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604to647 · 4 months ago

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Third Time's the Charm

5.3K / Detective Tim Rockford x fem!Reader

Summary: After two failed attempts, Tim finally takes you on a first date.

Warnings: Mostly fluffy with a wee sprinkle of angst/anxiety/insecurity (on Tim's part), soft!Tim, nicknames as usual (Shutterbug, one [1] baby, one [1] sweetheart), drinking/wine, kissing, allusion to smut.

A/N: Another instalment of The Rockford Portfolio! As always, these one-shots can be read as standalones, but if you're curious, this one takes place right after Marine Attraction (and I guess almost a year before Husband Material?) I hope you enjoy as we continue to jump around on the timeline of this couple's relationship!

Photography inspired dividers by @saradika-graphics 📸 Series Masterlist

Detective Tim Rockford doesn’t get nervous. Not after more than two decades on the force, facing down dangerous felons and seeing the seedier side of life in LA. In his line of work the difference between nervousness and nerves of steel was often a bullet. Detective Tim Rockford doesn’t get nervous.

So understandably, it took him a moment or two to recognize the feeling vibrating throughout his body, but undoubtedly, it’s nervousness. Big, bad Detective Tim Rockford is nervous for your first date.

It’s not even regular first date jitters, where one is unsure if the spark will be there or if the evening will be full of awkward pauses; you and Tim have talked on the phone or texted everyday since the Grandma Ursula verdict and the conversation is always easy flowing. He finds you to be smart, funny and oh so very sweet – he’s positive that chemistry won’t be a problem with you.

The fact that this date has been over half a year in the making isn’t even what worries him. He might be concerned about the propensity of reality to rarely live up to expectations after a prolonged build up, if it wasn’t for the fact that everything about you that he’s gotten to know so far, has surpassed the you he’s been imagining in his mind for the last seven months. Fantasy has nothing on real world you, of that much Tim is sure.

No. Tim’s nervous because he’s not even sure you want to go on this first date with him anymore. Not when this is actually the third attempt at a first date, with him having cancelled on you twice already.

The first time, he had caught you right as you stepped out the front door of your building, technically before you left for the restaurant but not until after you had spent an inordinate amount of time fussing over your outfit, hair, make-up and internalizing your friends’ pep talks (Tim didn’t know about this last part). The beat cops had brought in a perp late in the afternoon on some misdemeanor, who upon offered a deal to avoid a third strike conviction, had started spilling information about everyone under the sun. When the detective in the interrogation room heard the names of several people connected to Mr. Pie, she had immediately called upstairs to Tim who didn’t have a choice but to ask you if the two of you could postpone.

The second time, the two of you actually made it to the restaurant. You were sipping on your pre-dinner drinks while perusing the menu when the call came in from the precinct that the Chief of Detectives, under fire from the commissioner, was at the precinct and had called everyone involved in the Pie case in. No explanation or details. Or exceptions.

You had been more than understanding. According to Tim, shortly after the closing of the Grandma Ursula case, the long hard work of detangling and dismantling Mr. Pie’s large criminal network had begun, and to the frustration of many (or so it would seem), even several months later, the police had made little headway. You assured Tim there was no need for his fervent apologies and refused his offer to pay for your dinner when you said you were happy to stay and have a meal by yourself.

Now, a full month after the reading of the Grandma Ursula verdict, Tim is finally taking you on a first date (again). He chooses a different restaurant this time, determined to erase any memory of his first two disastrous attempts to take you out, hoping you won’t hold the outcome of your first two first dates against him - though he would honestly understand if you did. Tonight has to go perfectly.

Turns out Tim had nothing to worry about. You meet him at the new restaurant looking radiant and in a perfectly good mood – no hint of snark about his two previous (failed) attempts to take you out; he should have known – you’re too good natured and frank for that type of passive aggressive behaviour. In fact, you seem positively giddy – complimenting him on his restaurant choice and assuring him sincerely how much you’ve been looking forward to this. Your sweet disposition puts him at ease faster than the whiskey he orders when you’re finally seated.

Tim can’t take his eyes off of you; it’s not just that you look beautiful tonight, because you do – hair and make-up soft but sultry and an outfit chosen (for him? He can only dream) to flatter your alluring figure, hugging your curves in all the right places. No, it’s not just that. It’s the brightness and charm you exude in even the tiniest things you do – from the way your eyes twinkle when they dance over the menu, and the musical lilt of your voice as you cheerfully ponder the myriad of options you’re interested in trying, to the way your fingers curve around the stem of your prosecco glass when you give it a little swirl before bringing it up to your perfectly plush lips. You’re just so effortlessly graceful and at ease, quiet confidence emanating from your very being. Tim thinks he could get drunk off of just being near you.

And that isn’t even the best part about being with you. Tim finds it so easy to relax around you, both of you taking natural turns carrying the conversation that never stops flowing – you talk about everything: hobbies, work, what you love about the city, what you hate about the city, the latest NY Times Connections puzzle, and what feels like everything in between.

Turns out you know a little (lot) about wine (something about a college wine tasting course that you flunked and you’ve been trying to redeem yourself ever since) – Tim sinks back comfortably in his chair and listens to you talk about tannins and noses and oak barrels like it’s the most interesting thing he’s ever heard, gladly and with genuine curiosity handing you the wine menu to pick the bottle for the evening. He watches with amusement as you cross reference yours and his menu selections with the wine listings, brow furrowing in adorable concentration as you take your charge seriously. He likes this about you – that you always seem to care and take care. When the Barolo you choose is uncorked and poured, Tim finds it washes over his tongue wonderfully. You chatter on about how it’s a wine that’s bright and firm in its acidity, but known for a subtle complexity despite its lightness in body, all while floating delicate floral notes. Tim smiles to himself and wonders if anyone’s ever studied the correlation between wine characteristics and the people that choose them; he may very well be indulging in a glass of you. Your enthusiasm catching, he thinks you might turn him into a wine guy just yet.

Are you talking too much? You’re talking so much. You can’t help it; not only does the conversation flow so easily with Tim, but you’re just so darn nervous to finally be going out with him. You had thought it terrible luck that your first two tries at a first date had to be cancelled and in truth, worried that Tim might not think a third try to be worth it. After all, it had been seven long months of no contact while the Grandma Ursula case finished up – perhaps, there wasn’t enough interest or incentive for him to try and force something that didn’t seem to be happening quite as easily as it should.

But maybe what they say is true and the third time really is the charm. You’re sitting across from one of the handsomest, smartest men you’ve ever met and having the most wonderful time. Tim’s company is beyond pleasant; he’s far more interesting and charismatic than you have been imaging for all these months. And attractive, sigh. Not only does he look sharp and striking in his perfectly fitting suit, but his dreamy eyes light up whenever he’s listening to you and his velvety baritone voice makes everything he says sound practically hypnotic. It takes everything you have not to drool and gawk at the way his black rimmed glasses sit on his strong nose and frame his perfect face. So you talk and talk and talk, hoping you’re not making a fool of yourself.

The Barolo pairs perfectly with the mouthwatering food served by the restaurant; when the waiter brings your plates, you amuse Tim when you ask if he would mind if you take some photos. He amuses you right back when he asks why you don’t use the flash since the restaurant is so dimly lit – he settles in, grinning at you like a love sick fool as you espouse the evil of using flash photography in restaurants. Tim thinks he could listen to you talk about anything at length, but when you go on about your newly reignited passion for photography, the way your face lights up with pure joy cements it as his favourite topic of yours. It reminds him of the first he met you.

Near the end of your meal, Tim’s about to reminisce about how the two you met at the aquarium when his eyes are drawn to a figure crossing the restaurant dining room; he forgets what he was about to say and just stares at the man who goes outside to take a phone call, hissing as the door closes, “Shit. Buchanan.”

“What’s a Buchanan?” you had watched Tim’s expression change, but instinctively felt that you shouldn’t turn your head to see who or what he was looking at.

