#<- like the very act of criticizing or laughing at or exaggerating what obviously was common enough to Be made fun of like that

[fluentisonus]

ideologically I [often] don't agree with historical caricature art but they really went off with the visually depicting aspects of daily life & dress & types of people you almost never see shown in other types of contemporary art

[my-gf-is-kazuichi-soda]

Some people in the MLAATR fandom act like Sheldon is irredeemably creepy or gross or manipulative, and then uses examples of behavior that happens with all of the characters because it's an exaggerated children's cartoon.

Exhibit A:

To me, this is the same logic as saying "Jon Arbuckle is an animal abuser" because he lets Garfield drink coffee and sometimes puts him on a diet of a single lettuce leaf (I read the Jon Arbuckle hateblog for a laugh sometimes). Yes, obviously irl this would make someone an animal abuser, but in the silly world of Garfield these are just signifiers that the human reader, who might drink coffee or be on a diet that they hate, is supposed to relate to Garfield. Neither of these actually foods hurt him in the comic. Garfield eats entire trays of lasagna for crying out loud! Jim Davis even describes Garfield as being more like "a person in a cat suit" than a real cat. If we put the actions back in the context of the comic strip, Jon Arbuckle is just a pet owner who sometimes acts as a parent to a child, other times acts as Garfield's friend or roommate, and is kind of a dork but generally a good guy. Garfield and Odie's family.

Likewise, the world of MLAATR operates on cartoon/sitcom logic. Very often the characters will resort to lying, trickery, disguises, being aggressively friendly, etc. as ways to keep the plot and jokes rolling. I'm pretty sure every character has done this at some point, because of the humor potential. These are not meant to be looked at as abusive behaviors. You can usually judge how harsh the actions were based on other characters' reactions and how quick they are to forgive at the end rather than applying real-world relationship logic.

This is not to say that the writing is infallible or unable to be criticized because "it's just a kid's cartoon!" (I hate that argument, it's usually meant to silence people and that's not what I'm trying to do). Yes, cartoons can screw up in their messages, and you might be able to argue that maybe this writing style makes all of the characters bad role models for children. But if this is how you judge Sheldon, it's only fair to hold all the other characters in the same standards, including Jenny herself.

It bothers me that Sheldon gets the bad rep in the fandom because as an autistic person, especially when I was an autistic child, I related to both Jenny and Sheldon and their struggles in communicating/socializing in a world that glorifies popularity and being "normal" and hurts the weirdos to get them to conform. So it hurts on a personal level to see Sheldon get hated to such a high degree, and to hear people say Sheldon and Jenny would be an inherently unhealthy relationship, just because Sheldon can have some boundary issues and lack of social skills. I know people aren't saying this to villainize autistic traits, but that's how it can feel to me.

I could also get into how the show hinted that Jenny was at least a little curious about a relationship with Sheldon and that she might have gone for it if not for her fatal flaw in trying to seek popularity, but I'll save that for another post. This isn't meant to shame those who dont like the Jenny and Sheldon ship, but to give an alternative perspective to the whole "Sheldon is creepy!" thing I keep seeing in the fandom.

[yesterdanereviews]

Heart of a Dog (1988)

Film review #593

Director: Vladimir Bortko

SYNOPSIS: A stray dog living on the streets of Moscow not long after the October Revolution is taken in by a surgeon. However, the surgeon intends to use the dog as part of an experimental procedure to turn him into a human being, transferring the pituitary gland and testicles of a recently deceased man into the canine. The experiment becomes a success and the dog becomes almost human, but he is not the person that the Professor intends him to be, and their differences start to quickly show...

THOUGHTS/ANALYSIS: Heart of a Dog is a 1988 film based on the 1925 book of the same name by Mikhail Bulgakov. The book was rejected for publication in the Soviet Union due to its allegorical critique of the communist revolution. The book was eventually released in 1987, and quickly became a phenomenon in the Soviet Union, which was now moving away from the communist practices through its reforms. This made-for-TV movie was released a year later to similar applause. In the beginning, we see a stray dog wandering the streets, hungry and alone, and his situation does not seem much better than the regular people on the streets, making the point that people's lives did not really get much better for ordinary people after the October Revolution. The beginning of the film is bleak, make no mistake, but this again is by design, and you'll need to stick with it if you want the tone to change. The dog, named Sharik, is found by a bourgeois Professor and surgeon named Philip Philippovich Preobrazhensky, and he takes him home. However, Philip has plans for the dog in an experimental new procedure in which he will transplant the pituitary gland and testicles of a recently dead man into the dog to observe its effects. What occurs is the dog starts to slowly morph into a human in a scientific breakthrough. The results of this, though, are that Sharik is far from the bourgeois Philip in terms of his behaviour and mannerisms, setting up humourous and allegorical conflict between the two. The science-fiction element of the film is not really the focus of the plot, but rather again serves as an allegorical device for the author's criticisms of class and revolution.

One key thing to note about the film is that it is deeply entrenched in the time and place it was written: if you have no idea about the Soviet Union, the October Revolution, and the like, a vast chunk of this film is going to pass you by. Professor Philip, an 'enlightened' bourgeois is horrified as Sharik turns out to be a worker (which perhaps shouldn't be surprising as he is/was a stray dog), but as this enlightened individual, never considers violence as an option, lest he become like the proletariat he dislikes so much. As mentioned, the original novel is more critical of the workers and their revolution, and pokes fun at them also, with their committees and constant need to break into songs about the revolution at every given opportunity. No one really escapes being poked fun of in the film, but again, it's all very much rooted in the time and place it is set, so those outside of it aren't going to get all of the small references and critiques.

This film is noted for its faithful adaptation of the original novel: it leaves nothing out, and only changes a few small details. The acting is solid, and the characters, while obviously exaggerated versions of the class archetypes they are meant to represent, don't stray to far into being cartoonish, allowing the film to retain a sense of realism and relatability. Likewise, the comedy is drawn out through the character's being constantly at odds at each other, and their own ideologies being their undoing, rather than a laugh-out-loud type of humour. In terms of production, the acting is solid, even the dog is played by an "acting dog" who had played in numerous films. Everything about the production is professional, and it's difficult to find any significant flaws in the film as a whole. The enjoyment of Heart of a Dog certainly depends on how much you know about the context and setting of the film: there's so many slight references and nuanced moments that entrench it so deeply in the early days of the Soviet Union, but the larger beats of the film do have enough for unfamiliar viewers to latch onto, and a high-quality production overall makes it an interesting and enjoyable film.

[thegirlwhowrites642]

Huh, I think you might be a bit hard on Hermione. Generally speaking I mean.

1. Is it really that surprising that Hermione had kids young, so much that it needs to be addressed in this TV show? In wizarding world it's very common to marry and have kids young, since they finish all their school duties at 18/19 and get a job after. So she would have had about 8 years of work experience before she became pregnant. And the whole "she's not family oriented" is also exaggerated and not really true. She clearly enjoys the Burrow chaos just as Harry since she's always there and she obviously loves her parents, even with the questionable Obliviate thing. You're acting like Hermione is some kind of robot. If your personal headcanon is that she's not family oriented..well that's another thing.

2. The canaries thing is obviously not good. Great! Meaning Hermione has flaws, she's not perfect and the readers/audience know this. But ..haha why do Harry and Ginny need to TALK about it so obviously as if the audience are some idiots who can't figure it out on their own.? That's a very beloved rule in movie making - you don't TELL something obvious to audience, let them think for themselves. And it's not like what Hermione did here was something horrible (and I say this as a Ron defender lol). It's pretty vanilla compared to some other weird stuff in HP (the exposing of Snape's underwear and possibly genitals, Harry's crucio, Fred and George's love potion.... So many weirdness) PS. It's not like Ginny would actually care about Ron here to be angry at Hermione. This the book where Ron and Ginny didn't get along and realistically speaking Ginny would've probably snorted or laughed if she heard that Hermione set the canaries on Ron. (Isn't that Ginny's thing - she appreciates dark humor or something like that..?)

So yeah, I think what's really going on here is that Hermione gets on your nerves and maybe that's why you exaggerate her flaws and have sceptical (almost negative) thoughts about her. Which is fine, but it's weird that these 'problems' that you have with Hermione... weirdly enough Ginny is guilty of having them too and yet you never mention these problems with Ginny. What was it that you criticized Hermione for? - being unrealistically capable and not showing flaws towards the end of the series? Not showing enough development? Having kids young? Having a mean streak and being too harsh sometimes and the fans still love you? That's BOTH Hermione and Ginny, my friend xD

Oh, God.

Thinking that not being family oriented means hating your family or being a robot might be a you problem. More and more people nowadays are not family oriented, there's absolutely nothing wrong with it. Hermione repetedely chooses to not spend time with her parents. Her liking going to the Burrow simply means she likes spending time with Ron, generally likes the Weasleys and it's not uncomfortable around a lot of people. And, I absolutely do not care if there are eight years between the end of the war and when she starts having children. She is not a real person, she is a character. What you put in the Epilogue needs to be coherent with what you have told until that point.

Hermione having flaws is not a problem, it's a great thing. Those flaws never being addressed narratevely is the problem. If in no way you adress the fact that what Hermione did is wrong, you are sending the message that what she did was right. If you as the reader percive it as wrong, that's good because critical thinking requires you while reading a book that you absorb the facts but question the interpretation of the author and see if the two things are coherent. Since the fourth book, with Hermione's character there's a divergence between how the narrative wants you to percive her and how she actually behaves, and it progressively gets worse. She never pays the consequences of her own wrongdoing. Which is why after your first reading of HBP you probably are going to think Hermione was competely right and Ron was a jerk, especially if you are a child. It's about the message that it's being sent. And yes, Ginny has flaws too, and that's great, and those are very much adressed. She hexes Smith, she calls Slughorn mad for not putting her in detention. She attacks Smith after the match, and it's hilarious, objectively speaking, but McGonagall still very much yells at her. She mocks Fleur, she admits she was wrong about her by the end of the book. It's not about characters having flaws, characters need to have flaws, it's about the message the story is sending. And, about Ginny not being angry at the canaries, I'm gonna guess you don't have siblings. One of the main rules of having siblings is that you can destroy them but if anyone else dares looking at them the wrong way, that person will die.

The canaries were just an example of one of the many very ugly things Hermione does and that are never addressed as such. What makes that specific episode particulary ugly is that she does it against someone she is supposed to love.

Ginny is not unrealistically capable. She is a powerful witch, that's a natural thing, it doesn't need development, and it's shown since the second book. It's also shown she takes her studies seriously by the way. If you are referring to Quidditch, she trains herself since she is six, what's unrealistic about her being good at it? It's also shown she is not as good of a seeker as she is a chaser. Also, I never said Hermione is unrealistically capable (are you referring to me saying she gets jobs she shouldn't be good at according to the books? That's just an objective thing). I mean, in DH she does things that she shouldn't be able to do out of nowhere, but in general, there's nothing particulary impressive in Hermione's abilities. The narrative desperately tries to make you think she is a genius by making everyone call her that but she just reads a lot of academic material and she is a bit smarter than average, there's nothing weird about that.

Ginny having kids young is extremely realistic??? She is very attached to her family, she is impulsive, and she grew up in a family of seven siblings, I'm surprised none of the Weasleys siblings had seven children of their own.

How can Ginny lack development? She is a character built on progression. She has the most structured development along with Harry. Her whole story is this progressive climb out of the shadow. She becomes the person she needed as a little girl, her helping the injured girl on the grounds is a parallel to her being the girl on the ground in the Chamber. She frees herself of her family need to protect her but still reconciles with her mother. If you are talking about her being well-rounded, Ginny checks out all the boxes in Karen S. Wiesner scheme which is the most detailed one for controlling the development of a character.

If you think I've never said Ginny can be mean or harsh, you have never read this blog. But it's adressed already by the story. There's a whole arc about it in HBP.

If I want to spend my days praising Ginny, I can. This blog is not a democracy. It's very much a dictatorship.

Ginny is loved since when?

I am not your friend :)

[burntmcnuggies]

Hi! Can i request a hawks x fem! reader where hawks kind of has bird-like tendencies? She’s pretty good friends with him, and sometimes he whistles and stuff when she’s around (like a mating call/song) and one time she was talking to another pro hero and hawks gets jealous (but it’s his bird side so he can’t control it) and his wings puff up and stretch out as a show of dominance or something. And they get really bright too! The media reports the event and he confesses how he feels 🥺 tysm!

Of course! 🥺

I’m so happy to have actually gotten a request!! This is actually my... fourth Hawks story? And I feel I’m getting better at his personality! If any of you have constructive criticism I’m all ears! Ready to improve! I tend to over study characters before I write them so I have a good understand to deliver the best for everyone! :D

I wasn’t sure if you wanted smut or fluff... so I did both! A wholesome pure one and a spicy sexy one!

I really hope you enjoy this! ❤️

Both stories are almost exactly the same except for the ending, so in the end if you want smut, go to the NSFW one! 18+ only please! :)

➪ NSFW <3

Jealous Bird (Fluff)

Warnings: strong language, suggestive themes towards breeding, and that’s it!

“Mornin’ chicken wing. What’re we doin’ for breakfast? I paid last time so this is allll on you.” Hawks sent a playful wink towards you as he landed beside you from his previous place in the air, holding his hand up and rubbing his index and thumb together as a sign he wanted you to pay. You rolled your eyes and rose your hand, mocking him. “Don’t forget who spent hours doing YOUR paperwork because a certain birdbrain was too lazy to do it.” Hawks held up his hands in defeat and slumped over, sticking out his bottom lip, over exaggerating his facial expressions. He whined and let his wings droop. “C’mon just one more time? Pretty please with your favorite pretty bird on top?”

“Stop dragging your wings, you’re gonna get them dirty.” You scolded and pat his back, slightly feeling how tense his shoulders were. You were about to offer to give him a massage later, not wanting your friend to have to sleep tonight with stiff muscles until you noticed something. His wings were almost glowing a whole new shade now. Such a vibrant and beautiful color. It was then realizing how close you were that you could hear a faint cooing bubbling from his throat. “...? The fuck are you doing Hawks?” He looked over confused and tilted his head. You grumbled at his lack of knowing exactly what he was doing. “Do you even have complete control over your body? You don’t even realize you’re whistling and cooing like some pigeon.”

You completely missed the pissed off look that crossed his face at your comment. He plastered on a cheeky smile and put his hands behind his back, picking his wings off the ground and tucking them firmly behind his back. “Nah, sometimes my bird-side comes out, especially during spring. God I go fuckin’ crazy. Sometimes it’s early and i have to take a whole week off a work!” You looked up to a couple trees you both passed while you were walking to your usual breakfast place, KFC —Although you always argue you want to go somewhere else. It was late winter, very close to spring, about March. You never kept up with the date. “Why do you take a whole week off?”

“Animal Mutant types like me would understand. Just like Mirko! Haha, I’m sure she’s the worst right now bein’ it’s early March!” He laughed and put his hands out, his hands snaking into his pockets to firmly stick there once more. You pouted, wanting to know exactly what Hawks was talking about. You told Hawks everything, but he didn’t give you the same treatment. “I’ll just ask Mirko later then if you refuse to tell me.” Hawks quickly wagged his finger side to side in front of your face, his other hand being placed on his hip now. You were familiar with his body language and how much he loved using his hands. “Nah ah, chicken wing. You do that and she’s gonna pounce on you. You won’t see light for days!”

“Mirko has accidentally jumped on me before, it’s not like we haven’t sparred before! I can withstand some punches and kicks!” Hawks sulked again, his hands digging back into his pockets, displaying his annoyance that you weren’t listening to him. He just looked away and shrugged his shoulders back. “Just trust me, kiddo. It’d be for the best you didn’ see Mirko, especially at a time like this. I know how she feels.” You were starting to get irritated at his lack of response to your question, only dodging it and making you sit in suspense. Finally you gave up and decided to bring it back up later. “I’m just gonna stop asking, you’re obviously not gonna answer me are you?”

“Haha! Nope! You know me too well, (Y/N).” You both arrived at KFC, immediately greeted by the manager and many of Hawks’ fans who knew he came there a lot. Many asked for his autograph or a selfie, but he refused politely. “I’ll do some after I get some chicken! I’m starved!” Super fans offered to even pay for his food, to which he declined, saying that you were kind enough to have already offered to pay for his food. A total fat lie! He begged you to pay! You sent him a glare and proceeded just to order both your meals while Hawks spoke with his fans. “Well, guess I can start then! Who’s first?” After he saw you were paying and ordering, he began to sign autographs and take selfies that would no doubt be on social media in minutes.

“Man! I sure do have a lot of supportive and loyal fans! Must suck never bein’ noticed.” Hawks passively insulted your rank as a pro hero by taking a jab at your ranking. You were somewhere in the mid thirties. Not popular at all, especially in this part of Japan where Hawks was born. “At least I have fans who aren’t thirsty for me! People who don’t dream of kissing me so passionately and marrying me.” You smirked and rose your hands shrugging your shoulders, before hugging yourself. You bit your lip, closing your eyes and squirming with a dreamy smile, mocking his thirsty fan girls. “Oh Hawks! Please marry me... I love you so much. Kiss me... let’s start a family, and be the happiest couple ever~”

You didn’t notice the way his wings trembled and his face reddened, his avian eyes widening as he watched you speak in such a way. He shook it off quickly before he got out of control and leaned forward towards you smirking. “At least I have fans cravin’ me~ haven’t heard of anyone wantin’ your boring ass!” He gave a closed eye smile and brought his hands up to give you a big fat thumbs down. Your eye twitched and you remained silent, not having a comment. That was until you remembered a villain hitting on you not too long ago. “Well at least I’ve had a villain fawn over me! I can still remember it clearly! ‘Oh fuck, I would turn good to get a piece of that ass!’”

This time you noticed how his brows furrowed, and his wings fluffed up, almost as if he just had a whole shiver rake through his body. “When was this?” He asked, his head now resting in his right hand, staring intently. You thought about it for a minute, before taking a wild guess. “Ehh, about like a couple months ago.” This only put him in a more sour mood. You didn’t understand why he was acting so strange. Maybe it was what you talked about? Obviously you’d never talked about anything romantic with Hawks, but on the topic of thirty fans want for him, you wanted to make jokes since he was always mocking you and making sly insults. “Sorry... I didn’t mean to make things awkward.”

“Nah, it’s fine. It’s not your fault. Well... it kinda is.” He admitted afterwards and smirked at you teasingly as if you would already know it was your fault. You frowned, about to open your mouth again before they called your number to get your food. You sighed and stood from your seat, walking over to the counter and retrieving the food, however, you were stopped by a man. He was young, about nineteen or twenty, quite handsome. “Excuse me miss, this may sound really straightforward and all but, you’re really pretty, and I was wondering if I could get your number?” You blushed a bit and looked away. You were a bit weary, but decided anyways. “I-I don’t know... I guess so. You seem nice. It’s-“

“Hey man, you gotta hobby of stealin’ other people’s things?” A gloved band came in contact with your shoulder, and a large shadow cast over you and the man in front of you. The man gasped in amazement at seeing the number two pro hero standing before him, it would’ve been a better experience if Hawks wasn’t threatening him with his looks and smart-ass remarks. “Huh? Oh! S-Sorry I didn’t-“ Hawks rudely interrupted the man, his gloved hand squeezing harder. His smile was obviously forced, and his feathers were starting to fluff up every second that past he stood in front of this guy. “Eh don’t worry about, you didn’ know. Now that ya do, don’t come near her again, Kay?”

