. “Like I said, there’s no point in going looking for a portal back. Wulf can’t make a portal like that, and Frostbite only let me use the map because I fought the Ghost King. I haven’t done that in this universe, so there’s no way he’ll trust me with that priceless artifact.”

“Sounds rough.” Tucker threw a look at Danny, then Sam, then Phantom again. “Can we help? You, or Jazz?”

Phantom shrugged once more. “I mean, I don’t know. My Jazz figured out my secret at the same time as you guys figured out Jazz, but she held off with telling me because she figured I could manage with Sam and Tucker. It wasn’t until that time traveling thing during the CAT test that she dropped enough of a hint for me.”

“Alright, well…” Danny took a deep fortifying breath. “How about this. You keep up your training with Jazz, but stay in touch with us. I want to know what’s going on, and I want to keep an eye on you. If she looks like she needs us… needs me, we’ll tell her we know. Until then…”

“You want to get closer again.” Phantom nodded, and Danny was startled at how understanding he seemed. “Hey, don’t give me that look. I grew apart from my older sibling too, when I became half-ghost. Then we suddenly got closer again, after she figured me out.”

“Oh.” Danny licked his lips. He wasn’t sure if it was meant to be comforting, but… it made him feel better anyway. Knowing that even Jazz, perfectly brilliant human being, had made this mistake.

There was still room for things to get better.

“Well, let us know if you need anything,” Sam insisted. “As you probably know, I’m rich. I could easily hide you in our mansion if you need to sleep somewhere that isn’t a rooftop, or whatever you’ve been doing so far.”

That startled a laugh out of Phantom. “Jazz has been letting me use her bed while she’s at school,” he admitted, grinning weakly. “But thanks, I might take you up on that. I’ve gotten seriously nocturnal though, fair warning.”

#danny phantom #dp fanfic #phanfic #dp fanfiction #phanfiction #fanfic #danny fenton #jazz fenton #sam manson #tucker foley #halfa jazz au #jazz phantom au #dark writes #absurdism

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lilywoood · 4 years

Text

Prompt 53

I posted it before but somehow tumblr managed to delete it so here it is prompt 53 for my dearest @felicitous-one

Also tagging : @diazbuckleysworld @translucent-bisexual @cherishingstydia @gxtop @impossiblealice

Word count : 2001

Song : Kiss Me - Jason Walker

It had been a rough year for the 118, between the accidents, the lawsuit, the fight club and unresolved sexual tension the 118 had it share of problems that’s why they welcomed the Christmas period with a bit of reserve...

They knew people, they knew how they were more accident prone during that period of the year, that’s why this year Bobby with some help from Athena decided to make this Christmas a memorable one, in a good way of course.

The plan was simple, with the approval of his chief he decided to organize a Christmas special event, this year it’ll be secret Santa...

Well secret for everyone minus two of his best firefighters who’ve been dancing around one another for too long and whose sexual tension was getting a bit uncomfortable to say the least...

Nobody would blame him for forcing destiny a bit, quite the opposite he deserved to Captain of the year just for that.

The plan was to be set on motion the next day, he’ll make the daily announcement and then he’ll present them with the Christmas event, thanks to his wonderful wife he already have a plan to make sure Buck and Eddie would be each other’s secret Santa.

———————————————————-

Buck wondered if the universe heard his prayer or if his friends were just tricking him once again, it couldn’t be possible, of all the team he’d picked the one he secretly wanted, he secretly dreaded.

Don’t get him wrong he was happy, ecstatic to get his best-friend slash secret crush, slash love of his life’s name, he couldn’t wait going gift hunting with Maddie and hopefully (finger crossed) Christopher but at the same time he couldn’t stop the stress and the knots in his stomach.

He was stressed not about what to get Eddie, he knew him pretty well, knew that it was easy to please the man, no he was stressed because this time he wanted his gift to be meaningful, he was ready now, he’d made peace with himself and accepted his feelings, he couldn’t says them out-loud for fear of rejection so he hopped to find something that would transcript it for him, find something that’ll make Eddie understand..