Looking back at you, Tim feels a tinge of regret that he’s about to let work intrude on your time together once again, “Delroy Buchanan. He’s one of Mr. Pie’s top lieutenants, but he’s rarely even seen. We’ve been trying to track him for ages, but he’s always managed to give any tail the slip – that is if we can even find him in order to put a tail on him in the first place. I can’t believe he’s here. I wonder how long he’s been sitting in this restaurant and I didn’t even know,” Tim’s kicking himself, but it’s not really his fault – Buchanan’s table must be on the other side of the room somewhere behind the bar: a blind spot.

“Do you need to go?” you ask softly, your face falls slightly for a second before you recover, not wanting to make the detective feel bad.

But Tim easily catches your look of disappointment, “No, no, of course not. Do you mind if I make a call at the table? I need to try and set-up a surveillance team.”

You nod agreeably, “Do you want me to watch the door? You don’t want him to get spooked if he sees you, right?”

Tim regards you with a stunned expression for a second, astonished at how your brain is already two steps ahead of his.

Shrugging, you grin, “I mean, you were on TV during the Grandma Ursula case? You’re kind of famous, Detective Rockford.”

“Ah, I see now. You only agreed to go out with me for the celebrity treatment,” he shoots back, but he’s smiling as he ducks his head down and faces away from the door as he calls in to the precinct.

Over the next few minutes, you overhear a few murmured words from Tim’s conversation but mainly concern yourself with nonchalantly watching the front door – you pretend to take photos of the restaurant’s décor, you peek over the dessert menu you’re supposed to be reading, you feign scrolling through your phone.

When Tim gets off his call, you’re pleased to report your observations: a sharply dressed man, who by the description you provide is, in fact, Buchanan, came back into the restaurant less than a minute ago and is sitting with his back to you at a table just on the other side of the bar. He’s in Tim’s blind spot, but you can see about half of the back of his head easily without craning your neck. His table has been cleared and he’s sitting across from a pretty brunette girl wearing a red Diane Von Furstenberg patterned wrap dress.

Tim is speechless, he doesn’t even know where to begin with you – your observation to detail is one thing, but it’s the effort and earnestness you’re putting into his work, work that’s interrupting your date, that he can’t quite wrap his mind around. How are you real?

“Brunette, you said?”

You nod, confirming the hair colour of Buchanan’s dining companion.

“Hmmmm… not his wife then. Buchanan’s married to a blonde, although he’s supposedly in the middle of a divorce,” Tim muses. He knows he should feel guilty about letting the job intrude on yet another first date, but he just feels so comfortable around you that he’s instinctively falling into his habit of thinking out loud whenever a case picks up, “I wish we had a clue as to when he was going to leave – the surveillance team is on their way, but if the timing is off, he’ll see them. It might not even matter though. The street outside is pretty empty – not a good place to start a tail, too easily noticeable. Buchanan’s been too much of a pro at evading us so far, we can’t afford to lose this opportunity… fuck.”

Near the end of his rambling, Tim notices that you’re not looking at him anymore, but have a sort of far off look in your eyes. Double fuck. Of course he’s boring you with this cop talk. And moreover, likely offending you too – you’re probably thinking that his work has ruined a third (and probably final) first date attempt. He can’t blame you, of course – no one wants to be made to feel like less than a priority, and while that’s certainly not how Tim feels about you, he knows he’s doing a terrible job of showing it.

Before he can apologize for his work barging in on your date yet again, you stand and move past where he’s sitting. You give Tim’s shoulder a little squeeze as you walk by, “I’ll be back. Just going to use the restroom.” Then you’re gone, without having heard any of his apologies.

Well, that’s it, thinks Tim, miserably. You’re probably halfway out the bathroom window by now. That or texting your friends to plan some kind of exit strategy emergency text that you’ll deploy when you return. Disappointment and defeat claw at his chest. For seven months, the memory of you had carried him through some of the harder days and disheartening lows of the Grandma Ursula case. Like a beacon of light at the end of the tunnel, the memory of you had motivated him in the darkest hours of the investigation, offering him the hope that there was something good waiting for him when he finally put the case to rest. Now all his yearning and anticipation had come to nothing, the potential of what could have been evaporating before even fully taking shape.

Tim’s in the middle of contemplating if it would be more preferable (less pathetic?) to finish dinner here by himself with a few more whiskeys than he had planned on, or deal with the looks of pity from his colleagues and join the surveillance team on their mission tonight, when you slide back into your seat across from him, positively beaming.

If Tim is surprised by your return or the ecstatic look on your face, it’s nothing compared to how unprepared he is for the words that come spilling out of your mouth.

In a hushed whisper, you excitedly share the information that’s almost bubbling out of you, “Ok! Listen to this, Detective Rockford! They’re done their dessert, but Buchanan always has an after dinner Irish coffee, so you’ve got at least fifteen minutes before they leave. They’re going straight to the marina after this - he has a slip there that he keeps under a different name so his wife can’t get it in the divorce!! It’s number 55, cause that’s the last World Series the Dodgers won in Brooklyn. That’s where Buchanan’s from, did you know that? I bet you did.”

Tim did know that, but how did you?!

You continue on cheerily, “Anyways, Buchanan’s supposed to meet someone aboard his sailboat tonight, so he’ll drop his girlfriend off at the Marina Plaza Hotel first and he’s promised her that the meeting won’t take longer than an hour. Sorry, I don’t know who he’s meeting! I didn’t ask – I thought that might be too suspicious.”

You’re finally finished, looking a bit flushed with pride and excitement, patiently waiting for his response.

“How did you learn all this?” You couldn’t have been gone more than ten minutes; Tim knows seasoned detectives that wouldn’t have been able to obtain the amount of information you just did after hours of interrogation.

Cupping your own face in your hands, you lean forward with your elbows on the table, eyes crinkling with elation, “Oh! I made friends with the girlfriend in the bathroom! I was watching their table for you and when I saw her get up, I decided to follow her – her name is Angela and she’s really nice. And Buchanan’s actually quite good to her despite, in my opinion, dragging out divorcing his wife for a bit too long. Anyways, I asked about her lip combo and we got chatting – I told her I was on a first date with a super handsome and charming guy, and that I was crazy nervous because I liked you a lot but had a suspicion that you were married!” You drop your mouth open comically, pretending to be aghast. “She told me that sometimes married guys aren’t that bad and told me alllll this stuff about Buchanan, included how he always treats her super special on their nights together – which is how I found out about their plans tonight!”

As he listens to you reveal your methods, Tim is completely dumbfounded. Tim’s so used to his work and his (some would say) unhealthy dedication to the job pushing people away (or worse, eliciting a morbid curiosity, as if his cases were some kind of sick entertainment), he never imagined that you might be any different. But here you are, not only completely understanding of how his work is integral to his life, but carving a space for yourself around it and through you own initiative, gone out of your way to help him. He’s amazed by you. Grateful for you.

“I love you!” It slips out before Tim can stop it, “Oh, wait…” he’s about to start stuttering when he hears your laugh, light and melodic.

“I know what you mean,” you grin, pointing at his phone to encourage him to relay the information you gathered to the waiting surveillance teams.

I don’t think you do, Tim thinks, glancing back at you with reverence as you go back to studying the dessert menu. He sends out the information obtained and a few directives to the team lead, getting an affirmative that a secondary team will set up at the marina while the first team moves to a spot enroute in order to be less detectable when they begin their tail. Satisfied with the updated strategy, Tim turns his full attention back to you and the date – committed to letting his colleagues handle Buchanan for the rest of the evening.

After the waiter leaves with your order for the crème brulé, Tim jests, “Just for the record, I’m not married, Shutterbug.”

Giggling, you let out whoosh of air, making a silly whew sound, “Good! Even though Angela made it sound like it wasn’t that bad, I don’t think I want to share you, Detective.” Your eyes twinkle with playfulness, but you’re not lying.

“And you think I’m super handsome and charming?”