And in the blink of an eye, Hawks pulled you away and out of the fast food restaurant. He aggressively pulled out the food and shoved yours against your chest, unwrapping his quickly and munching on it. “What the hell Hawks?! That was a bit much! He was being nice! It’s not like we’re dating or anything...” You trailed off, watching his wings twitch and fluff. You had noticed his strange behavior for a couple days now. His feathers would fluff up every now and again —you had no idea why— especially near men. And he would always make these weird sounds whenever the two of you got close. “You should be thankin’ me chicken wing. I just saved you from a world of heartbreak.”

“That’s not your place to decide, Hawks. I don’t intervene when women ask for your phone number.” You crossed yours arms and turned your nose up at his childish behavior. He didn’t respond, finishing his breakfast and throwing away his trash in a nearby can. His hands slipping back into his pockets, displaying that he was closing himself off from you now. Of course, you began to become irritated at his lack of voice, but you decided to let it go and not pressure him further. You unwrapped your food and took a bite of the savory meal. “You’ve been acting weird lately ya know? I’m getting worried...”

“Don’t worry about it, I’m fine.” Oh how you hated his emotionless voice, so bland and robotic, it honestly pained you. His eyes were sharp, quick to notice your saddened expression. Hawks sighed heavily and stuck his bottom lip out, wrapping his arm around your arms and pulling you close to him. “I’m one of the top five pros, you don’ gotta worry about me, chicken wing. Cheer up.” You smiled and shoved him off, only a bit happy his cocky and arrogant behavior had returned. The Hawks you knew and cherished. “You know, I hate you sometimes, but I can’t help but love you at the same time.”

“Who doesn’t love me? The sexiest bird-man around.” He smirked and gave you a flirtatious look, a small sound bubbling from his throat similar to a whistle. You returned his smirk with a teasing smile. You were almost immune to his flirty charm, key-word; almost. Hawks was definitely an attractive man. Those piercing eyes with dark markings around them, only making the color pop and glow. His messy hair swept back and disheveled. Let’s not forget about those bushy eyebrows of his, they almost look like feathers from his wings, only a beautiful blonde color just like his hair. You could probably do without his egotistical attitude and vulgar tongue, but that was still all part of his charm. “Move!”

You were surprised by Hawks suddenly grabbing you and jerking you out of the way of an attack from a villain. You were right there in his chest, feeling his warmth, hearing the harsh thumping of his heart at the thought of almost losing you. Before he had a chance to say what he wanted. “Well there goes our leisurely patrol. And more paper work on our desks.” Hawks grunted in annoyance and took to the air. You finally regained your composure and got into your fighting stance. “Ready to kick some ass Hawks?! Whoever lands the final blow is treated to lunch!”

“Heh, you don’t stand a chance! Show me whatcha got!”

—

“Thanks Edgeshot... I totally owe you one.” You scratched the back of your neck with an awkward smile as you stood in front of the current number four hero. While Hawks was on the assault, eager to show off and boost his already high ego, you tried to get a sneak attack in, but the villain noticed you. They were about to attack you, before Edgeshot came and got you out of the way. Hawks didn’t take this too well. He became angry immediately and finished off the villain in a matter of seconds. “No thanks necessary, (H/N). I was just doing my job.” You hated being in debt to someone more than anything, so you quickly threw out an offer.

“Please! Let me take you out for drinks! Honestly! I’ve gotta do something! I-“ Suddenly a large shadow cast over you for the second time that day. You turned around and shrunk down noticing Hawks’ wings spread wide, fluffed to the brim and shaking in anger and jealousy. His face was red and his eyes were narrowed at Edgeshot. He was angry at himself for not being able to protect you himself, and at Edgeshot for rescuing you and holding you close. That was supposed to be him. “H-Hawks? What’s wron-“ Edgeshot was the one who answered your main question earlier before Hawks could even get another word out. The answer shocked you to your core, finally understanding why he was acting so weird.

“He’s showing his dominance, and in a public place no less, how careless.” You looked at the ninja hero confused before you turned your attention back to Hawks. Dominance? His wings were such a beautiful vibrant color now. A shade of red you’d never seen before on him. A sudden flash captured your eyes, taking your attention away from his beautiful wings. The media was eating this up. Soon it would reach the Hero Public Safety Commission and the president would not like this one bit. “I’m sorry, (Y/N). But I’m impatient, I can’t wait any longer.” Your eyes widened as your attention was fully back on Hawks now. You opened your mouth about to ask what he meant, but something was preventing you from doing so.

Hawks’ lips were firmly placed upon your own, his bright red rings wrapping around the both of you to shield you from any watchful eyes wanting to take a peek at you. His lips were soft, his hands finding themselves on your waist, pulling you flush against his body. You were shocked, your eyes wide, heart hammering wildly out of your chest at the sudden action. Slowly, you began to kiss him back, falling victim to his charm and passionate ways. He was quickly heating up the kiss, but you placed your hands on his chest firmly, pushing him away just enough to separate your lips. He was chasing your lips, desperate to get another kiss. You sent him a silencing glare and he smiled nervously, unsure of what you were thinking.

“Uh... oops?”

——

“Breaking News! Pro-Hero Hawks was seen acting quite strange this morning. We have multiple eye witness accounts saying his behavior was aggressive in sorts. Many people claim after the latest villain attack, Hawks confronted Pro-Hero Edgeshot! What an intimidating display by one of the most top ranked heroes! We’re not sure on the full details, stay tuned for more on the story later.” The whole time the video played the camera was zoomed in on Hawks. His vibrant wings spread dominantly, visibly fluffed and shaken up. It was incredibly lucky they didn’t catch you both kissing —even though his wings were covering you both. You slid your phone in your pocket and sighed heavily, patiently waiting outside the presidents door, ready to see Hawks and talk to him about what had happened.

You attempted to talk to Mirko but... You couldn’t really understand what she was talking about, especially through all the panting. ‘Oh baby please, come to my place, I promise we’ll have fun okay? Forget about that birdbrain! Come to me. We can eat! Have dessert first and then a full course meal! And another, and another, a-and another~! Until I’m full and satisfied! Please!’ You sadly had to decline. Being treated to multiple full course meals and desserts was nice and all, but you really needed to talk to Hawks. A click of the door was heard, and you brought yourself off the hard painted walls to see Hawks walking out with a pout and a frown. He hated being scolded, he was a grown ass man with hormones. Of course he was going to lose it eventually.

“H-Hawks...!”

He immediately jerked his head up hearing his name, plastering on a cheeky smile before coming up to you. “What’s up chicken wing, you came to check on me huh?” Sometimes you wanted to slap the smugness out of him, but sadly, it would probably grow knowing him. You honestly nodded and rose your hand to tell him to follow you. He did as you told quietly, his hands in his pockets, unsure of what you were even going to say. His feathers could faintly sense your thundering heart, how it hammered against your rib cage every step you took towards the door. “It’s... about what happened this morning.”

“...I see.” It was unusual for him to be so speechless in a conversation. He loved to talk. You rubbed your arm sheepishly and made your way out the doors with him. You walked for a bit, until you reached the agency you worked at. Well, this was it. “Hawks I...” you began, but couldn’t bring yourself to confess to him. You’d denied your feelings for years, pushing them aside to hold onto your friendship. You didn’t think you were good enough for him. He needed someone stronger, someone better. “Ah... never mind, I forgot what I was going to say. See you to-“ You were silenced once his gloved hands found your arms softly, and his lips met yours once again to share in a passionate kiss. You couldn’t help but melt into his touch, his warm comforting touch, never wanting to leave.

“Im... sorry for the way I acted today.” He spoke slowly, expression the sincerity behind his apology. Your eyes widened watching Hawks get down on one knee and begin to kiss your knuckles one by one. “I couldn’t help myself... seein’ you... with other guys, just thinkin’ about it makes my blood boil...” He stands back up again, spreading his large wings, their vibrant color remained, accompanied by soft whistling and cooing from your winged friend. His hand grabbed your chin, running his thumb gently over your bottom lip. “I’ve been tryin’ to impress you for weeks... drove out all my competition, so in the end you’d only pick me.”

It was all starting to make sense now.

“Spring is mating season for birds like me... so everything I’ve been doin’ is to get you to choose me to be your mate. I want you to be my dove. I want you to be mine.” Everything finally connected now. Even why Mirko sounded so weird on the phone earlier when you called to ask about what was happening. Your face flushed in embarrassment at this newfound revelation. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner... I... feel horrible for what I said earlier! Your jealous behavior... your weird noise making meant to impress me but I insulted it!” Hawks covered his mouth and started to laugh. You glared at him, trying to be serious and apologize the right way. And he was just sitting there laughing at you! “Oh man, sorry chicken wing, but I insult you, all the fuckin’ time, and its fun. Watchin’ you get all flustered and angry, I live for it. You shouldn’ feel bad at all to get a couple jabs at me.”

“Shut up you dumbass. Let me speak...” A pout spread across his face and he stared intensely at you, his beautiful golden eyes shaking you up to your core. You rubbed your arm a bit embarrassed, and averted your gaze to the ground. “Considering... everything you’ve just told me. I need to clarify and face my feelings.” His eyes widened and his mouth hung slightly agape, his wings flapping gently in anxiousness. You smiled and pulled him close by the collar of his jacket, pressing a soft kiss to his lips, before pulling away quickly not get him riled up again. “It’s safe to say I only see you, Hawks. And you don’t have to worry about me picking anyone else. You’re my pretty bird. You always have been.”

He sighed in relief and smirked smugly. “I knew you were in love with me, dove. I’m just too irresistible, even for you~”

“Don’t make me change my mind.”

[chierafied]

What Wouldn’t I Do For You

1.7 k words of unproofread randomness because my enablers enabled me.

For @inuvember Day 24, Family.

Kagome had been Inuyasha's best friend since middle school.

By this point, she was like family – except Sesshoumaru's feelings for her hadn't been exactly familial for several years now.

He'd suppressed and hidden those feelings away, refused to acknowledge them.

But much as he loved Rin, she would never have persuaded Sesshoumaru into such ridiculousness if those unwanted, unrequited, inappropriate feelings for his younger half-brother's best friend weren't there.

Of course, while he did not expect anything from Kagome and would never presume to act on those damn inconvenient feelings, with this stunt he would surely ruin all his meagre chances forever.

Rin was five and had recently come to the conclusion that princesses were the best thing ever and that ballet dancers were basically real-life princesses.

The pink tutu Kagome had got Rin for her last birthday was her very favourite thing to wear, and if Rin could decide (and Sesshoumaru was forced to admit to his shame that she got to decide much too often) she would be wearing it and pretending to be a princess ballerina 24/7.

So, it shouldn’t have come as a huge shock to Sesshoumaru, that when he gently suggested to Rin that they should do something nice for Kagome, like buy her a gift and make a nice card, Rin’s thoughts had turned to ballerinas.

Solemnly, she’d informed Sesshoumaru that while gifts and cards were nice, she had something much better in mind.

They should invite Kagome over, Rin had told him. They would do dress up and have a tea party together. And then they would have a special show for Kagome.

Sesshoumaru had his doubts about this entire plan, of course. But then nothing would as effectively take Kagome’s mind off of the loss of her grandfather than a day spent indulging Rin.

Then again, he hadn��t factored in two things when he had given Rin the green light: that he would, himself, have to participate in this “special show”, and that Rin had his wardrobe all ready and picked out for him.

Kagome accepted the invitation gladly.

When the doorbell rang and Rin rushed to the door to let their guest in, Sesshoumaru noted that Kagome’s blue eyes looked bruised, the smile she offered Rin a little hollow.

“Welcome, Kagome-nee-chan!” Rin gushed, fiercely hugging Kagome’s legs.

“Hello, Rin-chan. Thank you so much for inviting me,” Kagome replied, ruffling the girl’s head.

Sesshoumaru stepped forward as Rin sped away towards her room.

He wanted to hug so bad – and for precisely that same reason did not give her one.

“How have you been?” he asked, his low voice laced with concern.

“Not great,” Kagome said, offering another wan smile. “One day at a time, right?”

Sesshoumaru only had time to nod, and then Rin was back.

Beaming, she proffered her favourite plastic tiara to Kagome.

“Here! You’re the princess today!”

That lured a little laugh out of Kagome. “Am I? How wonderful!”

With great care, she placed the tiara on top of her dark hair.

Rin took her hand, reached for Sesshoumaru’s next.

“Let’s play dress up!”

Over her head, Sesshoumaru’s gaze met Kagome’s and he offered her a wry smile. “Let’s.”

* * * * * * * * * * * *

 Losing her grandfather had not come as a huge shock. His health had not been the greatest for a while, and he had been getting on the years. Her whole family had known it was coming, and yet… He had been the first family member she had lost since her father.

So for a while, life had seemed to dull into grey numbness.

When the invitation had arrived, it had shocked a smile out of her.

For one, Kagome had not expected an invitation from Sesshoumaru. Secondly, he had obviously given Rin free hands with it, as the invitation had been pink and decorated with copious amounts of flower stickers and glitter.

The fancy handwriting inviting her to a tea party and a dance recital was all Sesshoumaru’s, though.

Her heart had fluttered with anticipation, for the first time since her world had grown grey.

And so far, Kagome hadn’t been disappointed.

When Rin had offered the pink tutu and feather boa for Sesshoumaru at the very beginning of their dress up game, Kagome hadn’t quite managed to stifle her giggle.

She’d been pleasantly surprised when Sesshoumaru had accepted the items without complaint and put them on. He looked ridiculous, but Kagome’s heart also melted a little at how wonderful he was with Rin, how willing to engage with her and the things she enjoyed.

How many dads played dress up with their daughters?

Besides, Sesshoumaru could make that pink feather boa work.

Grinning from ear to ear, Kagome added her own touch by placing a flower crown on Sesshoumaru’s head, earning a raised eyebrow.

Rin had donned a set of fairy-wings and was now digging through her jewellery box, handing a plethora of bright plastic bead necklaces out to Kagome.

She obediently draped them over her neck.

Kagome found a sparkly scarf which she tied around her neck to serve as a cape. Princesses should have capes.

Then, Rin got out her makeup. All kids stuff, in bright colours. Her brown eyes were dancing with delight and Kagome silently thought that she must be the sweetest kid ever.

Sesshoumaru, however, groaned aloud.

He had good cause, because Rin didn't enthusiastically begin to apply makeup on herself, but focused her efforts on her father.

Kagome slapped a hand over her mouth so as not to laugh outright as Sesshoumaru sat patiently and with only the faintest frown creasing his brow as Rin hummed and smeared lines of magenta red on his cheeks with her chubby fingers.

Mischief sparkled inside Kagome then, and when Rin pulled back, she announced it was her turn, holding her hand out for the makeup palette.

Rin beamed at her as she passed it over.

Sesshoumaru sighed but offered no protest or complaint.

Kagome studied her choices, finally deciding on magenta eyeshadow matching the stripes Rin had drawn.

"Close your eyes," Kagome told Sesshoumaru, scooting closer.

He rolled his eyes first, but did close them, and sat perfectly still while Kagome carefully applied the eyeshadow on him.

"You can open now," she told him once she was done.

Oddly enough, it seemed to suit him, it made his eyes seem a bit lighter, a bit brighter. Like molten pools of gold.

For a moment, they simply stared at one another.

Then, Kagome hastily turned her attention to the makeup palette.

"Now, for a final touch!" she declared, trying for a joke.

She chose another eyeshadow, this one a glittery blue.

On a whim, she traced a crescent moon on Sesshoumaru's forehead, biting her lip in concentration.

“There,” she whispered, leaning back. “Perfect.”

And somehow, it really was.

“Right then,” Sesshoumaru murmured. He slanted a glance at Rin. “I think we’re ready for the tea party.”

 Kagome gushed over the selection of cakes, frosted cupcakes, cookies, ice cream and mochi that Sesshoumaru had ordered while Rin kept pointing out her favourites and insisting that Kagome try everything.

 * * * * * * * * * * * *

Sesshoumaru sat in silence and poured the tea, half-surprised that his hands were steady.

When Kagome had taken over Rin to apply that silly makeup on him, every nerve-ending had suddenly been standing at attention. His heart had raced madly in his chest and for a few critical seconds he had forgotten how to breathe.

She had been right there, in his reach, her fingers warm and soft as they’d danced on his skin.

Somehow, he’d managed to rein in the impulse to lean in, to kiss her.

The tutu and the feather boa had probably helped with that, as it was impossible to forget what a horrid sight he must be.

Sesshoumaru served the tea and even managed a bite of mochi while he listened to Kagome’s and Rin’s chatter, occasionally weighing in on the discussion.

It felt good, to have Kagome here with him and Rin, Sesshoumaru thought, as he watched Kagome brush off a bit of frosting smeared on Rin’s cheek.

It felt right.

If only.

All too soon, however, Rin and Kagome had eaten their fill.

Rin all but glowed with excitement as she turned to Kagome and told her they had prepared a special show for her.

Rin took Kagome’s hand, pulled her along to the living room.

Sesshoumaru trailed after them, resigned to his fate.

All too soon, Kagome was settled on the sofa, looking expectantly at him and Rin.

It was time to dance.

Rin hadn’t laid out any choreography for their grand performance, so Sesshoumaru tried to just imitate his daughter the best he could.

He hopped. He pranced. He twirled.

Perhaps, if Kagome squinted, it might even be called dancing.

Sesshoumaru felt like a prize idiot.

And yet, perhaps, he was an even bigger fool because he did not care.

Not when Kagome was clapping and grinning.

Not while her beautiful laughter rang in the air, sweeter than any sound.

To hear that now, after the grief she still carried within, was worth a hundred pink tutus.

When their dance show wound to its end and Rin dropped into an exaggerated curtsey, Kagome got up to her feet and clapped wildly.

“Bravo! That was amazing!”

They had a little more tea and a few more bites of cake after the dance, and then, finally, came the dreaded hour when Kagome had to leave.

She crouched down and took off the tiara and gave it back to Rin. Then she gave Rin a big hug and thanked her for the invitation.

When Kagome straightened, her eyes met Sesshoumaru’s. She came to him but offered no hugs.

Instead, feather-soft and all too brief, her lips brushed against his cheek.

Sesshoumaru froze.

“Thank you,” Kagome breathed. “This was everything I didn’t know I needed.”

“You’re welcome,” Sesshoumaru replied when he finally found his voice again and remembered how to use it.

“Also,” she added, her blue eyes twinkling, “you look great.”

With one last bright grin, Kagome left.

Sesshoumaru bent to pick up Rin and cradled his daughter in his arms, pressed his nose to the crown of her head.

“Thank you, Rin. Your idea worked really well.”

“We should invite Kagome-nee-chan over again soon,” Rin said, hugging Sesshoumaru.

“That we should,” Sesshoumaru agreed, his heart full.

[ladylynse]

A second part of the ATLA role reversal AU, this one focusing on Sokka training Aang as a thank you to @cakercanart for donating to my ko-fi. You can also find this chapter on FFN and the AO3.

How can someone who isn’t a bender teach water bending?

Atonement (Part I): Sokka wants to make up for his past actions, to join the Gaang, and Azula is having none of it.

-|-

“Ignore them,” Sokka said as Aang looked over his shoulder at the fire bender siblings again; at least the earth bender had gone off…somewhere. He’d lost her quickly in the trees, though she’d picked her way through them without any trouble. “Concentrate on replicating these forms.” Sokka moved his hands in the same fluid motions as before. They were still working on the simplest forms, as Aang had been too distracted to make any progress. He wasn’t just sloppy; he was wrong, and Sokka didn’t need the still bowl of water set between them to know that he wasn’t getting it.

They hadn’t been sitting cross-legged opposite each other for very long, however. Sokka’s legs weren’t aching for movement yet, and it was cool enough in the shade provided by the trees overhead. He could stay like this for hours if he had to.

Aang was already fidgeting, though Sokka knew perfectly well he could sit still if he had to.

The air bender would put on a show of concentrating, even going so far as to stick out his tongue between his teeth and screw up his face, but he seemed to be more focused on the faces he was making than on the forms he was supposed to be replicating.