Eddie knew something was up with his team, he could’ve swore he saw Hen high five Bobby and Chim had been recording the all pick your Santa moment, he knew he didn’t got Buck’s name by chance and he was pretty persuaded that the other man had picked his name.

He didn’t mind it, quite the opposite it was the perfect opportunity for him to repay Buck for all he’d done for Chris and him, it was also a good excuse to get the man something more personal, something that maybe make his clueless friend understand that he wanted more, that their friendship wasn’t enough for him, that he wanted him in the picture forever ?

His teammates were nagging him one after the other trying to make him reveal if he did pick Evan’s name, he managed to dodge the ball every time pretending that it’ll ruin the surprise if he did say who he’d get.

He couldn’t wait getting home and sharing his day with both Chris and Carla maybe they could help him plan the perfect surprise for Buck, they probably had better idea than a proposal on Christmas Eve.

———————————————————-

When Eddie got home he almost forgot about his day, forgot about secret Santa, forgot about the paper with Buck’s name in his back pocket.

It wasn’t until Chris started to talk about his day at school and how his teacher made them write their letter to Santa that he remembered.

-Seems like you had a really good day at school buddy, he smiled ruffling his son’s hair,

-What’s about yours daddy, he quizzed meeting his father’s tired gaze.

-It was a good day, he grinned softly, say, he started taking a deep breath, this year we decided to play secret Santa at work and now I have to found a gift for Buck want to help me, he questioned

-Yes, Chris beamed leaving his drawing to rejoin his father on the sofa, what do you want to give him, he wondered.

-Something that’ll show Buck how much we love him, he sighed.

-He already know that, Chris smarted, he’s family right, he added confused.

-Yes buddy he’s family, Eddie reassured holding him in his arm, it’s another kind of love I want to show him though, he quietly revealed

-You love-love him, he stated joyfully, I knew it, he exclaimed when Eddie nodded,

Eddie smiles relaxed by his son’s reaction, he knew of course he knew how much Chris loved Buck and didn’t mind having him around but it was different now and having his son support really was the push he needed to set his plan in motion.

-So I can count on you to help me, Eddie asked playfully....

———————————————————-

Buck was getting desperate, he spend most of his and Maddie’s day off gift hunting...

He searched for everything everywhere, he wanted to find the perfect gift for Eddie, one who’ll make the other man think of him, one that’ll make him understand how important he was, how loved he was.

They were exiting the fifth store when Maddie decided to take matters in her own hands, she knew how important this gift was, how much significance it needed to hold, she knew that this gift was the perfect opportunity and he couldn’t miss it...

-Evan, she called tenderly grabbing his forearm, we can’t continue like this, she tried, you need to know what you want to get because going into stores hopping you’ll find it isn’t working, she explained to a dejected Buck

-I know, he sighed passing a hand on his face, it’s just... he tried, it had to be perfect, he frowned, I..I want him to know, to understand, I can’t... he was playing with the hem of his coat, I love him so much Mads, he chucked his eyes getting teary.

-Maybe we should ask Christopher for help, she smiled patting his cheeks, he knows his father better than us, she hummed, tangling their arms.

-He’s with Carla now, he remarked, do you think I should call them, he demanded bitting his lips.

-Want me to do it, she replied, I could call Carla and explain it to her if you don’t feel up to it, she added, I’ll give you the phone when Chris is on the line, she proposed

-Okay, he nodded giving her his phone.

She quickly found Carla’s number and called her, she spent exactly five minutes with her explaining her brother’s trouble and dilemma before tending him the phone and letting him talk with Christopher.

-Hi Buck, Chris cheered on the other side, how are you, he asked.

-Hey buddy I’m good, he responded, I’m calling you cause I need a special favor from you think you could help, he wondered cringing at how unsure he sounded.

-What do you need Bucky, the little boy inquired genuinely.

-I’m trying to find a gift for your dad, he croaked, I need to know what would be good for him, he muttered.

-Everything would be good Bucky if it’s from you, Chris reassured him.

-I know buddy but it’s different this time, he trailed not sure if it was right to reveal his real intention to him.