“Undoubtedly. That part I was very honest with her about. And the fact the I was nervous too… because I liked you so much,” you feel vulnerable admitting so much on first date, but it’s been seven months of putting your feelings for this man on hold, daydreaming about him and questioning sometimes if the connection you had felt with him is even real – you don’t want to waste any more time playing coy.

“I was nervous too,” confesses Tim, “also because I like you quite a lot, but mainly because I think I really fucked up this date before even going on it.”

You tilt your head quizzically – you can’t imagine Tim fucking anything up; he strikes you as being beyond competent at anything he deems worth doing. You feel lucky that he’s made the effort to try and repeatedly take you out despite being obviously incredibly busy.

At your silence and confused expression, Tim presses on, wishing to apologize since he didn’t get a chance to earlier, “My cases take up a lot of my time. I work a lot - too much, probably. I'm out of practice when it comes to making sure it doesn’t overrun my personal life, too. I’m sorry that it keeps taking over our dates. I promise, when it comes to you, work isn’t my priority.”

You’re so touched by Tim’s sweet words. You can’t imagine feeling resentful of Tim’s commitment to his job and you want to make sure he knows that, “Don’t be sorry. Your love for your work and the care you take to do it well so that the rest of us can be safe is one of the things I like best about you. You make me feel special just by making an effort, Tim. You don’t have to be worried about me feeling like I’m in competition with your job.”

“There’s no competition, Shutterbug.”

A warmth spreads throughout your chest at Tim’s quiet declaration; almost taken surprise by the surge of affection and desire you suddenly feel for this man, you try to cover up with some lighthearted teasing, “Besides, this was fun! Can we work cases on all our dates, Detective?”

“I’ll take you on as many dates and work as many cases with you as you’d like, Shutterbug.”

Damn it, you smooth talker, you, Detective Rockford. It’s ludicrous to be expected to fight your attraction and hunger for him if Tim insists on being so darn charming. So, you don’t fight it.

Staring into Tim’s deep chocolate brown eyes and seeing the gaze of longing reflected, you sigh and drop your eyes to his perfectly kissable lips. He watches your tongue dart out and give your delectable upper lip a barely noticeable little swipe and suddenly he can’t stand it either - another minute passing without kissing you just simply will not do. Tim leans across the table, barely able to conceal the shiver of delight that runs up his spine when he sees you leaning in to meet him; when your lips touch, the bright spark that ignites warms you where you connect until it converts to a low humming current that runs through your body, resting and collecting between your legs. Tim’s mouth is plush and inviting, and when you press your lips to his, he matches each brush of your pillowy soft lips with a deeper, hungrier one of his own. You can’t help but let one low moan escape your throat, and when your mouth opens to make the corresponding ‘O’ shape, Tim quietly licks in.

Maybe it’s a bit much for an over the table kiss in a fancy restaurant, but this kiss has been a long time in the making, packed to the brim with months of longing and hopes finally realized; you can’t quite bring yourself to care if people are staring. This is the perfect first kiss with the perfect man.

So lost in this, your earth shattering first kiss, Tim doesn’t even notice Buchanan leaving the restaurant hand-in-hand with a giggling Angela; persuaded to part from you only by the unceremonious arrival of your dessert.

---

Afterwards, Tim offers to walk you home from the restaurant, rather than take a cab – you eagerly accept. The normally easy twenty-minute walk takes well over forty-five. Walking with your fingers laced through his, you pull Tim this way and that, pointing out all your favourite neighbourhood haunts that you want to introduce him to. Tim can’t stop smiling at the way you want to make future plans with him. He agrees to it all.

You can’t go more than a couple blocks without kissing him; Tim is such a good kisser. His lips molds perfectly to yours as if he was made for you, and his talented tongue sends a tingle down the back of your throat that radiates all the way to your fingertips with every exploratory trip it makes into your mouth. By the time you’re a block away from your building, you’re positively dizzy with want thinking about what else that tongue might be capable of.

When you reach the front door of your complex, you shyly slip your hands under the front of Tim’s suit jacket, feeling the hard wall of muscle underneath, “Detective Rockford, thank you for a wonderful evening.”

“Pleasure was all mine, Shutterbug. I can’t wait to do this again.”

You glance up at him and find his expression tender, but his eyes dark; it emboldens you. Grabbing on to the lapels of his jacket, you use it to pull yourself up so you can whisper low into his ear, “Normally, I don’t invite guys up on the first date, but technically… this is our third first date, so…”

You let your voice trail off and look at Tim, searching his eyes and pleading with your own for where you hope you both want the night to lead.

Pulling you close and pressing his forehead to yours, Tim grins, “Every detective knows that even good rules can get tossed out on a technicality.” You giggle at his corny cop joke and kiss him hard and fast before practically dragging him inside.

---

You stir in the middle of the night to the low vibrations of Tim speaking in hushed tones on his phone behind you, already missing the weight of his arm around your bare body that you had so comfortably been sleeping under.

Finishing his conversation, Tim hangs up and returns to curl around you, arm snaking around your waist, his wide hands coming to a rest just below your naked breasts; you shift back against him and murmur with a smile, “Did they get him?”

Tim presses a soft kiss to your hair, grinning at the intuitiveness of your question, “No, not tonight, but yes.”

You turn in his arms, intrigued by his answer, and open your eyes to a sight that sets your heart a flutter: Tim is positively beaming.

“Okay Detective, tell me the good news please,” you grin right back.

Tim can’t contain himself - he’s more than pleased to share the good news with you, especially since you played such a crucial role in tonight’s win, “The teams successfully put a tail on Buchanan without him knowing – they went to the marina just like you said. The second team staked out the meeting at the slip you told us about and you’ll never guess who he was meeting with!”

“Who?” you wouldn’t have the faintest idea of where to begin guessing, but you play along - Tim’s excitement is rubbing off on you.

“The Accountant.” Tim says this with such gusto that you can’t help but giggle, happy for him.

Tim’s heart soars at the sound before he continues, “The Accountant handles all the money and books for Mr. Pie. He’s even more elusive than Buchanan. There was a handoff on the boat and the second team followed the Accountant to a drop site afterwards. They let him make the drop and then took him into custody right after. Now we know one more location that Mr. Pie operates out of – we’re going to stake out that building and figure out what they do there before arresting everyone inside.” Tim looks positively gleeful at the thought.

“And what about Buchanan?” you can’t help it, you’re invested.

“Oh, we let him go back to hotel; first team is all set up on the same floor - he won’t be able to make a move without them knowing. We’ll let him go about his day a little bit tomorrow before we pick him up. Didn’t want to take him and The Accountant in too close together in case it spooks Mr. Pie.” Internally, Tim is grateful for the misdirection tactic; it will eliminate any connection that the intel came from Angela, therefore erasing the role you played in tonight’s operation. Not that he isn’t eternally grateful for your help, but he doesn’t want you formally involved in any of his cases again.

“Oh, that’s good. I’m glad that you let him have his night with Angela. You won’t have to take her in, will you?”

“No, she should be okay. You care about her, eh?”

“She was nice! I liked her. Plus, if I got to have my perfect night with my “married man”, she should at least have hers,” you quip.

Tim laughs, giving you an affectionate pinch on your hip before his expression turns sincere and his voice drops, “Thank you so much, Shutterbug. None of this would have been possible without you and your help. I can’t thank you enough for… caring about my work. For giving me another chance. Just being you.”

He looks at you so intensely and with such devotion that you find yourself warming beneath his gaze despite your current state of nakedness. Pressing a soft kiss to his lips, you do a mini shimmying dance of victory in his arms, “You’re welcome, baby. Now tell me, is there some sort of rewards incentive program for helping out handsome detectives with their cases?”

“Oh yes. You were automatically enrolled when I took your phone at the aquarium…” he grins, playing along, “… for that, you earned a date with said detective.”

“Right, very good prize,” you wiggle a little more before pressing yourself against Tim’s hard, bare chest, “… and for helping with the surveillance on Buchanan tonight? What did I earn for that?”

Tim’s eyes sparkle devilishly and he lowers his lips to your ear, voice low and husky, “I think you were paid in two… no, three orgasms for that, sweetheart. We’re all square.”