“Bending is about more than just forms!” hollered Azula from where she sat against a tree not ten feet away.

Not that Sokka possibly had any idea why Aang couldn’t concentrate.

“You need to feel it, and you can’t! Which is why Aang needs a real water bending teacher!”

It certainly couldn’t have anything to do with the judgemental stares and accompanying heckling.

“You might be more successful if you moved to the stream,” observed Zuko. “Perhaps, if he’s immersed in the element—”

“That would just make it more dangerous to the rest of us,” Sokka snapped, finally acknowledging the two of them. “Besides, I highly doubt your method of teaching fire bending had you throwing him into an inferno.”

“Well, they did,” Aang said, sounding entirely too cheerful about that memory, “but not before they thought I was ready. Toph’s the one who nearly ran me over with a boulder.”

He was grinning.

Sokka had no idea how he could be grinning.

Years of searching for the Avatar had formed a solid idea in his mind of who the Avatar was—which had promptly shattered once he’d found the kid. Because Aang was a kid, younger than both Sokka and Katara. Besides, even when they’d been Aang’s age, they hadn’t acted it, at least not in public. It wouldn’t have been proper. Aang? More often than not, Aang did act his age—unless you counted the years he’d been in stasis as part of his age. Sokka had seen him act that age, too, and it was far more disconcerting, but that was more in line with what he’d expected from the Avatar.

This Avatar, however, had quickly gotten bored of Sokka sketching out the forms in the forest detritus with a stick and had instead started drawing stick figures of all of them. Flattered as Sokka had been to be included in the group so easily, he was not impressed that Aang had apparently stopped paying attention to him almost immediately. That was the primary reason he’d emptied his waterskin into a bowl and started demonstrating the simplest forms for Aang. He seemed to learn better by doing than anything else.

Unfortunately, that was when Azula and Zuko had decided to join them, each picking a tree to recline against while offering unwanted commentary.

While Zuko’s suggestion of the stream wasn’t a bad idea, per se, as it was one Sokka had considered himself, it was clear enough that Zuko hadn’t thought the suggestion through. Water might not be as obviously dangerous as fire, but it was still dangerous. They should know that as well as he did. He hadn’t been sure if Aang would have an infinity for water, and someone with a great deal of power and very little control was not—

“Look, look, I’m doing it!”

Sokka blinked.

A tiny waterspout had formed over the bowl.

“That’s air bending,” he said, causing Aang to let it collapse with a huff. “Twisting your own element around the water doesn’t make it water bending.”

“But I know what water benders can do,” Aang complained, “and they don’t just—” He made a crude slicing motion with one hand.

The water in the bowl didn’t react, all its ripples merely remnants from the earlier disturbance.

“Water flows,” Sokka said. “Like air. You still need fluidity in your motions.”

“Can’t you teach me more complex forms? That’s probably why I can’t get this. Because it’s too simple. I mean, if it is like air bending, then I should be able to get my whole body into it, right, and that’ll make it work better.”

Sokka let out a slow breath through his teeth and kept his voice low in a futile attempt to give the fire benders less fuel for their inevitable criticism. “Is that how you learned the other elements? By jumping right in over your head?”

“Well, no, but—”

“You can’t do that here, either. There might be similarities, but you can’t treat water bending like air bending. They’re not the same.”

“You just said they’re like each other!”

“You really did,” called Azula. “We all heard that, non bender boy.”

“Having more similarities to air than to earth doesn’t mean water isn’t its own element,” Sokka said with a glare in Azula’s direction. He hesitated for a moment, looked at Aang’s crestfallen face, and made his decision.

“What are you doing?” Aang asked as he stood and flung the contents of the bowl in the general direction of the fire benders. He was rewarded with twin squawks of surprise, but they were far enough away to just get a spray rather than anything satisfyingly substantially wet.

“Come with me,” Sokka said. He tucked the bowl back into his pack and strode toward the clearing where they’d camped last night. It was near the stream but not near enough to give Zuko any gloating rights. “I want you to show me how air benders move.”

“You know how I move,” Aang said as he hopped up to follow. Unfortunately, Sokka saw the fire benders rise as well. “I mean. We have fought. A lot. It’s not like you haven’t seen me air bend.”

“Humour me.”

Aang shrugged but skipped ahead without protest, guessing their destination when Sokka didn’t call out to correct his direction. For someone carrying so much responsibility on their shoulders, he could appear remarkably carefree. Sokka envied that, though he wasn’t about to admit it. He liked joking around, but he rarely had an opportunity to do that anymore. Katara didn’t mind it much in private, whatever she pretended, but it was heavily frowned upon in public. Even now, Sokka wasn’t convinced the Fire siblings could take a joke from him, Azula especially, and in the years since he’d been off searching for the Avatar in an attempt to crush the threat before it came to crush them, well….

He hadn’t had the opportunity to be himself for a while.

Aang, it seemed, had never stopped being himself.

Before they even got to the clearing, Aang had formed a spinning bubble of air and was bouncing off the last of the trees. As Sokka reached the edge and dropped his pack, Aang used one of Toph’s stone tents like a ramp and shot off the top before letting the ball of air dissipate. Using his momentum, he spun like a leaf and sent a powerful rush of wind towards Sokka that nearly knocked him off his feet. The acrobatics continued, Aang being very careful not to disturb Appa further after the bison lowed a sleepy protest at being blasted by the wind.

Predictably, Aang finished with a flourish, alighting on the tip of Toph’s tent and giving an exaggerated bow.

“Yeah, you’re making great strides at teaching him water bending, aren’t you?” Azula said from his left. Zuko snorted but thankfully didn’t comment.

“He needs to see the differences for himself.”

“And how are you going to show him those differences when you can’t bend?”

“Azula—”

“Watch,” Sokka said sharply, not caring that he cut off Zuko’s defence. That wouldn’t silence Azula. This…. This might not silence her, either, but it might at least earn him enough of her silence to give him a chance to teach Aang something.

Sokka stepped into the clearing and flowed.

He’d grown up surrounded by water in all her forms. He knew her scalding touch as well as her frigid bite. He knew how she could rage and how she could laugh. He knew what it was like to be completely at her mercy, and he knew how to steer her towards the end he wanted.

He had never danced with her like his younger sister had danced with her, but he knew the motions that the masters used to sculpt her into their weapons. What he was doing now was far less impressive than it would be if he were working with water, but his audience was made up of benders; they would have some sense of the power and intent behind his actions, even if their elements were different.

Besides, whatever Azula believed, he knew the mindset that was needed for water bending.

Too gentle a touch, and she would gleefully overwhelm and swallow you, trying to drown you in her depths. Too harsh and demanding, and she would balk and become as immovable as the ice shelf itself. Working with water required a partnership like the sea had with the moon. If you were careless, you’d exhaust yourself over something that should be simple, and any attempt to force a form would fail miserably. If you didn’t trust her, didn’t trust yourself, you were as likely to find your trap falling flat as you were to be caught in it.

He wasn’t sure how to convey to Aang that working with water would require him to surrender himself to the current so that he could learn to guide himself along and work with it rather than fighting it every step of the way, as he seemed to be doing now. If nothing else, this demonstration of the difference in styles should drive home Sokka’s point that water bending, while fluid, was hardly the same as air.

Anyway, Aang had asked to see some more advanced forms, even if Sokka wasn’t moving slowly enough for him to learn any of them.

They could float leaf boats on the stream after this, and he could try to explain about the currents then.

He finally stopped opposite Aang, breathing a mite heavier than he ought to be, even though it had been years since he’d run through this entire sequence.

Once it had become clear that he wasn’t a bender, his practice of the forms—even under the guise of exercise—had been frowned upon. His time was much better spent learning other things, military tactics included, and practicing moves and training muscles as he would ultimately use them in battle. He was not his sister. He didn’t need to have every step of the water bending forms perfect. His talents lay elsewhere.

Katara had excelled under her tutelage, and Sokka had been kept busy enough with his own classes, so he hadn’t been able to watch Katara train as often as he would have liked. He’d learned more from watching her and the other masters in action. He knew the breadth of their skills—he needed to know as much to know how best to use them—but while he knew the rain could be stilled and turned into sharpened daggers, for instance, he did not know the exact combination of forms required to do that. He could guess, based on the breakdown of the motions he knew and how the water reacted, but he could not do that for every outcome. Besides, there was far too much flexibility of the potential motions involved for him to have any certainty, as more than one combination could have the desired effect.

Ultimately, Aang would have to learn from experimentation—and, if Sokka managed to teach him anything, intuition. Water was a very intuitive element, as Aang would realize once he stopped trying to force it to move the way he wanted it to. Like a river took the path of least resistance, the simplest combination of forms was more effective and efficient than a complicated set that led to the same end. Aang would fight better if he learned to bend water even half as intuitively as he did air, and he’d need that to face Katara.

Aang grinned down at him. “That was awesome!” he said as he jumped lightly to the ground. Sokka could hear Azula muttering that she wasn’t impressed, but she wasn’t saying that louder, which had to mean she was, at least a little bit. “Are you going to show me how to do that now?”

Sokka picked up his pack and reached for his waterskin, only remembering it was empty once he held it. “Let’s head to the stream for now.”

“So you are taking my suggestion?” Zuko murmured, a smirk on his face. Sokka rolled his eyes and held up the empty waterskin.

It was snatched out of his hand a split second later by a chittering Momo, who had it halfway up a tree before Sokka could blink.

“It’s empty,” he said as the winged lemur uncapped it and held it over its mouth, waiting for the last drops to fall.

“What do water benders do when they run out of water?” Aang asked as Momo frowned at the waterskin and threw it down at them. Sokka ducked, but it still took him in the head. He scowled, and Momo dashed back the way they’d come, presumably to steal someone else’s waterskin. “What if what they had is used up and there isn’t any water nearby? If they’re somewhere really dry and they had to drink the last of their water or something like that?”

Sokka rubbed the top of his head with one hand and slipped the waterskin back into his pack with the other. Any anger he might have felt towards Momo drained away at Aang’s question, as it reminded him of the fact that he hadn’t seen all the horrors of which the Water Tribe was capable. He must think blood bending was the worst of it, and blood bending was terrifying, but it wasn’t the only thing water benders could do.

“If you’re lucky,” Zuko said before Sokka could decide how to answer the question, “they’ll pull a weapon and fight like any other non bender.”

“If you’re not,” Azula said tersely, “and they’re skilled enough, they’ll take it from you. Or another living thing, if they want to torture you first. Unless they’re entirely alone in the middle of a desert, they’re not without water.”

“Oh. That’s….” Aang trailed off and looked at Sokka, maybe hoping he’d say the Fire siblings were wrong, but he couldn’t.

Chances were, they’d seen what was left behind after a water bender had done that. Sokka certainly had, and even he didn’t like it.

Instead, he picked up his pace and started telling Aang about the currents, trying to relate them to the element of air and hoping that would snap Aang out of it, but Aang’s troubled expression made it clear he wasn’t listening.

No doubt, he was thinking about how water was the lifeblood of all the living things around them, and if Sokka couldn’t distract him, he’d think too much on the sickening feeling of seeing it drained—or worse, doing the draining—and that would only make him more reluctant to learn how to wield water as a weapon.

But maybe that was the trouble.

Sokka was trying to show him how water could be used as a weapon, but it wasn’t only a weapon. It could shield as easily as slice. He admittedly didn’t know the intricacies of it, but it could heal as well as hurt. And it could bring delight as readily as destruction; upon learning to control multiple droplets, the youngest water benders—Katara included, when she’d first found her bending—would invariably decide to throw up a spray of water into the sunlight to create a rainbow, and peals of joy were always the result.

He missed those days.

“None of the elements are one-sided,” Sokka said, touching Aang’s arm briefly to make sure he had his attention. “None of them are inherently good or bad.” Yes, a water bender could pull water from any living thing—but an air bender was no different. Aang could pull Sokka’s breath from his body if he wanted to. He wouldn’t, but he could. Sokka wasn’t going to say that, though, because Aang would be horrified by the suggestion, and he wouldn’t win any favours from the fire benders for thinking of the possibility. “What you intend to do when you bend will influence the outcome as much as anything. You balance them all as the Avatar, but there’s a balance within each of them as well.”

“I’m trying not to hurt people,” Aang insisted, perhaps thinking that Sokka was implying that he was doing more harm than good with his bending. “I don’t want to. I just…. I know there have been some accidents, but I’ve been trying.”

Sokka glanced at Azula and Zuko, raising his eyebrows just a hair, as he would hardly call the amount of destruction the group had left behind accidental. It was one of the reasons they’d been relatively easy to find and follow, at least off the start. It might not happen as frequently as it once had, but it certainly still happened.

Zuko looked away, but Azula met his gaze steadily.

At least, she did until he tripped over a tree root and found himself spitting rotting leaves out of his mouth, and then she laughed at him along with the others.

Sokka picked a twig out of his hair and stood to brush off his clothes. Leaves and burrs and dirt and— He paused, plucked up a mostly-intact leaf, and straightened up. The others were giving him questioning looks as he tried to balance the leaf on the edge of the stick, and they erupted into the giggles and snorts when he was unsuccessful. Repeatedly. He wound up laughing too much to get manage it, and they were still chuckling when they reached the stream, but he pulled out his boomerang to make his point anyway.

He dropped his pack and sat down on the edge of the stream. They followed suit, Aang jumping to the opposite bank first while Azula and Zuko stayed on this one with him. He balanced the twig on the side of the boomerang, with much more success than he’d had with the leaf. And then, even as they were asking him what he was doing, he scrapped the edge of the twig along the boomerang just enough to scar the bark, and then snapped a bit off the end and tried to balance it again. It wouldn’t balance in the same spot it had before, as he’d known it wouldn’t, so he adjusted it accordingly.

“See?” he said, even though it was clear from the looks he was getting that none of them understood what he was trying to do. “It wouldn’t balance where it did before. It’s changed, and I needed to move it so it would balance again. People are like this twig. Everyone is different, and sometimes they change so that they’re different from who they used to be. They have to find their own balance.”

Azula snorted. “You couldn’t think of a better way to try to explain that?”

“I don’t hear you coming up with any grand suggestions here.”

“You’d need to make sense before I could try.”

“Or you could listen to him and let him finish explaining things before you interrupt,” Zuko pointed out as Sokka tossed the twig to the current and put his boomerang away.

Azula made a face, somehow managing to look incredulous while scowling at her brother. “He did finish. He just finished poorly.”

“It wasn’t that bad of an explanation,” Aang started, but Azula cut off the rest of his feeble defence, assuring him that it was.

“You two hanging around isn’t helping either of us concentrate,” Sokka retorted. “Why didn’t you go with Toph?”

“Because we can’t break into that new earth bent bunker she sensed and see if there are any supplies left.”

“You could’ve helped her carry stuff!”

“What, you think I can’t carry stuff by myself?”

Sokka blinked. “How long has she been standing behind me?”

“Long enough that I’m surprised you didn’t notice, Twiggy.”

Sokka winced, and not just because there was a heavy thud behind him. He turned to see a slab of stone heaped with a mishmash of materials sitting on the bank behind Toph. He couldn’t make out much, but from what he did see, there wasn’t any food, which was unfortunate but understandable. The rope might not be any good, but she’d found it, and if they looked over what else she’d found, some of it might be salvageable. Anything was better than nothing, really. They were sorely unprepared to face his sister at the moment.

“How goes the water bending?” she continued as she sat down beside him. “Swimmingly?”

“More like glacial,” Sokka admitted. He cupped his hands and drank from the stream, wondering if they should try a few more forms or if they should skip straight to the leaf boats.

“Have you tried throwing Aang into the water?”

“Hey!”

“I suggested that, but he didn’t like the idea,” Zuko said, nodding at Sokka.

“We could really do without the audience,” Sokka said, hoping Toph would take the hint.

Judging by the smirk that spread across her face as she shifted position, she knew exactly what the hint was supposed to be and deliberately ignored it. “Too bad you’ve got one, then.”

Sokka sighed. “On your feet, Aang. I’ll show you one of the first things every water bender learns.”

“What, how to make an ice dagger to stick through someone’s heart? I think Aang can do without learning that.”

Sokka spun on Azula. “I just told you guys that none of the elements are inherently bad. That includes water and water benders!”

“She didn’t mean it,” Aang said. “Right?”

Azula shrugged, but when Zuko elbowed her, she muttered an apology.

Sokka ignored them and turned back to Aang, demonstrating the form and explaining how it called up the water as a simple globe to start, though it could be refined to multiple droplets with practice if so desired.

While Aang was frowning at him, Sokka demonstrated how non benders did it—and splashed him.

Judging by the way Toph had cracked up as he’d knelt to scoop up the water, she’d known exactly what he’d been about to do.

She splashed him before Aang had the chance to retaliate.

The ensuing water fight quickly involved all of them. No one was bending at first, but Toph was the first to cheat, shielding herself with the ground, and the others followed suit. It didn’t take long before all of them were soaked and laughing.

At some point in the midst of it all, Aang let out a shout that had them stop in place, slowly dripping as they watched him juggle a wobbly ball of water.

Maybe immersing him in the element hadn’t been a bad idea after all.

It was just a start, but a start was all Sokka had needed. He could help Aang get this. He could help the Avatar—and, ultimately, he could help the Water Tribe.

Even if it did mean going against Katara.

(see more fics)

[cto10121]

Why Does the Nurse Prefer Paris to Romeo?

After she returns from meeting Romeo, and Juliet desperately asks her what he said about their marriage, the Nurse goes into this humorous but very telling speech:

Nurse. Well, you have made a simple choice. You know not how to choose a man. Romeo? No, not he. Though his face be better than any man’s, yet his leg excels all men’s, and for a hand and a foot, and a body, though they be not to be talked on, yet they are past compare. He is not the flower of courtesy, but I’ll warrant him as gentle as a lamb. Go thy ways, wench. Serve God.

I find this fascinating.

Notice how the Nurse doesn’t really say why Romeo is the dumb choice, or what her problem with him is, but goes into another one of her comic desultory ramblings, this time on Romeo’s hotness that seems to undermine her assertion. The only true criticism or justification she offers is merely that “He is not the flower of courtesy,” and even that is mitigated by a compliment to Romeo’s character (“as gentle as a lamb”). While this is obvious foreshadowing for the Nurse’s betrayal of Juliet and her “Romeo is a dishclout to [Paris]” line, she never offers a good explanation as to why she thinks Romeo isn’t good enough for Juliet, and that she could do better. By contrast, she praises Paris and tells Juliet no less than three times in that same speech that he is better than Romeo.

It’s particularly noteworthy since in the Act 2, Scene 4 scene when they meet, it’s clear that the Nurse likes Romeo. She laughs at and appreciates his roasting Mercutio (“Marry, well said!”). Despite the fact that he is clearly friends with Mercutio et al. who mock her shamelessly, she is unfailingly polite (“Pray you, sir, a word”) and nice, as if she considers him different from the rest. Her warning to him not to toy with Juliet’s feelings is clearly a pre-made speech she would have given anyway. She feels comfortable enough to go on her ramblings—even telling him about Paris and how Juliet hates him and how she ~mysteriously blanches when she tells her Paris is better! So what’s with the sudden Team Paris stuff?

Well, I have my theories, and they may even shed some light not only as to the purpose of this little speech, but what it reveals about the Nurse’s character and her role, ultimately, as Juliet’s foil, in similar ways Mercutio acts as Romeo’s. So let’s speculate.