-It’s different because you’re in love with daddy, he stated, don’t worry kid it’ll be fine if it’s from you daddy would be happy cause he loves-love you, he giggled

-I love-love him too, Buck chuckled reassured, still I need something perfect buds, he hummed...

———————————————————-

The call had been brief but it was what he needed shortly after hanging up with Chris he found Maddie in front of Victoria’s Secret gazing at their Christmas special collection.

-Do you think I should buy some sexy outfit to surprise Chim, she joked pointing at the Santa lingeries

-Gross Maddie, he irked, I don’t need that picture in my head, he barfed.

Maddie chuckled tangling their arms, forcing him to join her in her lingerie hunt, they spent the afternoon together, going from shops to shops until he found it the perfect gift....

———————————————————-

Christmas Eve came faster than what Bobby imagined, all the stations had been decorated for the occasion, they were giving away gift for those in needs and a small diner had been served.

After people were nourished and all the gifts distributed, the 118 retreated upstairs to finally reveal who have been whose Santa.

Everyone got its gift except Hen, Bobby, Eddie and Buck, the first two knew they were each other’s not so secret Santa and couldn’t wait to see the two men’s reaction. Hen rose first à bug smile on her face she pretended to go to Buck who was sat next to Bobby, she suppressed a laugh at Eddie’s confused look and Buck’s dejected expression.

-Seems I’m your secret Santa Cap, she smiled tending him a flamboyant red gift bag.

-Thank you Hen, he frowned confused by the vibrant color, who’s next, he clapped, Buck, he called.

-If you don’t mind Cap my gift is a bit too personal, he mumbled cheeks reddening, I’d like to give it to Eddie privately, he blurted,

-That’s fine, Bobby assured squeezing his shoulder, Eddie, he asked nodding to the other man.

-Uhm, he coughed trying to avoid his teammates pointed stares, I...can you guys give us some space, he mumbled gaze fixed on the floor.

———————————————————-

They were alone now, everyone left the room shortly after Eddie asked for space, it had been ten minutes ago and none of the two men were willing to start the conversation...

-So, Buck coughed getting sick of the tense silence, do you want to get your gift first or we could exchange them at the same time or I don’t know, he rambled

-Evan, Eddie called getting up from his place to sit next to him, don’t panic whatever you give me would be fine, he smiled, if it’s from you even a simple card is enough, he assured him patting his knee, here’s mine, he smiled giving him a small packet.

-Here, Buck croaked tending him and slightly larger box, I...I hope you’ll like it, he coughed turning his attention back to his own gift.

Eddie was the first to open his present, he carefully teared the paper while Buck was more brutal, Buck got him a framed map of stars, with a date at the bottom, he frowned confused turning back to Buck.

-It’s beautiful, he smiled, passing his hand over it, tracing the stars, it was from the day we went to see Santa with Chris, he asked.

-Yeah, Buck mumbled, it was an important day and I was happy you invited me, he chuckled, it felt like I was part of your family, he hummed.

-You’re family Evan, he affirmed taking his hand in his, never doubt that, he added softly making circle on his skin with his thumb.

-I...thank you, he smiled back interlacing their hands, it wasn’t the only reason I choose this particular day, he admitted biting his lips

-Before you tell me what I think you’re going to tell, Eddie smiled, open my gift please, he pleaded, I need to know we are on the same page, he prayed.

Buck grinned letting go of Eddie’s hand to open the little wood box on his laps, tears were flowing down his face when he saw what it was.

-Is that, he sputtered drying his tears with the back of his hand...

-I know it’s a little childish, Eddie mumbles, I know we aren’t seventeen, he pursued before getting cut of Buck’s lips on his.

- I love it, Buck smiled putting the prompt ring on his left finger, I love you, he giggled.

-I love you too, Eddie breathed surging for an other kiss, I love-love you, he laughed quoting his son.

#buddie fic #buck x eddie #buddie prompt #911 prompts #prompt list #evan buckley #eddie diaz #hen wilson #bobby nash #maddie buckley #maddie x chim #9-1-1 on fox #9-1-1 fanfiction #911 fox

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