A little gasp escapes your throat, Tim’s words taking you back to your marathon sex from earlier this evening. Images of naked limbs and sweaty bodies entangled, Tim’s beautiful, girthy cock barely fitting in your hands, and his face buried between your legs flash through your mind. You suddenly feel very flushed, fresh arousal starting to coat your inner thighs again.

You extract the hand that’s pinned from beneath Tim’s side and make a peace sign with it, holding it up so Tim can see, “Two, Detective Rockford. I believe I helped you apprehend two criminals tonight: Buchanan and The Accountant.”

Tim chuckles at your triumphant grin, realizing that he should probably get used to this: the perfect woman, always two steps ahead of him, outsmarting the famous Detective Rockford at every turn and reducing him to a puddle at her feet every time. The two of you have only had one date, and he’s already head over heels for you.

Rolling you onto your back and looming his big frame over your welcoming body, Tim concedes happily, “You’re right, Shutterbug – I owe you one. You intend on collecting right now?”

At seeing you adorably bite your lower lip bashfully while nodding with eagerness, Tim gives the thin sheet covering your naked bodies a quick flick of his wrist so it flies up, quickly diving underneath and letting the fabric float gently over his head. As he kisses his way down your body, he grins against your warm, soft skin when he hears your squeals turn to moans above him.

Yep, best third first date ever.

#tim rockford #tim rockford fic #tim rockford fanfiction #tim rockford x you #tim rockford x f!reader #tim rockford x reader #pedro pascal characters fanfiction #pedro pascal characters

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dazed-and-confused23 · 6 months ago

Note

Can I please request a fic where Dusty the Deathclaw has a close call? Like maybe the Enclave or the Brotherhood of Steel, or raiders, got in a lucky shot on Dusty’s belly. And this DEVASTATES the reader enough to go full John Wick on the person who shot Dusty, even to the point that Cooper is like “Oh Damn”. Cause they hurt the WRONG wasteland baby!

Dear Hearts and Gentle People 17

I had a lot of fun with this one and it gave me an excuse to head down to the Capitol Wasteland. Ignore the janky timelines ❤️

*so sorry that this took a while to get out. Life does a good job of getting in the way sometimes @odditycircus-2002. I hope you enjoy! ❤️*

Masterlist

You aren't a fan of the Capitol Wasteland. The weather is shit, and she and Cooper had been shot at no less than eight times in the two weeks they'd arrived. This pocket of the wasteland felt even more dangerous to be in, especially with the rumor of a slaver group in the area. You and Cooper had agreed to avoid them as best you could, but that still left the rest of the factions the two of you needed to keep an eye out for.

The BOS left the three of you alone for the most part whenever they happened to cross your path, Dusty had even made a friend with the dark skinned lady named Cross. Raiders were raiders, but the problems really started when she and Cooper stumbled across another group. The Enclave.

Even after the destruction of Raven Rock, pockets of the old world faction still remained. The day was coming to an end when laser fire suddenly accosted the trio of wanderers. They dove for the cover of nearby rocks and grab for their own weapons. Dusty roars loud enough that your ears ring and charge ahead, furious milky eyes zeroed in on the men in suits of power armor.

"Fuck. That's the Enclave," Cooper snarls beside you, and you whip around to stare up at him in horror. Out of all the factions that they could have run into, it had to be one of the most dangerous ones. They were righteous zealots who dreamed of wiping the earth clean of all mutated creatures.

This was the one faction that would have the kind of firepower to actually hurt their deadly companion, and you felt fear grip your heart when rapid laser fire fell upon Dusty. The creature snarled and gnashed his teeth, dropping down to his front arms to sprint forward and close the distance between himself and the Elclave member who had the gatling laser.

"Dusty!" You scream and run forward, ducking behind rocks and burnt out cars in your bid to get to the deathclaw. Cooper rubs right behind you, taking pot shots at the line of figures that stand on top of the cliffs above them. One woman screams as a bullet catches her in the leg, and she goes tumbling off the cliff to hit the ground, dead.

The deathclaw rips through the men and woman who don't have powe armor, blood and gore flying in all directions, and painting his golden scales red. You arrive in time to see a man in power armor rip something off his back and onto his shoulder. The weapon glows a terrible blue, and you watch in slow motion as a bolt of electrified plasma flew through the air and struck Dusty in the chest.

The deathclaw goes down with a howl of anguish, rearing back to expose the blackened flesh of his soft underbelly. His scales crack and melt off, and Dusty falls to the side, the ground shaking when his weight meets the earth.

Cooper hears you scream, and the sound rattles him. It's full of pain and fury, rage, and disbelief. He watches you drop your weapon and dash forward, throwing yourself at the man who shot Dusty. You cling to the man, feet finding foothold as your fingers dig into the neck paneling of the suit and rip at the tubing and wires that connect to the helmet.

Steam erupts from the power armor, and the man jerks around, stumbling as half of his suit loses power. You find the latch to the helmet and rip it off, exposing the face of the terrified man who dared try and kill Dusty.

The ghoul shouts your name when the two of you tip over, the power armor useless now that its systems have been compromised. You appear seconds later, wielding your side arm. You shoot the man in the face until the chamber runs dry, shoulders heaving and teeth bared in an animalistic snarl.

With the fight over, with any other remaining Enclave having fled the scene, you turn on your heel and run to Dusty. You drop to your knees beside the whining creature and reach for his massive head, hands gently smoothing over his dangerous horns as you whisper reassurances to your baby.

"Is okay, sweetheart. I'm right here. Can you let momma see?" You coo, and Dusty lifts his head, moving just enough that you can see the awful wound left behind from the tesla cannon. Dusty whuffs and grunts, obvious sounds of pain falling from his maw.

"Cooper, bring me my bag," you order, and the ghoul does so without a word. You dig around until you can find your stash of chems and drag out the med-x and stim-packs you have. You have no idea if these would work, but you had to try.

"I need to see it, Dusty," you murmur, and Dusty shoves his head forward and into your lap, looking for comfort, and you easily give it to him. You hold his head close to your chest, and the beast breaths in your scents deeply, his milky eyes closing as he begins to calm down.

You look at Cooper, and the ghoul sighs, but he takes the medical supplies from you. He goes about moving around the deathclaw until he can see the burn. The med-x goes first, and then he injects four stim-packs around the wound.

The chems seem to work, for it isn't long before the deathclaw relaxes, his body sagging forward, and you grunt as you take his weight. His breathing evened out, and Cooper watched in muted fascination as the wound began to knit back together. He sighs and plops down in the dirt beside you.

You lean into him, and Cooper wraps his arm around your waist as best he can, kissing the side of your head. Silent tears stream down your face as relief sweeps through your body.

"He'll be alright, smoothskin. Dusty's tougher than he looks."

#cooper howard #fallout #fallout prime #fallout tv series #cooper howard x reader #x reader #the ghoul x reader #dear hears and gentle people #fallout 3 #dusty the deathclaw #deathclaws

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hana-no-seiiki · 2 years ago

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Hi! I love your work and was wondering what you thought of platonic/romanitc yandere batfamily with a reader who's like five hargreeves???

My first request! Although I have not watched Umbrella Academy I’ll try my best to fulfill your wishes Anon (via research and several clips of this man-child). Advanced apologies for any inconsistencies.

Honestly seeing all these clips makes me want to watch the show itself so I’ll be doing that after posting this fic.

TW/CW: Yandere themes of violence, creepiness, overprotectiveness, manipulation. Uh mention of Tim and Damian creaming in their suits-

current status: unedited

PLATONIC TIMELINE

In this version of events there is no Reginald Hargreeves and siblings (thus no Umbrella Academy as a whole) instead you were plucked from your biological mother by Bruce himself and adopted as a Wayne.

You were the youngest sibling, often called “Five” as a nickname.

Having dangerous abilities such as well- the power to manipulate space and time. Bruce was incredibly strict with his training and rules, but he knew not to push you too far. He has learnt from his experiences with your brothers.