Theory 1: The Nurse Thinks Romeo Is Too Callow/Immature

While the Nurse clearly doesn’t hold the mockery of hi Romeo’s wily friends against him, she still caught Romeo in his male camaraderie and may have concluded that Romeo, while better than those “scurvy knaves,” is still a callow youth, wet behind the ears. That would explain the use of “simple” (meaning dumb) instead of just “wrong.” She is shocked that he was capable of killing Tybalt (although to her view she would have assumed it had been in cold blood). She isn’t all surprised to see him weeping disconsolately on the floor of the Friar’s cell (although that is because Juliet is doing the exact same thing, and she says so). She also—tellingly—tells him to stand up and “be a man,” so she obviously has bought into the cultural notion of masculinity that does not allow the free expression of excessive emotion from men. Paris is much more self-possessed and composed, even while he’s mourning Juliet, and older besides; that may be enough to prefer him for Juliet, especially if the Nurse thinks a mature man can help Juliet adjust through the trials of marriage and motherhood better.

Against this, however, is the Nurse’s description of Romeo as a dishclout (dishrag) to Paris’ “eagle.” If Romeo’s supposed immaturity was her main objection to him, then she would have said a baby eagle or some equivalent animal or object associated with youth—small, weak, and mewling. Also, Juliet may be smart, but she is still 13. The Nurse no doubt lowkey sees her as still a little girl herself, one she personally raised, so thinking Romeo is too immature for her makes little sense. They both behave in similar ways. Romeo also consistently reads older by at least 3-4 years and his behavior in his play does not mark him as any less mature than his friends or Tybalt—or, frankly, most of the adults in this play.

Theory 2: The Nurse Prefers Paris Because He Is of a Higher Social Rank/Wealthier Than Romeo

Paris is kinsman to the Prince, and Romeo is the heir of Montague; it’s a no-brainer which one has the higher rank. Paris also reads as an older man, though he too dies with the rest of the youths of the play (there is some ambiguity definitely re: his age). The Nurse seems to have some materialistic leanings, as when she rather gleefully tells Romeo at the Capulet ball: “I tell you, he that can lay a hold of her / Shall have the chinks” and social climbing tendencies as when she gives herself airs in front of Mercutio et al. and tells Peter to hand over her fan. She makes only a token resistance to Romeo’s coin offer and accepts it immediately at his mild insistence. There are definite classist vibes in her “Romeo’s a dishclout compared to [Paris]” line. A rag is a low, plain/ugly, used, faded, common item; an eagle is a noble animal that soars the skies. It may emphasize the Nurse’s belief that Romeo is dime-a-dozen in terms of youths go, and that Paris is “rare.”

Against this, however, is the fact that the Nurse doesn’t bring up materialistic or mercenary considerations in her marry-Paris speech even though it would have been apropos. Also, the social difference between Romeo and Paris is probably not even significant; Romeo was able to be friends with Mercutio, also PE’s kinsman, with no trouble, after all. Romeo is the heir of Montague, a family of the same social class with Juliet’s; while the family’s fortunes would not drastically improve, there would be no social shame in a match, and in fact the Friar counts on it in his plans. Paris would be a much nicer match, of course, but not one to overthrow all consideration of Juliet’s feelings. If the Nurse did have class considerations, they must have been unconscious ones. This is an English play, after all, by an English writer writing a lower class character; class is never far behind.

Theory 3: The Nurse Thinks Paris Is Hotter Than Romeo (and Hotter=Better)

The first half at least is definitely canon. The Nurse consistently raises up the question of Romeo’s hotness vis-à-vis Paris. On one side, Paris is consistently her favorite, the one that “excels” Romeo, the one she has stated more than once that she prefers. “An eagle” doesn’t have “so fair an eye” as Paris, and Romeo’s the “dishclout.” Paris is the flower of Verona, Paris is a man of wax, etc. The very first thing she says after telling Juliet that she thinks it’s best to marry Paris is that he is a “lovely gentleman” (although that could also easily refer to his personality).

On the other hand, the Nurse explicitly says that Romeo’s face “be better than any man’s.” (Even better than Paris’? ~Surely not). It is the Nurse, not Juliet, who lewdly blazons Romeo’s body parts; Juliet, even at her most horny in “Gallop apace,” never talks about Romeo in this way. It’s as if the Nurse views the Romeo-Juliet-Paris drama as a YA novel and she is the fangirl resolutely on #TeamParis, writing steadily long meta rants on Tumblr about how Paris is the sophisticated/more mature/nicer option and Romeo is the mediocre/basic/nice guy—all the while writing R/J fanfic because hey, Romeo is super hot too.

Considering the Nurse’s obsession with these men’s looks and physical beauty, she would prefer the one who is most handsome for Juliet or who she thinks is the most handsome. How she eventually did settle firmly on the Team Paris camp is uncertain, since a furious Juliet rages on how she hypocritically trashed Romeo even when she had “praised him with above compare / So many thousand times?” Juliet may have been exaggerating the number in her hurt and betrayal, but we literally do see the Nurse liking Romeo physically—explicitly so in ways she doesn’t do with Paris—and personally. Perhaps her likening Romeo to a dishclout compared to Paris was an exaggerated, blunt way to persuade Juliet to drop him. Conversely, she could have just been humoring Juliet when she praised Romeo “with above compare,” just as she might have been hastily placating Juliet when, in her marry-Paris speech, she says, “O he [Paris] is a lovely gentleman!”

In any case, the Nurse’s valuing physical beauty shows her shallowness, which is part-and-parcel to her role as Juliet’s foil. Notice how Juliet doesn’t go into detail as to Romeo’s appearance and neither does Romeo for Juliet. This is partially logistical, as Shakespeare, being trained for the theater, learned to avoid specifying character appearance. But the absence also indicates that R&J’s love are not based on trivial details such as hair or eye color, much less body type. They obviously find each other physically attractive, but it’s more what they mean to each other. The Nurse doesn’t understand that, and Juliet’s irritation and impatience when she goes on a tangent on Romeo’s excelling leg: “But all of this I have known before.” Yes, my Romeo is hot and the sky is blue, can we move on?

Which Theory?

Barring more information from the text, I feel Theory 3 is the most supported and the most likely, although 1 and 2 have their strong points. A little bit of all three wouldn’t be out of the question. The main problem is that the Nurse doesn’t bring up potential valid objections, like Romeo’s killing Tybalt (!!), which Presgurvic’s RetJ did, only the logistical difficulty of Romeo being in Mantua and Juliet in Verona “and [her] no use of him” in the sense that Juliet can’t enjoy Romeo sexually. The emotional callousness the Nurse displays here is part-and-parcel with the Capulets’ overall emotional callousness and shallowness, especially towards Tybalt’s death (see Capulet’s “Well, we are all born to die”—compare that to Romeo’s genuinely regretful, “Forgive me, cousin” speech to Tybalt’s tomb).

In that sense the Nurse’s emotional shallowness is obviously meant to contrast with Juliet’s love and commitment to Romeo and even her lewd praise of him contrast with Juliet’s rapturous praise.

In sum: While the Nurse is much more supportive of R&J than the Friar, she prefers Paris and not only doesn’t hesitate to tell Juliet of it, it also informs her advising Juliet to marry Paris. This creates a bit of a mystery since she never goes into any explanation as to why she prefers Paris or even why Romeo would make a poor choice. Most likely she is just playing YA love triangle games and going back and forth as to which one is hotter/which one Juliet should date (the verdict? Team Paris).

(P.S. Another, slightly nerdy addition—on the Nurse’s “He is not the flower of courtesy, but I’ll warrant him as a gentle as a lamb.” Gentle in Shakespeare is almost always used in the sense of being well-regarded, honorable, virtuous, or simply having the qualities of a gentleman. The Nurse’s use of it to mean “soft or sweet” is the first time I’ve seen Shakespeare employ the word in the modern sense. To make absolutely sure, I checked David and Ben Crystal’s Shakespeare’s Words: A Glossary and Language Companion, and sure enough there was no definition close to “soft/kind/sweet” under the gentle entries (noun, verb, adjective). It could be that this was a small oversight and the dictionary has been updated since then, but the entries looked comprehensive enough. It certainly wouldn’t be the first time Shakespeare employed a word in what we would recognize as its modern sense. (Any Shakespearean nut remembers any other time Shakespeare uses gentle in the modern sense? Hit me up if you find anything.)

Anyway, my personal headcanon is that the modern sense of the word could have been extant, if not widely used, a sort of slang that a lower-class character like the Nurse, when she is not putting on airs, would employ. If so, perhaps Shakespeare could have intended a small malapropism (the Nurse commits many of them) his mainstream audience would find amusing. Because of course, if Romeo were gentle, lamblike or not, then he would de facto be courteous—a key part of gentility is courtesy! So it would seem, to Elizabethan audiences, that the Nurse, in employing some peasant slang, accidentally employs a ridiculous contradiction. Cue laughter—oh that Nurse!

As for “gentle as a lamb”…Romeo is indeed lovely and sweet to Juliet and even his Mercutio roasts are more fond than cutting, but while he is patient and considerate with the Nurse—he insists on giving her some coin for her trouble—he reads mostly bemused by her. Not so much “gentle” in the modern sense of the word. But the Nurse herself is not very observant nor very emotionally perceptive, so it lends a little more credence to Theory 1 in that she thinks of Romeo as just a kid, nothing more.)

[obx-saltlife]

Can’t Quit You

gif credit goes to always awesome @ptersparkers​ This came outta nowhere, tbh. I was thinking about the fake dating trope and it kind of evolved into this. I kind of wish I had enough to make it a longer thing but I think I’m gonna leave it as it is for now. Warnings: Smut, obviously. Fluff, if you squint. But like, really squint. Oral sex (female receiving) and dirty talk, I guess. If you’re not comfortable, don’t read, etc etc etc. Ward is strange and I don’t know how to write him. Word count: 2.5K+ Rafe x Reader smut.

Was this actually real fucking life?

It couldn’t be. Not really.

It couldn’t be that you were here, in a car with Rafe and Wheezie, heading to The Island Club for the annual Midsummer’s party. When Rafe had come to you to ask about it, you thought he was certifiably insane. You guys had broken up almost two months ago, after a screaming match where you both said less than desirable things about one another; things you weren’t so sure you’d ever come back from. It had been extremely awkward seeing as you saw each other around the island often, not to mention Sarah was one of your closest friends.

You had both only very recently started talking to each other again, at least in a civil manner. And really, mostly because you had recently started making appearances at the Cameron house again. Never mind asking each other for favors, that was definitely new in this new dynamic between you. And wasn’t that exactly what this was, just a favor? When Rafe had stopped by your house one night, waiting for you on the porch as you stumbled home from drinking with Sarah, John B. and the rest of their crew. He had looked so sincere; it threw you off balance for a moment.

“Listen, I know I have no right to...or…fuck me, I need you to…” he ran his hands through his hair, making you notice the lack of hair gel in it and how long it had gotten. He continued running a hand over his face and growled deep in his throat before you put your hand on his shoulder and he began to calm down.

“Just ask whatever you want to ask, Rafe,” you said softly, your buzz still flowing through you body as you made polite conversation with him for the first time since your big blow-up. You sat beside him on your porch at 2AM and listened to what he had to say.

“Midsummer’s is coming up and Ward wants all of us to show up as some big happy fucking family because he’s getting an award or something and if I show up alone it’s just another reminder that I’m the family fuck-up and it’s gonna be a fucking wreck…because I haven’t really told anyone that we’ve broken up, except I guess Sarah knows but she hasn’t said anything so I’ve kind of just let it go…and well, Ward and Rose like you, and I told them…Can you come with me? I’ll do whatever you fucking want. Whatever it takes…give you head for hours…I’ll let you use those handcuffs on me…I’ll-“ you laugh and put your hand over his mouth to stop his rambling.

“I’ll come. Of course I’ll come.” You said, taking your hand way. “I wouldn’t want to disappoint Ward,” you added with an eye-roll, really meant to be sarcastic but you know how hard he took Ward’s criticism and even if you had ended things with Rafe he didn’t deserve half of the shit he got from his father.

And now, now you were on your way, in a fancy dress with you hair done and your makeup done as good as it was going to get with the humidity and the summer heat. You felt a little awkward that Wheezie had decided to hop in Rafe’s truck with the both of you. She kept throwing you and Rafe looks from the back seat as if something sketchy was going on.

Walking in to the party, it was just like any other Island Club party you’d ever been to with Rafe. Various Cameron Family friends nursed drinks as they nibbled on expensive hors d’oeuvres being passed around. You’d never actually been to a Midsummer’s party though; you hadn’t been officially together with Rafe for last year’s so you relished in the fact that everyone was dressed up to the nines and enjoyed the fancy party.

Food at these kinds of Island Club parties was legendary. They obviously didn’t scrimp when it came to food choices. You were just about to grab another amazing little puff pastry filled with something you weren’t sure what it was (but you were also not going to ask) when you felt Rafe’s hand on your lower back as he stepped up beside you.

He looked fucking good in his suit, you couldn’t lie. You smiled up at him and reached up to straighten his bowtie. “Having fun?” you asked, feeling the tension radiating off of him. His fingers dug into your skin and he looked around. You definitely knew that look.

“Yeah…no…fuck no-“ he said, looking down at you. “I’m sorry I asked you to do this, it’s so pointless. No matter what I do-“

You didn’t have to look over to know that Ward had walked up to both of you.

“Jesus, Rafe. Can’t you stay away from the bar for fifteen minutes?” You both turned to see Ward’s face pulled in tight. You felt Rafe tense beside you.

“Nice you see you again, Mr. Cameron.” You offered with a small smile, trying to difuse the tension and shaking his hand lightly.

“And what have I told you about calling me Mr. Cameron? Ward is just fine.” He smiles aggressively at you before you stepped back and grabbed Rafe’s hand in yours, giving it a small squeeze.

“Hey Dad, ready to go talk to the Walkers about that deal?” Rafe slid his other hand into his pocket and nodded his head at his father.

“Yeah, glad you and your date could make it out tonight, it’s an important night for the family.” Ward chuckled softly.

“Oh! That reminds me…” You said, shaking your head. You tossed back the champagne flute you were holding before handing the empty glass to Rafe and reaching into your small bag.

“I forgot I was holding on to this,” you added, pulling out a small card and an even smaller velvet drawstring bag. “My grandmother said Knights of the Rhododendron used to pin these to their lapels when she was a member here. Nobody in my family’s going to use it so…just a gift from Rafe and I, I guess.” You said, handing the small bag over to Ward.

Rafe looked at you questioningly but you just shook your head as Ward opened the card and then the small little pouch. Inside, a small, silver, leafy-flower shaped pin. “Thought you might like something, other than that big medal to go with the honor tonight. I should’ve given it to you before walking in but I forgot.”

“Wow, this is great! Rafe, you think you can help me pin it on?” He demanded, handing Rafe the pin and pointing the left side of his chest towards his son. Rafe pinned it on his lapel before stepping back. “Glad you understand how important tonight is, son. This is a great gift.”

“Yeah…yeah, of course.” Rafe swallowed, looking down at you. You looked up at him, flashing him a cute smile and a wink. He leaned down and pressed a quick kiss to your lips, grateful that you played along and didn’t act as surprised as he felt he was acting right then and there.

“Well, make sure you keep this one, Rafe. She’s good for you. I like her better than the revolving door of girls you keep trying to bring around.” Ward said before waving at someone in the crowd. You didn’t really know what to make of his statement and if you were confused, you knew Rafe was too. Ward was very strange; you didn’t really know how to act around him half the time. But it was important that you stepped it up tonight, even for Rafe’s sake.

“Excuse me, you two, come by our table later, I’d like to introduce you to some people Rafe.” He added before walking away.

“That was a fucking beast move you pulled there”, he said looking down at you. “You really thought of everything, didn’t you?”

“I figured a little sweet-talking wouldn’t hurt. Plus it was true; nobody in my family was going to use that. I saw it on the mantel and figured to put it to use. I knew he’d eat that shit up.”

“You really saved my ass. Listen...-“

��Rafe!” Topper interrupted whatever he was about to say. “Come check this out, bro!”

“You better go before he does something dumb.”

“Can we talk later?”

“Rafe!”

“Of course, Rafe. Go!” You said with a laugh and pushed him towards his friend with a laugh. He gave an exaggerated sigh and went, leaving you with tingling lips and something resembling desire pooling in the pit of your stomach.

You watched Rafe with his friends. Topper and Kelce pulling him along as he laughed with them. You shook your head, smiling, glad to see him have a semblance of happiness in his life. Why was it that at that very moment, you couldn’t remember for the life of you, why you had ended thing with Rafe?

Why was it, that all you could think about was his lips on yours? If you were going to make it through the rest of the night you really had to stop thinking about that. You shook your head and headed for the bathroom to splash some cold water on your face.

Fixing your lipstick in the mirror, you heard the door open and close and looked over, surprised to find Rafe.

“Did you know you’re in the wrong room?” You asked with a laugh as you put your lipstick back in your purse. Rafe walked over and pushed each bathroom stall door open before going back to the restroom door and locking it before crossing the small distance towards you in three long strides. He grabbed your face in his hands and leaned down; pressing his lips to yours in a passionate mix of want and need.

You breathed a sigh when he pulled away breathless, lips swollen. “Rafe…”

“God, that was fucking sexy, you know…” he asks, his hands running down your sides, stopping at your hips. He lifted you and placed you on the small vanity table you could always find in fancy hotel bathrooms.

“You show up, looking like a whole ass fucking meal. You impress everyone I give remotely two shits about.” He starts murmuring, placing kisses against your throat, his hands coming up to pull some of the fancy pins out of your hair.

“I’ve been half hard all night long and I can’t do this anymore.” He pulls back to look down at you, bunching up your dress at your hips and revealing the lace pair of panties you’re wearing.

“Now,” he starts, sinking down to his knees, lifting your legs and hooking them over his shoulders. “You can say no, if you want.” He said, as he started peppering soft kisses along your thigh. “But I actually think I might die if I don’t get to eat your pretty little pussy right now.” His eyes searched yours for a yes or a definite no. You lick your lips, no use in denying how wet you already are as you nod at him, giving him the full go ahead.

“Thank fucking god”, he groans as he tests a lick over your panty-covered slit. His hands flutter for a moment before he shrugs and rips at the lacy material at your hips, letting it fall to shreds on the table. “Don’t even – I’ll buy you another fucking pair, don’t get mad.” He said before he buries his face between your legs.

Rafe’s large tongue licks straight up your slit, collecting your sweet slick with a groan. A gasp falls from your lips, feeling his lips vibrate with the sound. Your fingers go straight into his hair, holding him in place. How was it even possible that you’d forgotten how good he was with his tongue?

“God, you taste so fucking good, pretty girl.” Rafe moaned, smirking up at you, sucking two of his fingers for a hot minute before pressing them into you. Your hips push towards him as you clench around his fingers, feeling delightfully good but not quite full.

“Do you feel that? Feel how much your tight little cunt wants this?” He asked, his other hand, pulling your lower lips apart so he can see his fingers pushing in and out of you. “How fucking tight you are,” he continued, before leaning down and putting his lips around your clit and giving it a suck.

“Oh fuck!” Your hands go back into his hair, pulling tightly at the roots. He continued his assault on you, the sounds of your wet cunt being fucked by his fingers mixed with the sounds Rafe makes as he messily eats you out is the only thing you can hear over your whimpers and moans.

He pulls his fingers out of you, replacing them with his tongue. His wet fingers wrapped around your thighs as he pulled them even further apart. You wrap your legs tighter around him, your hips moving against his mouth as you hold him to you. You feel him chuckle against you, the vibrations going straight to your clit and deep into your core.

“Shit, Rafe.” You groaned out, trying to disengage from holding onto him so tightly.

“No, no.” He groans and pulls back to look at you. “Smother me in your tight little pussy, pretty girl. I want to die here. Fuck my face,” he added, biting at your inner thigh, definitely leaving a mark.

“I want you to cum down my throat, think you can do that baby?” He waits for your hands to find their way back into his hair, pressing him back where you want him before he continues to suck and nibble at your clit. His fingers curve up to find your unsuspecting g-spot and it sends your toes curling in your fancy heels. You dig the shoes into his back and pull Rafe even closer.

“Fuck, I’m so…I’m so so close,” you pant out in a ragged breath. Your hips move against Rafe’s mouth and his fingers. He presses around one of his fingers inside you and repeatedly hits that spot before his teeth scrape ever so lightly against your clit. It’s like you lose all connection with reality as you cum against his fingers and into his waiting mouth. Your walls clench around his fingers that he has to coax you to relax so he can pull them out of you. Rafe stands and brings his hand to his lips before sucking his fingers clean. He lets you sit back against the wall, your breathing is ragged and you’re panting, your cheeks are his favorite shade of  ‘just fucked’ pink. You look up at him, biting your lip ever so slightly and he beams down at you.

“You did so fucking good, pretty girl.” He said, leaning down and pressing his lips to yours, letting you taste yourself on his lips and tongue. “Now, let’s say goodbye so I can take you home and fuck you all night long.”

[marveloussupernerd]

No Candy is Sweeter Than You - Saeran Choi

Happy Halloween! I hope you’ve enjoyed my randomly generated Halloween fics (I’ll prob do something similar for Christmas maybe). I just watched a YouTube video and it lowkey scared me ? So here’s some soft Saeran to primarily comfort me

Prompts: passing out candy, Saeran’s pretty excited, his favorite candy is m&ms 😉

Summary: Saeran wants to spend his first time ever celebrating Halloween by passing out candy with you at your house. Just some short fluff !

You were... surprised to say the least when you found out Saeran had never taken part in any Halloween festivities before. There was an RFA party planned, but he really didn’t feel like going, so you wanted to stay with him. Luckily, you lived in a neighborhood with a lot of children, so you invited him to come over and help you pass out candy.

He was all nervous at first. He googled how to pass out candy for Halloween. For some reason there’s a Wikihow article on that. It was practically his Bible.

“Are we wearing costumes?” He asked over the phone, calling you the day of to make sure he has everything planned out.

“We can. Why? Did WikiHow tell you to?” You teased. He laughed awkwardly. It did. “Okay. You have any idea what you want to wear?”

“Well they said to do something like a ghost that everyone will recognize,” he explained.

“But that’s so boring.”

He chuckled. “Okay. That’s fair. I wouldn’t know.”

“Halloween is a night you can be whatever you want!” You exclaimed. “Don’t you have anything in particular you’d like to be?”

“Could we... maybe do a couples’ costume?” He asked awkwardly. He sounded nervous over the line, his voice soft and somewhat hesitant.

“Of course! That’s a great idea.” You tried to make sure he could hear your smile even over the phone, hoping it would comfort him. It really was a good idea.

“Well... I was thinking... you know Hades and Persephone right?”

“Like the Greek mythology people?”

“Yeah... I thought it’d be kinda cool to dress like them. Uh, we don’t have to if you don’t want to though!” His words rushed together. “I just wanted to throw out a suggestion and-“

“Saeran that would be perfect. Greek God costumes are always popular too,” you reassured him. “Do you have what you need for it or do you wanna go shopping?”

“I have to run out and get a few things anyway! No problem. I can go get the candy too if you want.”

This sweet boy. “I can go with you,” you offered. You always liked spending time with him, even if it was just running errands together.

“Nope!” He denied you immediately, his voice surprisingly lighthearted for such a shut-down. “You stay home and get dressed up and relax. I’ll be over as soon as I have everything.”

“You sure you’ve got this? I’m more than happy to help.”

“I’m positive! I’m really excited and want to make it perfect.” You heard him laugh over the line, his laughter music to your ears. “See you soon. Love you.”

“Love you. Can’t wait to see you all dressed up.”

He hung up the call first, obviously in a rush to get everything together for the evening. You went to your closet and began tearing it apart for that Greek goddess dress you had worn how many years ago? Hopefully it still fit. (AN: if you never had a Greek goddess costume I’m sorry but ur in the minority)

You got to work doing your hair and makeup. You wanted to look absolutely perfect for Saeran, to make this day so special for him.

It was almost time for trick-or-treating to start. Luckily, you heard a knock on the door. Saeran was right on time. You opened the door. He was wearing all-black, spare a burgundy cape attached to his costume. He had an extravagant looking cane. His intimidating outfit, however, was offset by the bright smile on his face and the dozens of flowers peeking out from the top of a bag. “Saeran! You look so handsome Baby,” you complimented.

He blushed. “I got these for you.” He held out the flowers and you took them happily. “Can’t be the Goddess of Spring without a billion flowers. I picked them all myself,” he added proudly. You loved when he had his little ‘Ray’ moments, dabbling in his passion of gardening.

You took the flowers from him and got to work finding something to put them in. You didn’t have vases or anything in the house. You settled with a tall water bottle for now. He entered the house, setting the bag down on the counter. “I’ve got all kinds of good candy.”

You pulled out the bags, pouring the candy into a large bowl and took note of what he had decided to buy. “Reese’s, Kit Kat’s, M&Ms, Skittles... you even got fun sized bags of sour patch kids!? I’m impressed.”

“See, that WikiHow article isn’t all that bad,” he defended, a small smile playing on his lips as he realized how ridiculous he sounded.

“Do you not have a favorite?”

“Favorite candy?” He questioned, eyes glancing over the types in front of him. “Not really. I was never allowed to have it.” He shrugged it off, as though it wasn’t a big deal, but you were shocked.

“Okay! Well throughout the night we’ll try all the different candies and pick your favorite.” You decided, nodding your head. He nodded his head in agreement.

“Oh! I almost forgot.” He rummaged in the seemingly endless bag. “I made this for you too.” He pulled out a flower crown. It was really pretty. You bowed your head slightly and he put it on for you.

“It’s perfect. Completes the costume. You did this all today?”

“All today. I hope you like it.”

“Oh Saeran, I love it.” You cupped his cheek with your hand and pulled him close for a kiss. Just before your lips could touch, you heard the doorbell ring.

Saeran broke away, far too excited to be disappointed in the interruption. “Our first trick-or-treater!”

You giggled, grabbing the bowl and following after him. It was a little boy dressed as Mickey Mouse. “What do you say?” His mother asked him.

“Trick or treat!” He squealed. You giggled. Saeran took a handful of candy from the bowl and dropped it into his bag.

“I love your costume, Mickey. You look great!” He exclaimed. He was SO CUTE. After he left, it was time for Saeran to try his first candy of the night. He shut his eyes and pulled out a pack of sour patch kids. He popped an orange one into his mouth.

“They’re fine. I like how they’re really sour at first. The sweet part’s just okay though,” he commented. It was like a food critic giving his review. It made you laugh again. The doorbell rang. He set the candy aside and opened it up.

“Oh my! Snow White! Aren’t you so beautiful!” You exclaimed, fawning over the girl dressed as a princes. You gave her her candy.

“I’ve got something special for you too Princess!” Saeran exclaimed. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a flower. “For you, Princess. Thank you for visiting us tonight.”

The mom was fawning over how sweet the act was. The girl was just excited to get candy AND a flower. She left very happy.

Next was a Reese’s cup. The second he bit into it his face formed an O. “I really don’t like it that much,” he confessed, mouth still stuffed with the candy. “It tastes like a peanut butter cracker mostly. If I wanted that I’d just eat a peanut butter cracker.”

“I’m surprised to hear it. Most people love Reese’s,” you exclaimed. He shrugged it off.

“Have you ever thought about having kids one day?” You blurted out, the words leaving your mouth before you could process what you were going to say.

He paused. “I mean... I’m not sure. After everything... I don’t feel like I’d be a good parent.”

You frowned at hearing his thoughts. “I think you were amazing with that little girl. I bet a kid would be lucky to have you as a dad.”

“Maybe with you I’d want kids one day,” he spoke, thinking aloud. When he realized what he said, he smacked a hand over his mouth, cheeks and ears turning bright red.

You giggled. “Me too Sae. Me too.”

He opened the next candy, M&Ms. “Which color should I try?” He asked, cheeks still dusted pink from the previous conversation.

“They all taste the same, so any.”

He nodded, then grabbed a blue one. You could hear him crunch through the shell. “Wait. I really like this.” He reached in to grab a green one, trying it as well. “Babe you need to try these. They’re SO good!” He poured a few into your hand.

You couldn’t hold back your laugh. “I’ve had them before, but thank you for sharing.” You tossed a few into your mouth. “New favorite?”

“I don’t even need to try the others. This is the one.”

The rest of the night flew by with plenty of trick-or-treaters. Saeran’s favorite of the night was the girl in the Snow White costume. Yours was the blow-up t-rex. The trick-or-treaters did NOT get many M&Ms. About halfway through the night Saeran had already consumed all of them. 

Finally, it was time to turn off the porch light and settle in for the night. “Did you have fun?” You asked, pouring the extra candy into a ziplock bag so that you could have some later.

“I see why you like this holiday so much. I think it’s actually my new favorite.”

You grinned at him, proud that you were able to make the night go so smoothly. “Are you staying the night or are you heading home?” You asked, moving the chairs by the door back to the dining room table. Saeran helped carry his.

“Can I stay? I’ve still got one more sweet I wanna try.” He had a glint in his eye but his smile was so innocent. Maybe you were reading him wrong.

“Kit-kats? They’re pretty basic but honestly I-“

He let out an exaggerated sigh. “Nooooo! I mean you.” He walked towards you, one hand resting around your waist, the other taking off your flower crown and setting it on the table. “I never got that kiss form earlier.” He pouted.

“I’m not a sweet,” you giggled, hand moving to rest on top of his own. “I’m just me.”

He leaned his forehead to rest against yours, noses brushing against each other. “My Love, you know that no candy is sweeter than you. At least not to me.”

You couldn’t wait any longer and pulled him in for that long-awaited kiss.

[twoidiotwriters1]

Pure blood 18 (Sirius Black x F!Oc)

A/N: School is a nightmare, it doesn't let me focus on more important things (like this fanfic, hahaha) Danny and I are very close to finishing the semester and that is why we have had a lot of homework. Sorry for the delay, but here you finally have your favorite drama!! :)

Masterlist:

Chapter 17: / Chapter 19

"If you ask Slughorn to change your partner, I'll buy you all the chocolate you want,” Remus laughs across the table.

"You really want me away from Trixie…” He says, raising an eyebrow.

“Obviously," That makes him laugh again. “It's not funny."

"Don't be mad,” He raises his hands in surrender. "Listen, it’s been a few classes I've had with her, I think you and Sirius are exaggerating a bit. She seems to be a good girl.”

"You hurt me, Lupin.”

"It would be better if, if she were a bad person, I discovered it on my own…”

"No, it doesn't convince me.”

“Persephone…”

“Don't come at me with that, I know what I'm saying, she's bad and she'll hurt you if you're not careful, but you won't listen to me,” I roll my eyes.

"Are you angry with me?"

“No," I sigh. "I don't blame you, I also fell for her game, I understand why everyone thinks those things about her, it's just that..." I see towards the Ravenclaw table, where Trixie laughs with her friends. Then I look back at Remus and smile, “It doesn't matter, you wouldn't understand. Just be careful.”

"I appreciate your concern, but it isn’t necessary."

"Yes it is, but you're not ready for this conversation."

"Now, it’s okay. Do you want to go for a walk or something?” He says getting up from the place.

"Sure. As long as I have you as far from the devil, the better.”

Remus huffs and we both leave the large dining room. The looks don’t wait, although since last year we started our friendship, just a few weeks before finishing fifth year, Remus and I decided to go out more often, regardless of what the others said. Although sometimes I can notice Wolfie’s discomfort.

We walk through the halls talking about nonsense until we hear someone's complaints.

Lily and James are fighting... again. The redhead looks angry, her face is flushed and I don't think it's out of shame, while James looks at her with amusement. Lupin and I stop at a good distance from them.

"I don't understand why Potter keeps trying with Lily, it’s obvious that they hate each other!" I commented making Remus laugh.

"I guess James expects a miracle for Lily to say yes."

“You're a pig, Potter!" Lily yells.

“But Potter doesn't try, he just plays smart and tries to impress her wrongly. That’ll never work for him."

"You say it like you know what you need to do…”

“It's not a great science, everything he does is wrong, he just wants to attract attention and waits for Lily to fall into his arms, but since she doesn’t, it becomes a whim, why doesn't he leave her alone? Surely another dumb girl would be willing to go out with him.”

"That's a problem" I look confused at my friend. "Lily didn't fall for his charms, that's why he wants her"

"As I said: A whim."

“A whim doesn't last that long, plus it doesn't stop talking about it all the time. Sometimes it’s annoying.”

"If he really wants it, he must change his strategy."

Our conversation is cut short when Lily slaps the boy and all I can do is laugh out loud. The redhead walks away and James is puzzled. Remus sighs and suddenly notice how his body shivers a little, but manages to recover quickly.

"You're good?" I touch his shoulder.

"Yes, it's just..." He looks around making sure that no one hears us. "The full moon is approaching, don't worry."

"Shall I accompany you to the infirmary? Do you want chocolate?" I ask making him laugh.

"I'm fine, I'm already an expert in this.”

"Moony! Did you see the tremendous blow Prongs received?” Sirius says coming to our side along with a grumpy James touching his cheek.

"Yes, I saw it all, are you okay, Prongs?" James just growls.

"Epic," I say with a smile and the boy looks at me angrily.

"You know?" Remus says. "Percy and I were talking about your strategy to conquer Lily.”

"Which is disgusting” I added.

"Maybe she could help you," he says, taking me by the shoulders.

"What!?" James and I say at the same time.

"What could a snake know?"

"I would never help Potter in anything and less if it has to do with Lily!” I look at James. "She doesn’t deserve it!”

"Oh, now you're the good friend? Who was it that was responsible for making her life miserable during all those years?”

I clench my teeth angrily.

"That was before…”

"Before discovering how disgusting you are as a person.”

"James!" Remus scolds him.

"And you think you’re perfect? You’re just a capricious child who doesn't understand what a no is. You promise Lily everything, but once she’s gone, your life is just pranks and annoying those you consider inferior,” I approach James. “You’re nothing different than what I was.”

"You and I have nothing in common."

I smile.

"You want to bet? What about Snape? No wait, what about all Slytherin? You never think about the consequences of this separation of houses, you never worry if someone was hurt by any of your jokes, you think that anyone can be in the palm of your hand, you manipulate minors and anyone who can get in the way, all so that have your moment of glory and everyone applaud you and still think you deserve someone like Lily?”

"Who are you to criticize me? A girl who thinks she can change from one day to the next, your biggest problem is no longer being Daddy's favorite. You do not measure your words, you hurt anyone who is not pureblood or who does not have money, you do not know the number of boys who run away from you and you don’t have an idea of everything they say about the famous Slytherin princess. From first grade I knew that you’d be a big problem for us, I didn’t have to wait long to know that I did the right thing by separating you from the group and obviously I wouldn’t let Sirius fall with you in your miserable life. But now? Now you put this whole theater together to get the forgiveness you don't deserve. You still wonder why Sirius left you? Do you think you deserve the friendship of Lily and Remus?”

Everything went silent, in the hallway only the four of us were left in a quite tense situation. I feel the tears in my eyes but I don't allow them to leave and before anyone could do anything, my fist hits James’ face.

The surprise and the blow unbalance him and he takes a few steps back, but my actions only worsened his anger, his face flushes and he walks to face me, but Sirius's body stands in the middle and tries to control his friend, but it’s not enough and he pushes him away. James pulls out his wand, so I quickly imitate him and we both cast a spell at the same time, but they bounce back and we’re both pushed to the ground in a crash.

 Strong pain goes through my back and neck, I groan and Remus crouches down next to me.

"Percy, are you alright?" Very carefully he helps me sit down.

"What is happening here?” Professor Mcgonagall walks into the room.

No one could say anything at the time.

——————————————————————

"I hope these hours are useful for you to stop these childish fights," says the teacher at the front of the room, while James and I are sitting together. This punishment could’ve been worse, but thanks to the concern of your friends, I’ve decided that no one will leave until they make the passes,” He looks at us expectantly. "I will go and I just have to remind you not to cause another disaster, am I right?”

We both remain silent and the teacher leaves.

For a few minutes we do nothing, then James gets up and goes to the back of the room. I cross my arms on the table and rest my head on them.

In that, shouts of celebration are heard, it’s obvious that they come from outside, a window looks out onto the courts where Quidditch teams practice. James looks out and complains.

"I can't believe I'm missing practice, all because of a snake!” I ignore his comment and he continues to see out the window. “I'll never leave, there’s no way I could be your friend.”

For some reason, that comment catches my attention. I barely move my head towards him when I speak.

"What you said before,” He looks at me. “'I did the right thing by separating you from the group,” I settle in my chair. "I remember arguing with Sirius because I thought you didn't like me, that you had something against me. I wasn't wrong.”

 "You're not Ravenclaw for a reason," he says sarcastically.

"Why?" I ask and he raises an eyebrow. "What did I do to make you hate me like this?" James rolls his eyes.

"You won't make it.”

"What?"

"I know what you’re trying, you talk about the problem to do therapy and then be friends.”

I snort and get up.

"Listen" I sit at the teacher's desk. “It's obvious that we’ll be here for a long time. I don't want to be your friend either, but I can't help thinking that… ” My breathing stops and I look him straight in the eye. “What could I have done to you when I was eleven years old to ruin the only friendship I had?”

For a moment his features soften and he looks uncomfortable.

"You said it yourself, it was a long time ago, you should get over it.”

“Says the boy that can't get over a girl,” James sighs and looks back out the window. But it doesn't last long.

"I know that the wedding is only part of your plan,” He says and now I look at him confused. He walks away from the window and walks around the room. “As soon as we get out of this, you’ll return to your natural state and you’ll hurt my friends again. The only reason I accepted the truce was because of Remus and Sirius, but I’ll never let my guard down.”

I roll my eyes.

"I can't believe how stupid you are," I growl. "The stupid wedding is just a circus for my parents to control me. What you think is theater, it’s a form of manipulation on the part of my family, they… they are not good people and they tried to take me to the dark side and in not doing so they had to act quickly.”

 He stops between the rows of desks and pays attention to me.

“I know that Sirius has told you about his family, mine’s not very different, and they also have to control Sirius, it’s the only thing they could think of so we don’t dishonor the family. You don't know how lucky you are to have a different family, Potter,” I feel a lump in my throat. "You don't know me and that's why you think you have the freedom to judge me.”

"Me? You’ve also insulted me-”

"For self-defense!” I exclaim. "What did you expect me to do? In our first year, on the train I thought I could really be your friend, but everything changed very quickly.”

"I overheard your conversation with Mcgonagall after the ceremony.”

His answer surprises me.

“You wanted Sirius to be with you in Slytherin, you wanted to drive away the first friend I had. I always knew that only bad people were in that house and you wanted to drag him to it. I don’t regret my decision, my eleven-year-old self was right.”

I keep thinking about what he says.

“You are and you were very selfish,” I add. "Yes, I wanted to be with my best friend, but I was worried about what his parents would say! I was very afraid since I knew what Walburga was able to do, I thought it was a mistake and thought that if I talked to the teacher, they could fix it,” Great, now I’m crying. “I wanted to protect my best friend and ended up losing him, all because a spoiled child misinterpreted things.”

"Even so, you were cruel to many people, you made fun of Evans, Remus, all those who were not pureblood" He says quietly.

"I'm not innocent, I know I did a lot of bad things, but, unlike you, I do regret it,” I clean my face. "It was what my parents taught me and I didn't... I can't justify myself with just that, I know, but at least I'm trying to change and it's not that easy, I just–” A sob escapes my lips. “I want to be different from my parents.”

We’re silent for a few minutes in which I try to calm down.