Because of that you grew up pretty egotistical, sassy and cynical — not to mention pretty spoiled.

You’d often dangle your powers over Damian, who had become your rival throughout the years.

He, in turn, would slap you back with the fact that you’re adopted.

And boy did it take a lot of convincing from your father to not go back in time and smother the damn demon-spawn with a pillow when he was still a baby.

Otherwise your relationship with them is very much a typical sibling’s one. With the exception of their overprotectiveness that is real bad (You were surprised to see Damian in the mix as well. Was your brother a masochist of some sort?) and due to your powers and everyone’s overall occupations, a lot more violent.

They will try to sabotage any and all relationships you have whether it’s romantic or platonic.

But, jokes on them, you can just go back in time and stop anything bad from happening.

Really, you can’t help but laugh at their shenanigans.

Like whenever you see Dick disguised as a waiter trying to drug your date but it somehow ends up with him on the floor frothing at the mouth.

Or during this one time Jason tried shooting a friend of yours but found himself with a bullet up his ass instead. That is if you were feeling a little more sadistic than usual, you mostly switch his guns out for staplers.

You made sure to help him patch up though. As much as they were cockblockers, they were still family.

In conclusion, as much as the Batfam are capable superheroes/vigilantes I’m pretty sure they can’t really beat a trained space-time manipulator.

Bruce created a monster and he ain’t stopping it himself anytime soon.

“[Y/N] Wayne. You have to stop throwing your older brother around.” Bruce scolds you for the nth time this week. Though you knew better than any one else within the mansion you were in that is far as he’ll go with his actions.

“If this is about Tim— he was looking through my search history again, and my gallery, and not to mention every damn file I have on my computer—“

“Look, I was just checking up on you—“ Tim’s voice comes from the intercomms. Only to be cut off by a gasp.

From your brief blink in-and-out of existence, Bruce just knows it’s you slamming the poor boy’s face on a keyboard or something.

“[Y/N]!”

“I wonder if it’s too late to get unadopted.”

ROMANTIC TIMELINE

“Where’d you go?”

“The future. It’s shit by the way.”

You, much like the original Five Hargreeves, are a 50 something year-old person stuck in a young adult’s body as a result of fucking up the space time continuum too much.

You have the same origins as well, being born from a butcher who had shown no signs of pregnancy and being adopted by Reginald Hargreeves.

Let’s say you and your siblings were well known but after you disappeared, they all mysteriously died if not vanish like you as well.

You had close ties with the Teen Titans and were planning to join them after you’d master your powers of time manipulation. However that unfortunately didn’t happen.

In any case, you meet up with one of the only heroes you knew years ago and that happened to be Batman and his sidekick, Robin.

Except… it seemed that Batman was way older and Robin had already been replaced three times. The Robin you were friends now calls him Nightwing.

You bring news of the apocalypse and ask them to aid you in searching for your siblings.

Unbeknownst to you, Dick had been searching for you all over since your disappearance. It had partly been the reason why he chose to become his own independent hero so he already had a lead on where to look.

You meet the rest of the Batfam, who grow to enjoy your sassy, witty personality.

To Bruce, you were like a reminder of things before the trauma he’s had to face with his sons. In addition to that, you were roughly the same age mentally so having another “grown up” with him, albeit one that’s more chaotic, was definitely helpful.

To Jason, you were exciting. He’s seen people with powers before but none that seemed so elegant yet ruthless. You were mesmerizing in battle but your softer sides where you’d remind him of the life he has ahead of him and to take care, was even more captivating.

To Damian and Tim, you took a more obvious parental approach. Which was odd coming from someone close to their age in appearance. Unlike Jason who enjoys more of your soft side they enjoy the side of you that’s uncaring of those in your way.

And when they see you covered in blood after a heated fight? Absolutely gorgeous.

(They may or may not be creaming in their suits)

Now in the case of dear old Dickey, who has been helping you out investigating your disappearance. You two grew a lot closer. Even more so than before.

To him you were gone for almost 2 decades and to you it was twice that time. Still time didn’t stop you two from reconnecting quickly.

He takes the first step in asking you out. His brothers and father aren’t exactly discreet when it comes to their feelings so he (very reluctantly) lets them have a piece of you by moving back to Gotham for good.

In this timeline, Dolores (the mannequin) exists cause yes. So they don’t really have any real competition to fight with.

They are some times where Damian, Jason, and Dick want to destroy the thing for being so precious to you though.

In any case, like I said in the Platonic timeline. Not many things can go against Time/Space manipulation so if they want to take away your abilities or overpower it’s going to be a hard task to go through.

They much rather manipulate and/or coax you to not use it against their desires.

In time, you’ll be the perfect darling and partner in heroism for the batfam 💜

Hope you liked this Anon and thank you for requesting!

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mammomlette · 5 months ago

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How I changed the obey me timeline in my obey me dr (because the real one is a dumpster fire)

So this blog isn’t supposed to be about my DR or shifting but I want to yap about this and help people out who want a reference on how they could change it if they feel it’s too messy like I did! <3

OBVIOUSLY SPOILERS FOR OBEY ME!!

I’ve done a slightly more detailed version of events for the brothers in the celestial realm, during nightbringer and recently before MC, but I’ve also got brief bullet points in case you don’t want to read allat (understandable)

The celestial realm (not the place, the era for the brothers)

Lucifer was created about 6,500 years ago. We know he is over 5,000 for definite in canon as he says in about lesson 15 he can talk about either the past 5000 years or up to 5000 years ago. I chose 6,500 for no reason, I just felt like it

Lucifer is lonely. He has Michael, but that’s about it. Then Mammon came along about 5,700 years ago, a new angel curious about the realm and he basically just baby duck’ed lucifer. First thing he saw and just chose him. Lucifer just accepted it.

Levi was born about 5,500 years ago, 200 years after mammon, and just stared at Lucifer and mammon for a while until they had a run in with him and claimed (is that a weird way to describe it) him. He just went with it

Satan was created on much different circumstances. Yes, he was first ‘born’ during the celestial war, but he first festered and came to life inside of Lucifer after Lucifer had his first serious argument with Michael (or the Father) since then, he had been flickering in and out of consciousness, just stuck staring through lucifers eyes and feeling nothing but wrath being stuck spectating at random times uncontrollably. This was approximately 5,350 years ago.

Roughly 5,200 years ago, the most beautiful of lights combined and shone down onto one (very large, the celestial realm has odd flora) red rose, and from the light after it dimmed was Asmodeus. He immediately felt pure adoration for all those around him, smiling and praising Lucifer, Mammon, and Leviathan who took him under their wing.

5,000 years ago-ish, two twin angels were created simultaneously. Two wings opened to reveal two twins, albeit not similar in appearance besides from their eyes, who were immediately attached at the hip. This intrigued Lucifer, who began to grow fond of them, and this fondness slowly rubbed off onto his other three brothers. Obviously, those twins were Beelzebub and Belphegor.

Simeon was created a little under 5,000 years ago, but acted much more maturely and quickly gained more power than the brothers (minus lucifer, of course)

The stable and supportive mind of Simeon drew lucifer (and per usual, the rest of his brothers) towards him and they bonded as family (important to note: I don’t headcanon this or assume this is how it went in canon. Simeon being one of the the brothers in the celestial realm and being as close with them as they were eachother is just something I added in. This isn’t canon or implied by any means)

And as the final of the siblings, Lilith was born 4,800 years ago.

She was sweet to all those around her, taking the interest of the twins and then the rest of the brothers. With time, the 8 grew inseparable.

Prior to all of the siblings being created, diavolo is born. Probably a few centuries before lucifer. Diavolo nags and nags and nags for Barbatos to be his butler and he’s like okay FINE just shut uppPPPP or however he would word that. (Barb also grew attached to him quite quickly for his standards, probably because he knew his father was so neglectful, the bastard)

Belphie had been watching from the clouds in quiet places as humans went about their daily lives. New civilisations formed and were destroyed and he thrived in watching the humans live and die and ascend (or celestial realm forbid descend)

After so long watching them, he decided to sneak down. He was so awe-struck by what he saw (and thankful he didn’t get caught) he just had to bring his twin and little sister with him!!