"I didn't- I didn't know," he says in a whisper.

"Of course not," I sigh. "It wasn't just you... Sirius wasn’t forced to tell me all that, he could’ve made a decision, but he only followed you.”

"We were kids.”

"Stupid kids.”

James nods and rubs the back of his neck.

"You know? Sirius had a very bad time after your argument,” I don't speak. “We even heard him cry sometimes…”

"That doesn't matter now, James,” Before the boy could say anything, the door opens, Remus and Sirius peek through.

"Are you best friends now?" Remus asks in an attempt to cut the tension.

I don't wait any longer and I leave the room without looking at anyone.

  The next day.

"You're good?" Remus asks worried.

"If you keep asking that, I'll hit you."

"I'm just doing my job as a friend,” He grins.

“Sorry," We keep walking towards the potions classroom. "No, I'm not fine, but soon everything will be better,” He puts his arm around my shoulders. "Is tonight's meeting still standing?"

Remus stops, forcing me to do it too.

"About that…” He says sadly. "I promised Trix that I would help her with her potions homework."

“What?"

"I don't know how long it’ll take and I don't want to ghost you…”

"What?"

"Oh, here it comes…” He says nervously.

"Are you replacing me with Trixie?" I raise my eyebrows.

"It's not that, you know very well that the exams are coming, I just want to help her.”

I growl at his words.

"And I suppose she begged you for help."

“We're partners-"

“Remi!" A shrill voice interrupts us. Trixie comes to our side and hugs Remus, who blushes. "Come on, walk, otherwise we’ll be late…”

She says when the hug ends, and then looks at me.

"Oh Persephone, it looks like you didn't have a good night, are you okay?" She seems worried, but I don't believe her.

"I'm fine Trixie."

"Your dark circles look dreadful,” She looks for something in her bag and takes it out. "Here, it's makeup, it’ll help. It's not that dark circles are a bad thing, besides, you always look beautiful, I just think your friends would worry. No one likes to answer those questions when they've had a bad night, right?”

I clench my jaw. Do not fall in the trap.

Remus gestures for me to take the offering and I reluctantly accept it.

"Thanks, I guess."

She smiles warmly and takes Remus's arm.

"Well, it's time to go to class…”

Before entering, Remus tells the girl to go ahead, she nods and leaves. The boy turns to me.

"We just have to change the date of the meeting, I promise it won’t happen again," I nod and he goes to his place.

I look at the knob in my hand and frown.

Don't fall again.

Taglist!

@treestarrrrrrrr @siriuslysirius1107      @thagreenmoon @madmaiden2890 @bloodorangemoonlight    @ren-ela @avipshamitra   @auroraawrites @findzelda  @lizlil @siriusmuch   @chloe-geoghegan1 @reverse-hxlland​  @may-rapp​

@littledeadgirlwalking​

[awkwardtaco056]

so now that i’m no longer in the Hell that was school and after finding the lovely blog @endcringe i’ve decided to talk about my own experiences with cringe culture, bullying, and why it’s Really Bad to not let people enjoy inherently harmless things, especially neurodivergent people (read more because this is gonna get long and triggering at times, TW for mentions of bullying, suicide, child abuse, a brief mention of incest shipping. I won’t be naming any of the peers that I discuss my experiences with, because my point with this post is Not to “cancel” anyone, I just want to speak out on my experiences)

I’m neurodivergent; I was diagnosed with ADHD when I was 8 years old. I didn’t know a lot about it, and a family member even painted it as “oh it’s nothing blah blah blah just apply yourself more. Because of this, I had no idea about the concept of hyperfixations until I was in my late teens. Due to that, I would obsess over random things and my family would shame me relentlessly for it. My mother said I had an “addictive personality” and that she feared I’d end up a drug addict or alcoholic because of it.

I look younger than what I am, I’m short, and small. AKA, the perfect candidate for being picked on by people bigger and stronger than me. People made fun of my art when I was around 13, but fortunately that was an instance where spite fueled me to improve drastically. However, just because I happened to take the shitty comments and have it fuel me then does NOT mean bullying people will have that effect all the time. At some point someone put my old South Park fan art on a cringe blog. I was temporarily hurt, and a little angry, but I realized that if someone was making fun of a 15 year old’s art, they probably didn’t have much going for them in life, so I moved on.

Fast forward to high school. Everything was horrible and I’m not exaggerating when I say I barely made it out alive. I was living in an abusive household up until January 2018 and I found comfort in many different interests. I’ve always found great comfort in music and the arts in general. In 2016, I drew a picture of a mermaid. I was inspired by the chocolate opal gemstone, and I thought it’d be fun to draw a gay chubby mermaid with dark skin and a rainbow tail and freckles. Junior year was lousy and I wanted something that sparked Joy. I was immediately told that “scientifically, mermaids wouldn’t look like that. Mind you, my take looked like this:

Obviously I wasn’t going for realism, I just wanted to draw a cute mermaid. However, they continued to tell me that they wouldn’t look like that, going as far as writing so on the back of said drawing. When I got angry at her for taking it too far (as I’d established before that I didn’t like it when people wrote on my art without permission), they got angry back, accusing me of being unable to take criticism. Heated by the accusation, I went as far as asking my art teacher if it was fair for them to say that, and she said no, stating that constructive criticism would be talking about how I could improve my lineart and coloring in the digital version. I took her actual helpful criticism and since then have improved Drastically in digital art. Even with that being said, I found myself hesitant to participate in things such as MerMay because I was leery of hearing that peer berate me for having cartoony mermaids. 

 During high school I grew to love many musicians, a lot of emo/alternative stuff, a couple being Twenty One Pilots and Melanie Martinez. I love how unique TOP’s style is, their open discussion of mental illness, and as someone who had a rough childhood, I connected with every single song on Cry Baby. It was like nothing I’d ever heard. I started listening to mashups featuring all these different artists I love, adoring how they could change the tone and sound so drastically. A peer Bully of mine in junior year condemned these two artists, declaring that they made “Bad Music” simply because it didn’t fit their tastes. They’d throw my drawings on the ground, write over them in pen, steal my headphones so I couldn’t listen to music, push me around, complain that mashups sucked and gave them a headache, and in general shit all over conetnt that was actively preventing me from committing suicide. 

Some family members were no better. Once high school hit, I began listening to Fall Out Boy, Panic! at the Disco, and My Chemical Romance. Their deep complex lyrics stuck with me. I would write down quotes from my favorite songs and thanks to hyperfixating, I remember each studio album in order My mother resented when I fell in love with the “Emo Trinity” because “the Columbine  shooters were emo and that event traumatized me” Despite that, not only did the Columbine tragedy occur in 1999 and none of the bands got together until the early 2000s, but I have a pretty good feeling those groups aren’t For gun violence. The other side constantly criticized the fact that I love FOB, P!ATD, and MCR because I’m black and “why must you listen to that white people music.”

 I grew fond of Dan and Phil in high school (and I’m still a fan to this day!), I loved Phil’s kindness and positive aura and I deeply connect with Dan’s sense of humor and personality. Their content made me happy during some very dark times in my life. It’s November 2017, I’m over a close peer’s house at the time, and notice PINOF is upon us. I drew the PINOF whiskers on my face, my plan being to quietly watch them in the corner of peer’s bedroom on my phone through headphones, the others were doing their own thing and I knew they didn’t like them, so I thought they’d respect it if I silently indulged in it. Unfortunately, the complete opposite happened. I was immediately shunned and locked out of the bedroom, told that I’d only be let back in if I washed the whiskers off because “absolutely not”. Me, being stubborn, washed them off temporarily but drew them back on in the room. Life during then was especially bad for me, as the abusive household I was in was getting worse. They noticed, of course, and even though all I wanted was to enjoy this small tradition in a time during a deep depression, I was immediately shoved out the room and locked out, only to have said peer’s family members notice. I’m a relatively shy person, so this was honesty a really harrowing experience that had a lasting effect on me. 

I grew to adore Sanders Sides as well, but the moment I found out most of my peers didn’t like Thomas, I was terrified.  I stopped watching Dan and Phil’s content for months and shied away from other fandoms too, only occasionally indulging in times of complete solitude. One time when said peers were due to visit my house for the first time, I saw the Phandom and Fander stuff I’d hung up on my wall in my little sanctuary that was my bedroom (it was the first time in years I’d had my own room), and I was filled with panic and fear. I took them down and hid them away, genuinely terrified of what they’d do to me if they saw. It’s still incites so much anger in me to this day because they turned around and ended up shipping incest, but somehow liking D&P and Sanders Sides was So. Much. Worse.

They were baffled by my actions, despite having humiliated me Twice by going on a private blog of mine separate from everything so that I could fully indulge and laughing at everything on there, once at a peer’s house, once right in school. I don’t think they realized how traumatizing it was to have a large group of people in public laughing at something I was deeply self conscious about for all of my life. I put on a brave face at the time, but ended up crying in the bathroom after first period began. I continued to be treated as lesser until things came to an ugly head August 2018 when I ended up in the hospital because I nearly attempted suicide. Years of child abuse, bullying, and being deemed “cringy” made me feel like I didn’t deserve to be alive, that everyone would be happier if I were gone.

After arguably one of the lowest points in my life, I cut them off and slowly began to embrace the Real Me. I started letting myself enjoy the things again, made true friends and even found love, my first boyfriend ever at 18. I still get choked up retelling it, but when PINOF 10 dropped, after he found out how much I’d been hurt over the incident in 2017, I was greeted with a photo of him with the whiskers on his face. I cried for a while, blown away at such a pure act of kindness. He listens to me ramble about my interests, he compliments my taste in music, he watched K-12 with me. 

This got incredibly long, but my point is this: Cringe Culture hurts people. You might think it’s whatever if the Thing doesn’t apply to your interests, but content you’re denouncing as cringy could be something that’s keeping them alive, that one flicker of light in a void of darkness. When I was contemplating suicide, I listened to The Black Parade, repeating Gee’s words to myself over and over, that nothing in the world was worth hurting yourself over. Some friendly joshing here and there is okay, but actively ripping someone to shreds constantly to the point where they have a mental breakdown in front of you and later on plan their own demise is disgusting. Nobody should abuse anyone for having harmless interests, no one. Unless you’re participating in p*dophilic/inc*st/s*xual assault/inherently abusive ships/content and pretending it’s not bad because “Fiction doesn’t impact reality!”, you have every right to like what you like and be happy. Read homestuck. Play Undertale. Draw up the Wildest OCs you can imagine. And stay away from people who try to rob you of innocent fun, life is too short and in this cruel, unforgiving world, you deserve to be happy, whether you’re a 13 year old who draws cute furries, a 16 year old cosplayer on TikTok, a VSCO girl, a 30 year old who writes/draws self insert art or a 20 year old who adores Invader Zim. 

Cringe Culture is just bullying under a different name, and it can lead to many instances of people, especially fellow neurodivergent folk to feel isolated and ostracized. Attempting to bully someone out of an interest they have isn’t going to fix them; it’s more often than not going to cause more damage. I suffer from diagnosed C-PTSD, anxiety, and depression, and sometimes I still find myself trying to over-justify my interests. To all who are roped up in bad homes and lousy “friends” who berate you for your innocent passions, I’m sorry you’re suffering, things will one day get better even if it doesn’t feel like it, and fuck those people. I’d also like to note that sometimes even if it seems more terrifying, it’s better to have one or two close friends you can truly trust than a whole group that walks all over you. You have every right to call them out for treating you poorly, and if things don’t improve, you also have every right to leave.

You have a right to live your True Self.

[upthehillask]

i’d love to hear your cursed child opinions!

Oh boy, well now you’ve unleashed me :D lol I don’t know if you’re interested more in what I loved or in what I’d critique, so I’ll go for both I guess? And you can read whichever you like :) But tbh you won’t hear anything new from me that you haven’t heard other fans talk about. Anyways, here are my thoughts on the actual play: [Spoiler alert I guess!]

Things I loved:

- THE MAGIC!!! The effects were EVERYTHING. The time warp, the telephone booth, the floo, the underwater, the dementors, the writings on the walls, and so much more… Really cool!!! And I loved the whole vibe and aesthetic of the play too, it felt authentic and fitting! THE SWISHY CLOAKS!! I want them!!

- The scenes I especially enjoyed were Harry’s nightmares, glimpses into his past and scenes from the books in general. I think they executed those quite well, made me really soft! Especially the scenes of little Harry in his cupboard and also him in the graveyard. Gripped my heart. Oh, I also loved that they finally showed Cedric in the end, he was so perfect!!

- Draco. Yes yes yes to dad Draco. Still bitchy, pretentious, and petty, trying so hard to play cool and tough, but a pained softie deep inside—we STAN. The relationship between him and his son I CRI EVRITIEM!!! Draco in the alternative timeline letting Scorpius do what he believes in, Draco in the real timeline hugging his son, I LIVE. And oh my god that scene where Draco walked in to Harry crying.. GOD. Yes emotions, yes vulnerability, yes bonding, yes yes yes. (Though I still can’t get over the ponytail. Would’ve been more than fine if Lucius hadn’t been portrayed with long hair lol)

- I loved Albus!! He’s a good Slytherin boy! That’s all I have to say. He’s a good friend and son who tries his best. I liked him a lot, more so now after watching the play. He really did remind me of Harry in a lot of ways. (Also, unpopular opinion, but I always loved Albus Severus’ name and I always will, fight me.)

- And just all the dad-son relationships, parenthood themes, friendship between the boys, related conflicts… Loved all of them. Touching, inspiring, couldn’t get enough!

- McGonagall was fcking ON POINT. Fcking QUEEN. Get it girl. Show em how to understand and respect children 👏👏👏

- I really loved Snape too! It was nice to finally see him being his self that only Dumbledore got to see in the books. I loved his demeanor too. I know actors change, but the one I saw portrayed Snape in a way that felt more canon. As much as I love Alan Rickman, he was a bit too graceful and sophisticated for canon Snape. In the play, however, Snape was kind of more rough, more rash, less pulled together in a way that he spoke and moved. It’s subtle but I lived for that. Also he was finally short. Yes.

- I feel like I have to mention Harry too. I actually quite liked him, so I’m gonna put him under this list as well. Yeah, that one scene where he threatened McGonagall into strict surveillance of his son is a bit much, errr 😅😅😅 But overall, I like the idea of him struggling as a father, making mistakes and learning from them. He’s a good egg.

- Ron and Hermione, my babies!! I had issues with Ron’s characterization, but I did mostly enjoy the portrayal of their relationship. I liked that their roles within the play were mostly to be together or to find their ways to each other. Since so many fans are against their ship, I was really excited to see them. And I just loved Hermione in general. They got her characterization almost on-point too, I think. I just love her 🥰

- In general, I enjoyed a lot of the dialogue. I liked all those strong, emotional one-liners that make you gasp. Harry saying things, Albus saying things, Scorpius, Draco, Ginny, others… There were good examples of lines they’d say that perfectly articulated everything that they embodied or felt or were dealing with. Well done there.

Okayyy I’m sure there’s more I could think of, definitely, but I’ll stop here since this is already a lot 😁

Things I questioned:

- So the one single biggest thing that I am the most critical of has to do with the plot itself, and it’s about Cedric turning into a Death Eater. I’m sorry but I just can’t. I could write a whole essay on how this makes no canonical sense (and I probably will if you ask me lmaoo), but to sum it up, Cedric eventually turning bitter and evil because he was publicly humiliated directly contradicts his canon character development. Cedric’s humility, kindness, and fairness are the core qualities around which Cedric’s personality was developed in the books. He almost explicitly places popularity, glory, and reputation second, and that’s critical, because if failure and humiliation were to affect him so drastically, his primary core values needed to be broken down and changed beforehand, but they never weren’t. So presenting the Triwizard incident as the turning point for him does not make any sense, and as a result the rest of the narrative falls apart. This is a plot hole and hasty writing.

- Yeah, Bellatrix having a child is still kinda weird 🙃🙃 I just hate that because in the books Bellatrix played the archetype of this anti-mother, the antithesis of motherhood and motherly love. I feel like having her voluntarily bring a child into this world destroys that symbolism. It makes me unsatisfied.

- I had some issues with the very beginning and the whole “montage” of events leading up to the fourth year. I found it overwhelming and disorienting, even though I’ve already read the script and knew what’s going on. Still, I felt like I was hit by a train, watching all the fast-paced scenes, cliché chaotic small talk going on, years going by… It felt messy for some reason. I feel like I need to watch it again in order to fully catch up and process everything I saw, and that’s not a good sign. But I didn’t hate it, I just wish we were more eased into the story.

- Scorpius. Now listen. When I read the script, Scorpius was my favorite character. I LOVED him, this awkward nerd who loves his dad and best friend with all his heart. The way I grew to imagine him was quite not how he was portrayed in the play. I know the dialogue and everything’s all the same, but idk, Scorpius in the play was way more hyper, bolder than I pictured, and worst of all, he was going out of his way to be this wannabe player. He seemed so all over the place, even acting a bit arrogant sometimes, celebrating moments of over-confidence, chasing after girls, trying to be everything BUT himself. But that honestly might just be my takeaway alone. There’s nothing actually wrong with his character, I just found myself slightly disappointed with him in the play specifically. I wish I could see the play again to actually analyze things more thoroughly to explain why I feel this way, but I can’t. I still like Scorpius, but a different version of him. (tho damn did I love those skinny pants on him lmao 👌👌)

- Moaning Myrtle. Like, I laughed, it was funny, but it just wasn’t very tasteful lol and I was left feeling a bit uncomfortable from the idea of this young murdered girl writhing and thirsting over literally everyone. The play really blew that out of proportion and idk it’s kinda awkward when I think about it 😅 And in general, there was just so much thirsting… with Rose, Polly Chapman, Delphi… Not to mention Albus kissing his AUNT… Like damn chill JK please 😂 Weird cliches and teenage hormones aren’t the only source of comedy okay?? 😂😂😂 Also, speaking of Myrtle, I kinda wish there was something mentioned about Draco having had been friends with her in sixth year. Idk it would’ve been nice to see that relationship somehow reminisced since we didn’t really get to see it :) 

- Craig Bowker Jr... If he was supposed to be a parallel to Cedric, both being the spare, why did he get literally zero attention?? We don’t really know who he is, we don’t see anyone hurting because of his death, he’s killed with such apathy. We don’t even see his parent grieving, like we saw Amos (who also happen to be an integral part to the plot of CC!). The whole parallel is so incomplete. Poor Craig and his unsymbolic death..

- Ok I am obviously elaborating way too much so let me just quickly summarize the rest of things I don’t actually hate but might wanna rant about: RON IS NOT A JOKSTER—GEORGE IS. RON IS A FIGHTER. HE IS ALSO HARRY’S BEST FRIEND, NOT HERMIONE, BUT HE WAS MADE USELESS AND UNNEEDED, WHICH IS HIS ACTUAL WORST FEAR, SO WHO THE FUCK DARED. ROSE IS MORE THAN A BITCHY ROMANTIC INTEREST AND A BAD FRIEND. WHERE THE HELL IS HUGO. GINNY’S EVEN COOLER THAN SHE WAS PORTRAYED, I PROMISE. THE SURPRISE SECOND TIME TURNER ERRRR LOUSY PLOT DEVICE I’M SORRY. LACKLUSTER PLOT IN GENERAL, THE ONLY ACTUAL TWIST IS DELPHI’S REVEAL—NOT ENOUGH, JKR KNOWS BETTER THAN THIS, THE BOOKS WERE FULL OF TWISTS AND TURNS (but that’s kinda okay with me because the relationships between characters in CC really made the whole story worth it).

Alright enough :’D I’m not actually upset, just exaggerating haha Because overall, I liked the play. I wanna see it again. And I wanna analyze it more, too. I’m so excited I finally got to watch it. It’s far from flawless, but I’m still happy with it overall and want to approach it positively! Sure, I’ll rant when it’s ranting time, but I do love it (:

[keelywolfe]

FIC: Outside Influences ch.3

Summary: Oh, right, Rus and Edge have a chance to remember that they actually don’t like each other very much. 

Tags:  Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Off-Screen Attempted Sexual Assault, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Aftermath of Violence, Pre-Spicyhoney, Blood and Injury, Injury Recovery, Aftermath of Attempted Sexual Assault

Notes: Why am I still writing this? Maybe because Rus needed a chance to show his teeth. 

Please read the warnings on this one!!

Chapter One | Chapter Two

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Read Chapter Three on AO3

or

Read it here!

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Edge was still awake some hours later when he heard his brother return in a rattle of door locks. Unlike his counterparts, Red was less prone to shortcutting his way around the Underground. Neither of them could afford for Red to ever be low on magic if it could be helped and one opportunity to teleport could mean the difference between dusting and more lives than their own.

A glance at the bed confirmed that Rus was sleeping peacefully enough now. Too pale yet, the normally warm tint his magic brought to his bones absent. What little was visible, anyway. He was wrapped up in the blankets, smothered into them with only his skull showing. Those unsettling whimpers had eased some time ago and he was safer in Edge’s bedroom than nearly any other place in Underfell. With that in mind, Edge rose silently to his feet, prowling downstairs to demand more answers from his brother.

Red was still at the door, for once kicking off his snowy shoes on the mat, meltwater spreading in a darkening puddle around them.

“hey, boss,” Red grumbled. He stripped off his damp jacket and beneath Edge’s watchful gaze, reluctantly hung it in the closet. “shitty fucking weather, storm’s blowin’ up. that’ll keep everyone inside, anyway, less trouble for a while.”

“What did you find?”

“eh, everythin’ll hold ‘till the storm’s over. the traps looked good, dogs are safe at their stations and—”

Edge interrupted him before he could build up too much steam. “If you’re going to insist upon this dance every time I ask a question about him, I am quickly going to lose patience and I will take it out on you.”

It was not an idle threat and his brother knew it well. The rest of the Underground did not know the real level of Red’s strength, concealed beneath the reality of his lazier nature. It was a charade they’d been playing together for years and those who discovered the truth were not ones destined to survive long after. But for him to best Edge in a fight required effort that Red rarely liked to put forth. That Red still hesitated was telling, weighing consequences as he scratched the back of skull, "bro, i don't know-"

"Tell me," Edge ground out. Frustrating as it was for Rus to be keeping secrets, that at least was understandable. Red kept enough from him, far too much. He wasn’t going to tolerate it this time.

Finally, Red stuck his hands in his pockets and shrugged, "lot more marrow on the inside of his sweatshirt than the outside. he definitely had some broken bones before he healed up, and—"

"Brother."

Red blew out an irritated breath, and his teeth scraped as he ground them together. How rare was it these days to witness Red trying feebly to protect him.

His words were short, clipped and sullen, "can't say whether the dried jizz inside his shorts was his or not. don't matter though, pretty sure his dick wasn't in agreement with his head about what happened." He waited, watching critically until Edge gave a curt nod, gesturing impatiently for him to continue. "found some short brown hairs on his clothes, too, and unless rus is sprouting pubes that he hasn’t mentioned, they gotta belong to another monster."

“That narrows things down.”

“a little, yeah. gotta say, i’m glad it wasn’t scales, only a few monsters that could be, but—” The red glare of his brother’s eye lights strayed, widening as they flicked higher and Edge turned to see Rus standing unsteadily in the open doorway of his bedroom, looking down at them. Whatever vulnerability had been leaking through the cracks earlier was shut down, tightened into coldness.

“if you’re done talking about me, can i come down?” Rus asked. The acid in his tone was belied by the way he wrapped his arms around himself, cupped his elbows in his hands as he hunched in.

There was no telling how much he'd overheard. From that closed off irritation, Edge was guessing it was enough.

Well, fuck.

"heya, honey bun," Red said easily. He picked at his teeth with a sharp fingertip, idly inspecting the findings before wiping it on his shorts. "your clothes ain't done yet."

"that's fine, i was gonna burn them, anyway.”

"uh huh," Red let out a deliberate yawn, showing sharp teeth as he stretched with exaggerated enthusiasm, “welp, i could use some sleep. catch ya later.”

"you couldn't catch a cold." Dismissively. Normally a mistake for Red, he was never one to ignore. But his brother only slanted a glance his way and Edge could read that darkly amused look easily. This was his problem to deal with and Red vanished with a pop of teleportation, a rare indulgence so that he wouldn’t have to walk past Rus, who was making his way downstairs with stumbling, furious determination.

Wonderful.

“if you can loan me a pair of boots, i’ll head home,” Rus said shortly. Never mind that he was only wearing a pair of Edge’s pajamas, that even with boots, it was cold enough right now that simply walking from the house to the machine in the basement might sicken him in the condition he was in. He was already shaking a little with the effort of getting down the stairs.

When Edge Checked him, Rus winced, barely keeping from cringing away from the unwanted prickle of it washing over him.

“Your magic is still very low.” It was tempting to lay a hand on Rus’s shoulder, try to guide him to the sofa to sit down so he could be wrapped up again in blankets. But there was something about the sofa that Rus shied away from it the night before, and the only other option would be to push him to the floor. Neither choice seemed promising. Edge was forced to leave him standing with his toes curling away from the chilly carpet and swaying as though a stiff breeze would send him to his knees.

“yeah, well, thanks for the reminder, but i can take care of myself.” It was incongruous, Rus standing there shivering, drained pale of magic, and ready to demand he be allowed to stagger home through a storm. Even his eye lights flickered, almost sputtering. Rest was good and well but he needed to eat. “appearances might beg to differ, but i actually don’t need a fucking babysitter.”

Edge only raise a brow bone at him, holding his gaze steadily. Rus looked away first, drawing in a quick breath, releasing it. What he attempted next was something like reluctant gratitude, "look, i appreciate everything, i do. but i don't need you two going around behind by back, fucking things up."

Sweat was starting to sheen his skull and Rus swayed on his feet, but he jerked back when Edge reached for him. Edge muttered a foul word beneath his breath and stalked away, hoping that Rus at least had enough sense not to try his luck at leaving barefoot. In his state, he probably wouldn’t be able to get through the door locks. He hadn’t moved by the time Edge returned, only stared in confusion as Edge set a chair from the kitchen table next to him.

“Sit,” Edge commanded. For a moment, he thought Rus wouldn’t. That he’d rather fall to the floor, wallowing in surly defiance. Finally, he all but flung himself into the chair, drawing his knees up to rest his feet on the seat. The quilt was still on the floor by the sofa and Edge snatched it up, shaking it briskly before draping it around Rus’s shoulders.

“I might have agreed you didn’t need a babysitter, except you’re acting childish, so I might well be wrong,” Edge said sharply. He could see the anger simmering in those flickering eye lights and it wasn’t necessarily all for him. Rus was probably angry at the world right now. Best to attempt something a little gentler. “If you feel ready to go home, I won’t stop you.”

“won’t stop me?” Rus laughed and it was bitter. “wow, you’ve really gone all in on this mighty protector bullshit.”

“I won’t stop you,” Edge repeated doggedly. “And you haven’t asked for my opinion, but I think you should stay. You’re obviously still weak and you need more to eat than one cookie.” More to the point, Edge wanted him to stay. It didn’t sit well with him for Rus to go back to Underswap without enough magic to defend himself, especially not knowing who had hurt him. Not yet.

It was somehow the wrong thing to say, as it so often was with Rus. The same kind of slipup that ended in arguments on movie nights, with the others watching with varying degrees of annoyance and sardonic amusement as he and Rus squabbled.

All of Rus’s emotions were crammed into ball of sullen resentment and anger, with nowhere to aim it but at Edge. “i got my ass handed to me, okay, i was kinda fucked up. but i’m not weak!”

“I didn’t mean it that way,” Edge kept his voice calm. His fault, he reminded himself. Allowing Rus to overhear his need-to-know had broken that fragile trust, barely built before toppling. And there was most likely plenty going on in Rus’s skull that had nothing to do with Edge, leaving him touchy as hell, ready to lash out at anything that pricked. “And needing to be safe to recover doesn’t make you weak. Otherwise every Monster in my Snowdin would qualify.”

“i’m not from your snowdin, and mine’s a little less dust hungry.” The sneer against Underfell was a familiar one. The uncertain tremor beneath it was not.

“No, you’re not,” Edge said, softly, “But I still want you to be safe.”

That contemptuous veneer was not as steady as Rus might prefer, faltering into confusion, fear, before shifting into something different, his sockets hooded as he looked Edge up and down. That gaze was predatory in a way that was strangely discomfiting. Edge knew the hungry gaze of Monsters who succumbed to their LV; Rus’s was too similar by far.

"yeah? that's it, huh, you want me to be safe, and that’s it? safe for you?” His mouth curved into a smirk, the bright flicker of his tongue visible behind his teeth. “don’t worry, sweetheart, i’m as safe as you’re gonna get."

“What--?” Edge broke off in confusion as Rus slipped to his feet. The languid way he held his body made him seem oddly graceful. Deliberately, Rus let the quilt slither down to the floor, leaving only the soft pajamas clinging to his bones. It was oddly distracting, didn’t give Edge a chance to back away as Rus curved a hand behind skull, holding him as he swooped in to press their mouths together. Pure shock stopped him from pulling away at first. He kept his teeth shut against the sly flick of Rus's tongue, pressed coaxingly, sliding wetly against Edge’s closed mouth.

Edge’s uniform left his spine exposed, deliberately so, no loose material to grab and it was a false vulnerability that had fooled more than one attacker. Only now it left him open to Rus’s clever fingers, his hand curving around his spine to skim knowingly over the bones and cartilage, teasing out flashes of unwanted pleasure and that was enough to wake Edge from his frozen shock.

He tore away, barely resisting the urge to shove Rus violently back, even as he fought the pulse of his own arousal, dizzying and unexpected. His own restraint was vanishingly low, worn by lack of sleep and the frustrated anger at all of this, and he very nearly raised an attack.

“You—” he broke off, too furious to even form words.

But his anger faded as he caught sight of Rus's face, the angry desperation obvious behind his smirk, "what? you wanted to take the lead? c’mon then, let’s head out to the dance floor. or back up to your room, the bed’s more comfortable."

Edge exhaled shakily, clinging to his self-control. "Don't," he said firmly. "Don't act like it's about…that."

He couldn’t say it wasn’t about sex, not without knowing what Rus had been through. But it definitely wasn’t about whatever Rus was trying to offer.

A harsh laugh, Rus’s eye lights raking down Edge’s body. "trying to say you don't want it?"

Not one minute ago, he would have been able to unequivocally say yes. Before he'd distractedly licked his teeth and tasted the unexpected sweetness left behind, before he’d felt Rus pressed tight against him, his hands teasing, his mouth offering silent promises. But Rus was far too good at reading expressions to try for a lie.

Another truth, then.

He set his hands on Rus’s shoulders and that smirk widened. Only to falter as Edge pushed him firmly back into the chair, gathering up the quilt to wrap around him again.

"I didn't help you so I could try to fuck you," Edge said, bluntly. “If that was my plan, there were certainly easier ways to go about it, don’t you think?”

That sullen anger was crumbling away, sockets too wide as Rus looked up at Edge. It made him seem startlingly vulnerable and whatever defenses Rus usually kept up were badly formed, leaving behind only tired confusion. "then why? i don't get it. i don’t understand why you want me to stay. why’re you helping me at all, you don’t even like me.”

And Edge didn’t know how to explain it to him, not if Rus didn’t understand. It wasn’t about liking, nor was it anything to do with his friendship with Blue. He considered it for a moment, taking the time to allow his roused magic to settle.

Slowly, piecing the words together as carefully as he’d solve a puzzle, “If I came to your home and I was hurt, would you turn me away?”

Rus blinked up at him and there, finally, dawning realization. If Rus hadn’t been so exhausted, so very hurt, he likely would have drawn the right conclusion on his own. But all his normal cocky confidence had briefly been beaten out of him and there was no faulting him for not being able to think straight when he could barely stand.

There was still a lingering hint of confusion, but Rus shook his head and whispered, “no. i wouldn’t.”

“Then please allow me to be at least as decent as you are.”

That dry statement earned him a startled laugh. “yeah, i guess i can manage that. okay.”

“Okay,” Edge repeated, softly. “Now, are you going to let me feed you.”

“my decency only goes so far.” Rus drew up a leg, resting his chin on his knee. “if you’re gonna keep insisting on feeding me, i’ll take it.”

“Then come on.”

He didn’t trust Rus’s legs to carry him all the way to the kitchen, and his distrust was proven when Rus only sighed wearily, struggling to his feet with what dwindling strength he had left.

“sorry,” Rus muttered, his head ducked low, eye lights on the floor.

“For what?” Edge countered. “Do you want my help?”

His nod was reluctant, embarrassed.

Edge slid an arm around him, careful to keep his hands from anywhere inappropriate. He still ended up half-carrying Rus to the kitchen, allowed him to sink into one of the other chairs with a relieved sigh. Rus fumbled to gather the quilt close again and Edge let him, allowed him to wrap himself back up in the soft folds.

“Let’s see,” Edge murmured, mostly to himself as he opened the fridge, perusing the contents thoughtfully. It was closer to lunch than breakfast and while Rus needed something to eat, his magic was likely unsettled. Something light and easy to manage would be best. There was a container of broth leftover from making dumplings a few nights before, and a couple eggs left in the door. Edge pulled out all of it, setting it on the counter. He set a pan on the burner and poured in the broth to heat. "Have you spoken with your brother?"

"yep."

Rus didn’t elaborate and Edge sighed, stirring the broth. “I would apologize for what you overheard when I was speaking with Red, but it would be a lie.” He heard Rus inhale sharply, but when he didn’t protest, Edge went on. “I won’t pressure you to speak about what happened. But I will admit I sent my brother looking for information. Evidence gets destroyed quickly in a place with weather as unstable as Snowdin, and if it was necessary, I didn’t want it to get lost.”

“that’s not a bad line of bullshit, you should stick with that one,” Rus said. “’cause, see, you don’t need evidence.” From the corner of his eye, Edge saw him shiver, a bare whisper as he said, “i already told you, they didn’t rape me.”

Edge cracked an egg into the hot broth, stirring it so it cooked in long threads. “Do you think because you weren’t raped, that what happened was in any way acceptable and shouldn’t be punished?”

But whatever openness had briefly shown itself closed off tight and Rus only muttered, “maybe i don’t want to talk about it.”

“Then we won’t,’ Edge agreed mildly. He let Rus retreat into silence, concentrating on the soup. He ladled out a small bowlful, enough to test Rus’s tolerance for food without making him worry about wasting it. Set it in front of him and watched as Rus fumbled for the spoon.

He ate it in small, steamy bites, and when it was finished, he gave Edge a small smile, “please sir, can i have some more?”

Edge let a smile of his own show, calling back as he took the bowl to the stove, “Luckily for you, I’m kinder than any Dickens story.”

“you are.” Quietly, from behind him.

He kept his expression placid, encouraging Rus to keep eating, and hiding the cold thoughts growing at the back of his mind. Red was the evidence seeker, but this time Edge was the one who found useful information, all packaged into a single word.

They.

The proximity alarms cut off that line of thought and Edge frowned, pulling out his phone to check the cameras. With the storm rising, there weren’t any Monsters he could think of that would try to either visit or attack right now. He squinted as the staticky picture came clear, sockets going wide as it showed him Blue staggering through the harsh winds, headed for the front door.

“I thought you said you talked to your brother?” Edge snapped. He shoved the phone towards Rus, showing him his brother’s determined approach.

But Rus seemed as surprised as he was, the spoon falling from his hand. He looked stricken, a faint flush of agitated magic rising in his cheek bones. “i did. i never told him i was here, just that i’d be back soon.”

Edge exhaled slowly and nodded. “Stay here.”

He left Rus in the kitchen, door carefully closed as he made his way to the front door to start on the locks. With any luck, he could deal with this quickly and send Blue back to Underswap, but he had his doubts.

Luck was in short supply in all the ‘verses lately, it seemed.

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Read Chapter Four

[mai-fanblog]

Review/Opinion of Angry Birds Movie 2

Warning!

Contains spoilers (but is to highlight some points)

The Good

Angry Birds Movie 2 in narrative themes is more structured in terms of story, is well posed and goes straight to the issue without so many detours unlike the previous one, in the main story is centered and does not lose its goal, which is well done.

The first and second acts are fine, but the best thing about the film was the plot twist of the third act that left me surprised.

The humour is good, the gags are good and there are some jokes better than others, but I'll specify it later; but I liked those tributes to the Looney Toons' humour.

The direction and the animation are good, has the added visual gags giving some personality and dynamism to the film doing something entertaining. The animation is good, nothing from another world, it is conventional, but effective.

The acting is quite good (mostly, there are some exceptions).

There are 3 important characters who shone brighter than others:

 First Red, who sees the most arrogant and proud side of himself, but who has a good justification for his attitude and seeing his greatest fear throughout the film, however his development was more than well learning to be humble and not be afraid to lose something that makes you feel good, because in the first if he was rejected by everyone for being an orphan until becoming the hero, in this expands that feeling of no longer being useful and execute well.

Zeta, the villain interpreted by Leslie Jones, steals the reflectors like a cynical villain, extravagant, thirsty for revenge and intelligently dangerous, giving an entertaining personality and enjoyable to see, giving quite funny and interesting scenes; if Leonard in the first cause chaos by stealing eggs, Zeta takes destruction and chaos to a new level that I quite like, and if that means killing birds and pigs that have nothing to do with her motives, she will do so without hesitation; giving to a good villain who has a good development at the end.

And surprisingly Mighty Eagle was also an important piece for this film, he let it be a joke to be someone who has an issue to resolve; in the third act this shows very well and leaves anyone satisfied. And having a direct relationship with Zeta further strengthened his participation and surpassed his expectations of these two.

Other characters that stood out the most were Glenn played by Eugenio Derbez who shines very well in both English and Latin Spanish and Debbie who has a very important role until the end of the story and is the most empathetic character in the film. And why not Axel...good dance there, and also Jerry and Carl as the bird version of Jasper and Horace (reference).

THE BAD

However, not everything is perfect, like everything, but I will say that some exaggerated some parts of the film.

Its strong point is its humour as several people have said, it is almost the same as the first, reducing the double-meaning humour and adult jokes, which is not bad, but it becomes childish; although it is a children's film, it does not mean that they should reduce some jokes and make them simple. Like the first is very over-saturated and only relies on the same humor several times. It's funny, but it gets tired after a few minutes.

There are characters that were very untapped; like Matilda and The Blues that if they had kept their original version, especially Jay (I don't say it as an offense, but it seemed very forced to me, only to be interpreted by JoJo Siwa and they changed their parents apart, what happened there?) would have been more useful for the mission.

(I don't like the reduction of Matilda's role from being the woman on the team who wants peace and helping the flock become Terence's "wife," but that's something personal that won't affect my opinion.)

Chuck and Bomb were reduced to just being jokes every time that they appear, although they still support Red, unfortunately they didn't develop it as much as the first one; Leonard still retains its charm, but also turned him into a joke even though he was a threat in the first movie almost finished with birds.

Courtney and Garry are very good characters, but unfortunately they didn't have much time on screen.

And characters like Pinky, Ella, and a few others had nothing memorable about them.