While he was there, he ran into humans putting on some kind of performance for other humans using tools and animals (This is the circus he is referred to have visited. Though they weren’t called circuses at the time, surely things equivalent have always existed)

The show didn’t seem all that impressive to Beel, but Lilith and Belphie practically glowed at the sight of the shows humans would put on to entertain each other, so he was content to let it happen.

Lucifer was sent down by Father to talk to the demon prince, Diavolo.

About 3,000 years ago, Lilith ran into a man while hiding her true form. She fell madly in love with him and understood she had to hide her identity and lead a double life. While leading with double life, she met not only the love of her life but her best friend.

Eventually, (not significantly long after considering how shortly humans live) her lover got ill. Lilith was more absent and notably more upset, so the twins caught on, who concernedly confronted Lilith, which was heard by Lucifer, who was forced to tell Michael (because Michael knew something was up and harassed him for it), who decided that Father would be able to help Lilith.

Yeah father did NOT help Lilith💥💥

Father was deeply displeased with her and decided to cast her out of the heavens (which always results in an angel falling, Simeon)

The brothers were outraged and decided to fight for Lilith with wits but they ended up having to use those fists instead 💔

Simeon was the exception to this though, as Michael had gotten to Simeon before lucifer could and convinced him fighting would be a mistake. Simeon pleaded with lucifer not to do it, but he was ignored. Simeon still vouched for the brothers though, which resulted in him being demoted but the brothers never knew he did this (so that sucks for Simeon)

In the battle Lilith died, they fell, Beel got survivors guilt Belphie became human racist, yk how it goes

However, Lilith knew she was probably going to die. She was always the weakest of her siblings. So, she gave her blessing to her best friend the day before she died, some of her power and some of her love eternally flowing through the best friend’s veins. The loss of this power definitely became another reason she died the next day.

(This friend would be my ancestor. That was I have Liliths power, but NOT her blood because that’s a tiny bit weird for me to be trying to diddle my greatX30 uncles, but to each their own)

Satan is born from the smallest pair of lucifers wings ripping off and in a last moment of light, form into an angry toddler

I’d also say Solomon needs to be born at some point recently before the fall. Mans is OLD and needs to be alive long enough before nightbringer (which in still using as a reference point btw, and also nightbringer is one year after the fall) to make a pact with Barbatos and become well acquainted with him.

I’m not sure when thirteen was born sorry guys, but I like to hc she was young enough to be most comfortable in a child form when she first met Solomon and once Barb dumped him at the lake thingy, she started aging along side him (in my head canons and DR, reapers can change their age)

Their rivalry started as childish banter but then he cooked for her and it became a tad real I’m afraid…

But anyway I’m gonna say this was about 100-300 years before the fall just because. That feels right to me

Solomon does a lot of crazy shit right after Barb makes a pact with him. Example: restraining order from the sea?

Nightbringer/right after the fall

I scripted out most of nightbringer

It doesn’t make sense and doesn’t fit in with the rest of the timeline imo??

Anyway, back to explaining what happened after the fall

Michael finds lucifers ring basically right away because he can see the tainted celestial energy flowing through it, so he goes down for the last time for a while to retrieve it

Lucifer makes a deal to offer his allegiance or whatever he said with diavolo in order to bring Lilith back to life, but this is as a human (didn’t change this)

Belphie, who despite always being a sleepy head managed to stay awake and enjoy lounging in the sun, began to stay indoors all the time m. He could see the stars from the planetarium, that’s all he really cares about. (Vitamin D deficiency who?)

All the brothers also begin to embody their sins. It’s sad to watch them morph into sin incarnate but they’ll grow used to it (in like, 200 years, rip bozos)

Diavolo comes up with the concept of RAD but doesn’t begin planning it out yet. He introduces the idea to Barbatos and the brothers, who aren’t thrilled about school or whatever but dont see a reason to oppose it

Satan is angy guys:((

Satan ages inconsistently. There are moments he is a toddler and then is suddenly in his pre-teens, all just based on how stable he is (while resting, he usually looks to be about 6 but his age changes randomly when feeling stresses)

He begins to learn from those around him to be calm, but to indulge in sins, never getting the virtuous upbringing his brothers had.

About 100 years later and his aging is still inconsistent, but doesn’t spasm out anymore. He’s like renesmee or whatever her name is from twilight, he aged quite quickly for a born-demon once it was under control.

Michael becomes bitter in the loss of the brothers and shuts himself away for a few hundred years, only making appearances when needed. Once he stops being a recluse, it’s obvious he’s different. More unstable and obsessed with messing with people. But still him, still and angel

Raphael (whose birth I didn’t include because who has time for that, he just exists at some point before the fall) becomes more easily irritated and cold. This doesn’t last to such an extent permanently, but its impact still stands in present. He misses them.

And Simeon is distraught. He hides it, but his gloom is obvious to everyone. 1,500ish years before present day, Michael notices this and out of pity and sympathy, assigns a new unranked angel angel to be his student. To be his brother. (Guess who this is you guys!!)

Although he could never dream of replacing his brothers, having Luke around reminds him to be happy. A younger brother turned older with new responsibilities, but he’s happy to have company

Solomon makes a pact with Asmo in his (sol’s) hometown after they both get a bit tipsy.

Solomon has his war with the devildom (sorry chat I really don’t know why. Possibly having something to do with his new pact with Asmo) and during this diavolo calls upon the brothers to help fight against him. THIS is why they’re known as the 7 rulers of the underworld not some stupid ass kids quest to find Cerberus

During this war, Levi makes a bond with Lotan

Diavolo starts properly planning RAD

The brothers realise that it’s much more simple to just chill without their demonic features, so they find out how to have more ‘human’ forms and hang out in them for casual times

And given their status, this starts a trend in the devildom to be in human forms.

Big puppy shows up at their door for war one day. Guard dog acquired💪

Crows won’t leave mammon alONEEEE (he loves them really he just doesn’t know it yet)

Henry 1.0 is there for a minute too btw. Then he’s not

Pre-MC (Past 1,000 years)

Probs the shortest section

Diavolo officially establishes RAD with a curriculum that takes hundereds possibly thousands of years to complete

Luke meets the demon king at a ceremony (I don’t know anything about this other than it happened in canon, I don’t remember it being mentioned lol)

The demon king goes for a lil snooze and snork mimimi’s till this day. Guys just tired

While his daddy is honk shoo’ing the world away, diavolo is forced to take the throne temporarily

Diavolo had already basically taken charge the devildom while his father was AWAKE anyway since his father wanted to train him up (and zzzzzzz in peace) so he knew what to do he was just depressed he actually had to now and Barbatos was making sure of it

Levi gets Henry 2.0 (also a few henries in between. Shout out to Henry 1.7, the parrot who was smite-smited-smote-smoted-smitten- killed for calling lucifer a bitchass motherfucker. U we’re iconic king)

A human is born. This can’t mean anything important right guys. Right.

The exchange programme is put forward, Belphie threatens treason, lucifer is too gay loyal to defend his brother so he locks him in the attic as all siblings so

Briefer timeline

The brothers are all born (including Simeon, who is one of the brothers in my DR but didn’t fall)

Lilith falls in love yada yada, before the war she blesses her friend (my ancestor) and gives her her power

Solomon makes a pact with Barb and becomes a little 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓴𝔂

The brothers (not Simeon) fall and Lilith dies rip queen

Satan is born but he’s a toddler who just changes age when he’s angy

Until he gets his emotions mostly under control and then he starts aging (he stops aging once he reaches a certain point m, about early 20s but the brothers ages are weird in my DR)

Simeon is so sad Michael buys him a dog (I’m kidding, I know I know that’s an oversaturated joke)

Solomon makes a pact with Asmo while tipsy and wages a war because he was feeling 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓴𝔂 again

During said war, the brothers become known as the 7 rulers of the underworld. Cerberus shows up randomly on a Tuesday, unrelated to them gaining their titles

Demon king snoozes so diavolo steps up (he basically already did that but now it’s official)

Diavolo wants RAD. Nobody wants to go to school but they say yes because they kinda have to

Diavolo gets RAD

Human is born. So many humans are born every day, so this won’t mean anything right, chat?