 Here it comes

Now the crux of the matter... "Silver", is intelligent and nothing more, offers nothing beyond solving the problem, if Zeta is also intelligent minimum showed something more than that quality. "Silver" is the "Mary Sue" and often contradicts Red, her attitude towards him at first was inappropriate, that is to say, he was also rude, but there was minimal context and if she was intelligent she would have let him go on the speed date without doing anything instead of criticizing him in front of everyone; she has nothing interesting in her being Chuck's sister and nothing more to tell about there. Her original version, being a falcon bred by pigs would have been more interesting and giving a much more powerful message.

Apart from that, "female empowerment" is very weak in execution and not very credible and makes the rest of the team act like fools, only Red questions her and agrees with her at the end and "toxic masculinity" doesn't convince me, as Red had a quite justifiable context in the first film.(if the latter, Rachel Bloom who plays her in the film, commented it in the premiere) Also that of "gender equality" which is highlighted every minute she appears is annoying, in the first where Matilda and Stella are thrown into the castle they simply do it and are not criticized for their gender.

(and I say that as a woman)

And the relationship between her and Red, already presided over it and I don't like it, as it fell into the cliché of the protagonist and the "empowered" woman end up together (even Zeta mocks that in a scene) and was also forced, if they didn't like each other at first and then suddenly like each other they're not convincing; "Silver" is the female character that helps Red (if we completely ignore that Matilda wanted to help him as in the first and it didn't work out for him), but she also criticized Red as well as the rest as the first , making her a hypocrite. If Red was also indifferent to her too, minimum there was context from the first film and it was understandable, different from "Silver" which only acts as the "intelligent".

In other words, with "Silver" is a character that only highlights a quality with nothing else to offer and that I do not generate any sympathy, it can be " cute " (apart from the fact that I didn't like the design, but that's personal), but it doesn't deliver anything new and that doesn't have a development in the story. If she had been a new and different character I believe her there (although I wouldn't have liked her too), but that wasn't the case and she changed to a character that was already established 4 years ago.

(I finally let off steam!!!!)

The story of the Hatchlings, obviously is funny, just like Scart of ice age, which only serves to make you laugh and then you have only one major participation in the end (like ice age 2), however it is unnecessary and I generate nothing, until only in the third act are useful.

Another thing that I don't like about the film is the reduction of the conflict between birds and pigs to a simple war of pranks; which bothers me a little bit, since the pigs tried to eat the eggs and reduce their subject matter which is a bit dark if one thinks about it to a rather ridiculous war of pranks, that doesn't concern the essence of the game, it's as if stealing and eating the unborn children of their enemies were in the background nothing important.

And their teamwork that presented us as something awkward for both sides, in the film they don't show us that, which is contradicted in the film's advertisements.

 CONCLUSION

Angry Birds Movie 2 is an enjoyable movie, but it doesn't have an essence of the game itself. It's fun, colorful and good gags, yet there's nothing extraordinary about it.

The director did a good job to get the film flowing.

Red, Zeta, Mighty Eagle, Debbie and Glenn steal the movie and the others are background noise.

It's a little higher than its predecessor, but only in the main story points and animation with good visuals.

Personally I don't consider it as the best movie based on a video game, but it's close to being one of the good ones, but it still has some notable flaws (since the best movies based on a video game are Street Fighter II: The Animeted Movie and Detective Pikachu, those are the ones that kept an interesting story and respect the essence of the game)

It is advisable, if you want to take the children to have a good time, as a fan of the franchise may be something bipolar, as there may be things that do not fit you.

[marvel-lous-things]

Frost Giants and Frozen Things

Words: <3k

Pairing: nothing romantic. Irondad. Accidental and unwilling Loki + Peter friendship. Thor being an annoying older brother. Pepperony and Thruce mention, because I am trash and couldn’t help myself.

Description: Loki doesn't want to watch a stupid movie made for midgardian children. Peter thinks he should. Especially because the movie in question involves ice, siblings and a happy ending. And some kick ass songs, damn what the critics say.

A/N: Welp. As promised. A 12:00 am idea brought to life. Hope ya’ll like :D

I spent three hours on this sksjksjs

#############################

When you get to be about 1500 years old, there isn't really much you can say you haven't done.

Take Loki, for instance.

If one were to ask the right people, one would receive (in frightening detail) about 3 million different anecdotes of Loki doing things that nobody in their right mind would ever do. Ever. Never ever. Even if they were paid for it.

But Loki had done these things, and oftentimes, for free.

A certain endeavour with a horse comes to mind. And one with offending the dwarfs. And dressing Thor up as a bride to get his hammer back. And- well, you get the idea.

And yet, while it would be easier to list the things he hasn't done than things he has, watching a Disney movie (surprisingly) landed on the former list...

...A goddamn travesty that one plucky kid from Queens intended to fix as soon as possible.

Which is why Loki found a very excited Peter Parker stuck to the outside of his bedroom window, one fine Sunday afternoon. And drew the curtains immediately over his face, much to the teenager's chagrin.

Peter, however, was not one to give up easily. And so began the insistent knocking on the window. And the subsequent yelling.

"MR LOKI SIR?"

Damn it.

"I WAS WONDERING IF YOU'D WANT TO WATCH A MOVIE WITH ME."

Ignore him, Loki told himself, ignore him and he'll go aw-

"I KNOW YOU'RE STILL THERE."

Damn it. He wasn't going to go away upon being ignored. Loki tried another approach.

"Leave, Parker, before I tell Stark about your algebra test."

"My what?"

"Your algebra test."

"I got 99% on it? And I told him already?"

Oh.

"Your chemistry test?"

"96%"

"Physics?"

"100%"

"Geometry?"

"92%"

"Trigonometry?"

"97%"

And that was the end of the list of all the subjects Tony cared about. Peter could've failed in the others and Tony would laugh and buy him ice cream to cheer him up. Tony had gotten into trouble with May, once, when he let Peter stay over time as a reward for getting 69% on his German test. So Loki threatening Peter about his other scores was pointless.

God damn it. Why was this kid so smart.

"I'm not interested. Go. Away."

Peter didn't go away.

"I THINK YOU'LL REALLY LIKE THIS ONE, SIR. IT'S A STORY OF TREACHERY, LOVE, AND SECOND CHANCES."

That caught Loki's attention, for a few seconds anyway. "Treachery, you say?"

Treachery was always fun.

"YEAH. ALSO THE MAIN CHARACTER IS REALLY COOL. I MEAN LITERALLY. SHE HAS ICE POWERS. AND SHE-"

The curtains opened suddenly, startling Peter enough for him to nearly lose footing and fall. Loki was disappointed that he didn't.

"Ice powers?"

"YEAH!" Peter was getting more and more shrill by the second. "SHE'S BASICALLY FORCED TO HIDE THEM ALL HER LIFE UNTIL ONE DAY THEY JUST COME OUT AGAINST HER WILL AND-"

That piqued the trickster God's attention. "Was she, by any chance, adopted?"

"WELL IT ISN'T MENTIONED EXPLICITLY BUT I THINK SHE WAS ‘CAUSE-"

"You don't have to yell."

"-Because her parents and her sister have brown hair but she's blonde! Also she's the only one in the family who can do magic! Mr Stark says I'm reading too much into a movie for kids. But I think there's a lot of subtext in there."

Loki raised a well groomed eyebrow, staring at Peter in careful deliberation. The plot of the movie being described to him hit closer to home than he would like to admit. Was it possible that it was, somehow, based off of him?

Of course, It was highly unlikely that humans would celebrate the life of someone who tried to enslave them by creating a motion picture in his honour.

But then again, humans were stupid.

He didn't realise he'd been staring too long (and too intensely) until he heard Peter clear his throat nervously.

"I really think you'd enjoy it. But if you don't want to-"

"No." Loki said definitively.

He watched as Peter's face fell, triggering the slightest hint of guilt in him. But he wasn't going to waste a few hours watching something that he doubted he would even like, when he could spend it on practicing his skills with a knife instead. It had been a while since he'd stabbed Thor. Loki didn't want to lose touch.

He closed the curtains once more, and began to walk away. Peter, however, gave one last, valiant effort towards his cause.

"The songs are great too, you know"

What the hell?

The kid was as stubborn as his father (Tony insisted he was simply Peter’s mentor, but he'd seen the way Tony looked at the kid).

"You're still here?"

Peter marched on, unperturbed. "They're deep. I especially like this one song about letting go of your past?" He cocked his head to the side, trying to peer through the small slit in between the two pieces of fabric shielding the room from his vision.

"It's about how she lived in fear and anger but finally managed to leave it all behind her. I thought you would appreciate that, Mr Loki."

Loki would, actually. He had been, after all, shunned by almost everyone for being different during his childhood. For not being the strong, valiant prince everyone expected him to be. Because he’d found comfort in magic and books, rather than in swords and armour, unlike his beefy blonde counterpart. 

But a watching a kid's movie? With this little twerp, no less?

Thor would ensure that Loki would never hear the end of it. But then again, when was the last time Loki let Thor's opinion stop him from doing anything at all?

"All right," Loki sighed, pretending to act defeated rather than interested, "I'll watch it if you'll get off my back."

"AWESOME!"

"I suppose so. Now go home."

Silence followed. Until Peter spoke again.

"Actually, I was hoping you would let me in?"

Loki groaned. "What now?"

"I'm sorry sir, I just left my homework in Mr Stark's workshop. Three days ago. And it was due yesterday. May will kill me if I don't submit it tomorrow, so if I could just go get it-"

"Then perish."

"Okay, that was absolutely perfect, and I wish I'd caught that on camera but I've really gotta-"

The window suddenly opened inwards, causing Peter to land facedown on the floor with a soft "ow". Loki hid the smirk that momentarily flitted across his face, and watched in amusement as the kid stammered over an apology and quite literally ran towards the workshop.

He hoped for Peter's sake that the movie would be good.

#############################

Monday, 6:00 pm.

After giving Peter’s words some careful thought, Loki actually found himself looking forward to watching the movie, unwilling as he was to admit it. And besides, even if he did admit it for some godforsaken reason, no one would actually believe him. Loki “I would rather spend time with a horse than you” Odinson, spending time with anyone, let alone Peter Parker, was unheard of.

Elsewhere, Tony was having trouble believing this exact thing.

“It’s okay, Pete,” Tony sighed, the sound very obviously exaggerated, “I understand if you don’t want to spend time with me. Just don’t lie about the reason.” 

Tony, however, sounded so unbearably dejected that Peter nearly burst into tears then and there. Tony had just been trying to get a rise out of Peter. Unfortunately, he’d been a little too successful.

“BUT MR STARK I LOVE SPENDING TIME WITH YOU, I SWEAR I JUST-“

“okay.”

“ HE’S NEVER WATCHED A DISNEY MOVIE BEFORE SO I THOUGHT-“

“uh-huh?”

“HE WAS MISSING OUT ON SO MUCH, I JUST-“

“Relax, I’m just messing with you. Go on your date with MJ or Ned or whoever the lucky kid is. I promise I won’t tell May,” He winked.

“I’M NOT HIDING A DATE! LOKI REALLY WANTED TO WATCH-“

“If it’s all the same to you,” came a very annoyed voice from the doorway of the workshop, “shall we commence our movie session? Or may I retreat to my chambers?”

Loki stood there, arms crossed and leaning against the wall, glaring at the red-faced teenager and the rather surprised man standing next to him.  He watched as Peter slowly turned to tony, triumph written all over his boyish face. Loki rolled his eyes.

“I mean, if you’d rather continue yelling at your father, I could just-“

“He isn’t my son-“

“Yeah, yeah. Save it.” He turned to Peter. “well?”

Peter nodded hastily, immediately running up the stairs, towards the living room.

Tony just stared after him in confusion. He still wasn’t sure what exactly he should be believing. On one hand, Loki himself seemed to be admitting that he was going to watch a Disney movie with Peter, but on the other hand,

Loki? Disney movie? What?

The only time those words could possibly go together was if Loki stabbed someone with a shard of the lion king DVD tony had lying around somewhere. Or something to that effect.

His internal war, however, was cut short by Loki turning on his heel. “I suppose I’ll be borrowing him for about two hours” he said, with an (attempted) air of mild contempt. Just before he disappeared up the stairs, however, Tony caught the unmistakable hint of a smile playing on the god’s lips.

Which, of course, just left the genius more confused than ever.

#############################

Loki did have to admit that the premise was more interesting than he’d expected. 

The humour was childish at best, but considering the fact that Peter seemed to very nearly choke on his popcorn every time they made a sad attempt at a joke, he decided to hold his scathing remarks back.

For now.

But apart from that, the plot was far too familiar for comfort. He had been reliably informed that the movie was not, in fact, about him (which nearly made him change his mind about watching it). And yet, here he was, the beginnings of tears building up in his eyes. The last time he’d felt such emotion was while watching a play based off his own supposed death. Thor hadn’t really appreciated it, though.

He let his mind wander a little, reminiscing on the plays he and Thor had watched as a child, recreating them in the comfort of their own home when they were left alone, with nothing to do. when they grew up, however, Loki started spending lesser and lesser time with his brother. he wondered if Thor felt the same way the younger sister in the movie- Anna, was it?- did. Hoping in vain for his brother to come out and talk to him.

He turned his attention back to the unnecessarily large TV screen when it showed the younger princess- Anna, he reminded himself again- agree to marry a man she’d just met.

“Well then,” Loki shook his head disapprovingly, “she and Thor would get along, wouldn’t they?.”

Peter knew that Loki was probably referring to Thor and Jane’s whirlwind romance, but he didn’t say anything. Heimdall could be watching. And while Bruce and Thor seemed to be very happy together, he wouldn’t take kindly to Peter dissing his former paramour. And the last thing Peter wanted was to get Thor mad.

The odd pair sat in silence, Loki giving each and every word uttered on screen a lot more thought than anyone would have deemed necessary. He hung on to every scene, every second of music, all of it gluing him to his seat. Peter excused himself to go to the bathroom at one point. Loki simply scoffed at the inefficiency of human bladders, and didn’t bother to budge until Peter came back from his short break with a refill of popcorn.

And then came the song Peter had no doubt been waiting for. Loki could tell Peter loved it because he began singing along, albeit agonisingly off-key. Loki rolled his eyes in second hand embarrassment, but again. Didn’t say anything. He liked to think that his mother would have been proud. Childish as that sounded.

Eventually, Loki began humming along too. Except less off-key, of course. He couldn’t help it. Replace a few words of the song with his own, and it could very well have been about him. Also, it was catchier than he would like to admit.

Just then, Loki heard the sound of approaching footsteps, stopping somewhere in the room. Loki frowned a little. The only reason anyone would stop would be to either talk to him or Peter, both of which annoyed him. He didn’t want pointless conversations interrupting his entertainment. If he wanted that, he would’ve just watched the movie with Thor.

“Having fun?” came a feminine voice from behind the sofa.

Loki didn’t bother to turn around. Whoever it was could wait.

He only recognised the voice as Pepper’s when he saw her ring-adorned hand affectionately ruffle Peter’s hair.

“Yes, miss Potts.” Peter smiled, not turning around either. He seemed to somewhat agree with Loki about interruptions, but was too polite to ignore Pepper.

“May dropped off some cupcakes for you, but I accidentally left them in Mr Stark’s workshop, so I would hurry if I were you.”

Pepper sighed, thanking him as she left the room, her footsteps echoing crisply on the marble floor.

Only then did Loki turn away from the screen, his eyes landing on Peter. He marveled at how the kid seemed to be comfortable with everyone around him. Of all the people who came by the tower- Steve, Bucky, The bird guys, Black widow, hell, even the pizza delivery guys- all seemed to enjoy being around Peter. Loki noted, with some jealousy, that Thor enjoyed the kid’s company more than his own. He would never tell Thor that, though.

In all honesty, Peter seemed to have simply walked out of a Disney movie himself.

Loki felt a keen twinge of regret that he’d become estranged from his family until it was too late to rectify it. He pushed the thoughts away, however, choosing to not deal with them at the moment (or any moment, for that matter). He had a plot to follow.

And that he did, just as closely as ever, until the treachery Peter had mentioned occurred.

And when it did? For the first time in years, Loki, calm, eloquent Loki, stood up and screamed at the top of his voice.

“WHAT THE FUCK?”

Peter was startled, although he completely understood Loki's reaction.

“Mr Loki please sit dow-“

“WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?

“I know, I hate Hans too, but please si-“

“HE SAID “IF ONLY THERE WAS SOMEONE OUT THERE WHO LOVED YOU”? THAT’S THE WORST FUCKING PLOT TWIST I’VE EVER SEEN.”

“I agree, but-“

“DOES HE DIE IN THE END? DOES HE FUCKING DIE IN THE END?”

Peter didn’t reply. He wasn’t about to spoil it, oh no. He didn’t put all that effort into getting the arrogant god to sit down and watch this with him only to spoil the ending. And no doubt have him leave before watching the whole thing.

“You’ll find out” Peter smiled innocently.

Which, of course, only made Loki want to choke the answer out of him.

He quelled his urges, however, and sat down, heaving a sigh of relief when the character with the unfortunate sideburns (Loki refused to address the bastard by name) did in fact die, and all was set right. 

Loki got the happy ending he was promised.

He also got tissues for Peter, because the kid wouldn’t stop bawling his eyes out, no matter how many times Loki threatened to strangle him until he stopped. Sure, the ending left Loki’s eyes a little misty as well, but this?

Loki awkwardly left him there on the sofa, hoping someone would else would find and deal with the sobbing mess of a teenager instead.

He had other things to do. Like look up more movies to watch.

#############################

 “So, brother, I heard you spent some time with Stark’s son?” Thor said, amusement (and chocolate syrup) plastered across his face.

“He isn’t my s- why do I even bother?” Tony sighed, tossing Thor a washcloth to wipe the sticky mess off his majestic beard. Someone really ought to teach him to not drink the syrup from the bottle.

“That, Stark, I do not know.” He grinned, turning his attention back to his irritated brother.

“Well?”

“Well what?”

Thor rolled his eyes. Loki could be so difficult sometimes. 

“The movie, dear brother! Did you like it? I know I did!”

“He pestered you into watching it too?”

“Pester me? Of course not! I’d seen posters of it the last time I’d come to earth, so I asked him about it, and we decided to watch it together.” Thor shrugged, like it was obvious. He omitted the part where Peter nearly tackled him to the ground in a hug.

“Peter told me you liked it. And I think you would have too, considering…” he gestured vaguely towards Loki's…entire body.

Loki frowned, “Considering what?”

Thor fidgeted with his mug of hot chocolate. “Don’t be daft, brother. You know what I’m talking about”

“No, really, I don’t”

Thor was getting more uncomfortable by the second. Loki reveled in it.

“No, I just- I thought you’d relate to her- her struggles, and- The ice-“ Thor stammered, before Loki put up an impatient hand.

“I was joking. And yes, the movie was…tolerable” Loki lied through his teeth. He’d absolutely loved it, but the day Thor finds that out is the day Loki stabs him in the face. Again.

“Just tolerable?” Thor yelled, incredulous. “That movie is the best damn thing I’ve watched in years! Way better than your stupid little overly dramatic plays! I knew you were haughty, brother, but to this extent-”

His voice got even louder, prompting Tony to awkwardly scurry out of the kitchen, 50th coffee cup in hand.

“If you don’t take your words back right now, Loki, I SWEAR TO VALHALLA-“

Loki cringed. “Okay! Fine! I liked it! There, you happy?”

Thor beamed, taking a big swig of his hot chocolate. “Absolutely.”

“Good,” Loki smirked in response,

“Now let it go”

  #############################

Somewhere in the vents, an excited squeak came from the boy who’d heard the obvious Frozen reference.

He pulled out a crumpled list titled “People who haven’t watched frozen” and a badly chewed pen from his pocket, crossing out Loki's name with a smile on his face.

Up next, Anthony Edward Stark.

#############################

A/N part 2: HELLO!! THANKS FOR READING IT THROUGH!!! YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW MUCH IT MEANS TO ME!

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