Belphie is racist to humans so he threatens treason when diavolo wants the exchange programme and he gets locked in the attic

•

That’s it😭 I feel like I’m missing stuff out so if you notice anything missing lmk and I’ll add it!! I’m gonna do more posts like these, hopefully this was alright😞😞

#obey me #obey me!#obey me solmare #obey me lucifer #obey me leviathan #obey me mammon #obey me satan #obey me asmodeus #obey me beelzebub #obey me belphegor #obey me solomon #obey me simeon #obey me shall we date #I give up with character tags guys this takes too long

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reds-writings · 5 months ago

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red!! love your writing <3 may i request rust + 11 from the fluff prompts pt2?? whatever timeline you prefer :)

(pairing: rust cohle x jj!reader)

a/n: this is set somewhere in the late 90s in our pairing's journey! just a lil snapshot blurb! enjoy :)

warnings: none really! just some smoochin' and mentions of sucky family

“I gotta get up soon.” You hummed with eyes closed, it was barely morning outside but you’d forgone packing last night for your baby nephew’s christening a couple of hours away no thanks to the man taking up residence in your bed. Given the lengthy drive, you planned on staying at some hotel and venturing back the following morning.

The family affair was due to start no later than 11 and with how grandiose your parents liked to make intimate matters such as these a thing for others to be envious of you know it was imperative to give them no reason to look down on their noses at you any more than they already did on the regular. You just needed to show up, shoot the shit, and hurry back home to your cowboy.

Speaking of, the lump by your side made no move to set you free so that you may bite the bullet that was this tedious family gathering.

“M’serious. You hogged me all last night. Means I gotta get goin’ earlier today.”

A small hmph was grumbled but nothing else. Clear that he couldn’t care less.

You snorted and flipped over to hover above his lazing form. Sleep, or a telltale lack thereof, weighed heavy on his lids. Long lashes dusted sullen eyebags but now wasn’t the time to get lost in his fatigued beauty as much as it pained you to pull away.

“I’ll be back before lunch tomorrow. Hopefully.” You mused as you brushed a finger across a sharp cheekbone. Bleary eyes willed themselves open to get a better look at you, and in the muted hues of the growing dawn, they looked more grey than usual.

“They don’t deserve you.” His voice came out in a sleep-logged grumble. By now in your relationship, he’d had the displeasure of meeting them, a formality more than anything. It didn’t go unnoticed that he felt a deep-rooted resentment with how they treated you. Your sister was alright but he couldn’t find it in himself to be forgiving toward her blatant ignorance of being the stark beneficiary of your parents’ favoritism. His callousness and silent distaste were enough to have your parents in an uproar once they got you alone. Something about such unbelievable crassness and lack of basic respect for one’s superiors.

It’s why he didn’t get invited to much. Not that he cared besides not being able to keep a close eye on you when you had to visit the wolves’ den every now and then.

If it were up to him he'd never let them have the chance of having their wretchedness touch you again.

Though, your selflessness could not often be stopped.

“They do not. But I love my nephew and he ain’t done a thing to me so I’ll buck up and endure the rest of them for however long.” You leaned down to capture his lips with yours briefly, his warm palm pressed at your lower back with silent greed. You let him have you for a few moments more before you begrudgingly moved away with a tense stretch, a pop or two sounding from your back.

“No later than lunch. Cross my heart.” You made an ‘x’ motion with your index and got up. Rust just hummed again, moving his arm to shield his eyes from the sudden light of your ensuite bathroom. You peered cheekily from the doorway,

“Don’t miss me too much, now.”

He didn’t have the energy to deny it.

#reds-writings #rust cohle #true detective #true detective season 1 #rust cohle x reader #anon ask #writer blog #rust cohle imagine #true detective imagine #blurb #request

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yourgirlsarchived · 2 years ago

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"I'm much better with women who are ready to bring children into the world," Sorcha replies with a soft laugh. People often tell her she's a good motivational speaker. The truth is, Sorcha inevitably feels drained when motivating someone she doesn't have a familial sort of connection to. Vilotta certainly counts as family.

She winces in sympathy at the mention of needing another child. As she belatedly winces for bringing up Vilotta's relatively new, husband. "Speak to her," Sorcha says after a few moments. She would have to have a similar conversation with her little brood of five. "Wade and I plan to make sure that the kids know we love them, and that the new baby won't change that. That we might be busy, but the baby needs them too, and we will need their help to make the family work with this new configuration."

It was easier with the kids closer together. There was no explaining to Jemma about Mal or Mal and Jemma about Thea or when the Twins came around. They were all close enough, their memories are of new babies simply being the norm. With the kids in school it will likely be different.

"He was a good pregnancy. Calm, but the amount of spicy food I wanted with that boy was nigh on obscene. I think his favorite food was birria tacos while in the womb." She smiles fondly. "The twins were ice cream, and Thea was chicken and pickles. I didn't get sick often with mal, but with Thea it was all day for months. The twins were pretty even keel where symptoms were concerned. All the babies seem to want to stay, not a one has come on time!"

Oh, she kinda hates it when her friend makes such good points. “You’re a good springboard, Sorcha, thank you. Ever think about doing that professionally?” Vilotta isn’t being entirely facetious there. She also grins widely at the mention of their children, eyes sparkling with that bittersweet resignation that always accompanies babies growing up. Before they knew it- nope, nope, thinking about that will get her all misty eyed and then the conversation loses focus. This is too important right now.

She listens intently to every word passing Sorcha’s lips, but pangs slam her heart like freight trains at the mention of the word ‘husband’. Her first husband, Wynne’s father, had passed on when their daughter was only four months old. Once the Helethi had settled onto Earth more permanently, Vilotta had remarried a man from her home city-state who loved and cherished Wynne as his own… but Vilotta’s mind always went first to that simple farmer. By Solisari, she misses him beyond words.

That’s not important at present. What’s important is her people’s future.

“Yes. Yes. I can. I know I can. Sorcha, if I am to become Queen, then that means a need for at least one sibling for her. It’s been primarily Wynne and myself for the past five years, I… I don’t want my girl to think I don’t love her anymore. Is that a silly thing to think? It sounds silly now that I say it.” Vilotta’s time carrying Wynne was special. Honestly one of the most sacred times of her life. “What was your pregnancy like with Malcolm? I seem to recall him wanting to stay in there.”

#c. sorcha aibhilin victoria #i. sorcha + vilotta #( avenginggirlscout | t h r e a d )#( bullets && babies | closed timeline )#marvariants

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yourgirlsarchived · 2 years ago

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“Tez! They’re moving, come and feel!” Wynne of course

He's a little more than excited about that, he feels, in fact, as much like a green youth again as can be possible. Wynne is to be thanked or perhaps lauded for that. Her and their little one.

Hurrying from where he'd been working he smiles and places his hands on her belly. It takes a moment and then. "Ha, there they are!" Crouching, he leans in close to her. "Hello, tachkau otlasohtili. Be kind to your mother, hm? It is good to meet you properly today."

#c. esteban | tezcatlipoca #i. tezcatlipoca x wynne #( rulerofthejaguarsun | a n s w e r e d )#( mail | a n s w e r e d )#( bullets && babies | closed timeline )

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justabigoldnerd · 2 months ago

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Thank you so much @the-golden-comet for the tag!!!

This week's fic is "Lost On You"

⚠️Warning⚠️ for internalized and period typical homophobia in this one, but also this has one of my favorite arguments I've ever written 💕

Under the cut because this fic's whole premise is kisses lmao so it's a long one

Illya's hands were violently shaking and they were being watched by the enemy. Solo had to think of something and fast. His eyes darted around the room, looking for whatever the goons were not looking at. When he found the pattern, he took in a quick breath, closing his eyes to calm his racing heart. "Illya," Solo whispered, and his friend's dark gaze shifted towards him, "I'm sorry." Before Illya could possibly process what he meant, Solo slid his hands up his arms and locked his fingers behind his neck, pulling him into a rough kiss. It would've hurt less if Illya pushed him away. If he'd shoved him off and spat at the ground, hurling strings of curses that Solo had heard a million times before. However, Illya sighed into the kiss, his hands hovering with uncertainty over Solo's waist. One of them finally landed just above his hip and his heart shattered. Solo broke the kiss before either of them had a chance to do something they'd regret. Illya's hands left him like he was the eye of a hot stove and he stepped away, his eyes wild but no longer shaking. "We'd been spotted," Solo told him through gritted teeth, "I had to lose them."

Thankfully, Illya nodded and found a path to the exit, guiding Solo along by his elbow. When they finally slipped through the side door and into the alley, Illya checked the entrances then pushed Solo against the brick wall opposite the door. He expected a fist fight. A screaming match. A knife to the gut or a bullet to the brain. What he got was Illya ducking his head and kissing him again, angling so that it was deeper this time. His thigh brushed close to Solo's crotch, and he hummed into Illya's mouth. Without warning, he pulled away, leaving Solo trailing after him. "They were watching again," Illya shrugged, turning to start the short walk to Gaby's waiting car. Solo exhaled softly and smiled. He was one hundred percent certain that there hadn't been a single soul in that alleyway.

"Sure we can." Solo's eyes were heavy now, from more than the drug, so the kiss he pulled Illya into was lazy and chaste, but just as sweet. "See?" Illya's eyes stayed closed. With a heavy sigh, he reciprocated, his hand finding its way to cradle Solo's cheek. His lips moved slowly, nothing behind it but simplicity, and it made Solo that much sleepier. After they parted, he could feel Illya's breath on his face as he whispered, "Goodnight, Cowboy."

"Uh, I don't give them names," Illya was lying now, and obviously so. "Of course you do," Gaby countered, taking one of the cat's paws between her fingers and shaking it like a hand, "What's your name, little one?" "Zvezda," he muttered, "Star. Because of the spot." Illya ran his thumb through a patch of white fur on the cat's chest. "Pleasure to meet you, Zvezda," Gaby cooed, planting a kiss on Zvezda's forehead. Solo saw a flash of a different universe, one where they weren't spies in Istanbul, but friends in a hospital in West Berlin, and the tiny thing in Illya's arms was an infant rather than a cat. She had Gaby's eyes and a shock of blond hair like Illya. Solo's heart ached for a timeline he'd never see, the notion of a welcomed baby vanishing from his mind. This will do, he thought, watching Gaby rest her head against Illya's shoulder to babble sweet nothings to Zvezda. This will do.

"I'm going for lunch," Gaby said after a length of comfortable silence, "I haven't eaten since London." "I'll join you. Give Peril some alone time with Zvezda and friends." Gaby nodded in agreement, then stood on her toes and gave Illya a kiss on the cheek. He smiled softly, a loving look in his eyes. Solo couldn't tell if it was love for her or for the cat. It didn't really matter. She retraced their steps and Solo waited until she was out of sight to ask, daringly, "You ever thought about kids?"

Quickly, before he could psyche himself out of it, Solo took a step closer and pressed a gentle kiss to Illya's cheek. "I'll see you at the hotel," he remarked as he walked away, not allowing himself to see how Illya reacted.

Gaby's sea legs were horrible. They always had been. So she stumbled the moment she stepped out of the boat. Illya was there to catch her, helping her balance with a gentle hand on her waist. Her hands held his arms, and she looked up at him sweetly. A pit formed in Solo's stomach as he saw her fingers dance across his cheek. Gaby's lips parted ever so slightly, and Illya accepted the invitation, dipping his head to kiss her slowly.

"Are you taking responsibility for a fuck up right now? Wow, you must be really in love with him," Gaby laughed, finishing her previously untouched glass and refilling it with the wine. "I could still murder you and hide your body where no one will find it," Solo reminded her unseriously. "You love me too much," Gaby grinned and leaned down to kiss his cheek, "Join me on the couch? I want to see what's on TV."

For the next few hours, Solo enjoyed Gaby's one man performance that only got funnier with each glass of wine. A weight had been lifted off of his chest. When Illya got home, looking absolutely bored out of his mind, Solo greeted him with more warmth than he had in weeks, even grinning as Gaby kissed him hello. She shot a knowing glance over her shoulder at him and he rolled his eyes.

10.

"What now?" Illya asked carefully. Solo took a small breath to steel his nerves, then said, "Well, I'd like to kiss you now, if you don't mind." Nodding softly, Illya turned slightly so that he was facing Solo, their knees pressing together. "Okay." Tilting his head, Solo smiled adoringly at Illya, then carded his fingers through his hair. "You can tell me to stop any time." "I don't want you to stop," Illya whispered, his eyes falling closed. Solo rested his hand on the side of Illya's face, and he leaned into the touch. "Then I won't," he purred, leaning forward to capture Illya's lips in his own. It was soft and exploratory, a question more than anything. Illya answered, his hands coming up to hold Solo's jaw. Humming in delight, Solo gently pushed Illya backwards until he was laying on the couch, then angled his head to deepen the kiss. Tonight, he tasted of peppermint tea and fresh starts. Illya's hands found Solo's waist, and he straddled his hips in response. When they parted, they were gasping for air, making them both laugh. The skin around Illya's eyes crinkled at the corners in that adorable, genuine way and Solo pressed a chaste kiss to the side of his mouth. "I love you, Illya," he breathed.

11.

"Thank you," Illya's eyes shone with love, "Thank you, Solo." Solo quite liked his name on Illya's tongue when it was said like that. Pleased, he stole one more languid kiss, then laid on top of Illya, his head on his chest. "I'm a cuddler," he told him, muffled by the fabric of his dress shirt, "So be prepared for a lot more of this."

12.

Solo didn't even bother to look up. "Welcome back, Gaby." "I told you you were safe," she ruffled his hair, then bent to give Illya a kiss that was cut short by the smiles they couldn't contain.

13.

Illya was thoughtful for a moment, then decided, "I want to try." "You can kick me out if it gets too much," he soothed, climbing out of his arms with another quick kiss, "I'll get started on the food."

14.

Illya caught his hand, and Solo looked back at him curiously. He took a breath as if to speak, then stopped. Instead of saying anything, Illya brought Solo's hand to his mouth and kissed his knuckles. An understanding passed between them, and Solo beamed, giving Illya's hand a squeeze before heading into the kitchenette.

Open Tag for anyone who wants to join!!!

#tmfu #the man from uncle #tmfu movie #illya kuryakin #napoleon solo #gaby teller #fanfiction #fanfic #ao3 #illya x napoleon x gaby #kiss game #tag game

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wewerebornsextuplets · 5 months ago

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i was looking at keiko's af page and saw that she's friends with dobusu. i'd love to know more about what their friendship is like. 👀✨️

of course!! ill take any excuse to talk more about keiko HEHE

so to be honest, i dont have their friendship quite as fleshed out as i do some other character interactions for my ocs, but i do have a rough timeline i can share! i imagine they first became friends right around the time mii was born; because of the combination of having to take care of a newborn And having to keep her a secret to maintain popularity as an idol, nyaa had a difficult time finding good resources to take care of her as a first-time parent. since we know dobusu was already helping to babysit for her, i dont think it'd be a stretch to say she would also be willing to run some errands and help out with the more practical during those early months when nyaa Couldn't leave baby mii alone.

thus, enter keiko; one of the things dobusu did to help out nyaa during this time was picking up some books on parenting and childcare for her. rather than buying the books straight out ["you wont need them in five years, anyways" is her logic], she opted to borrow them from the library instead, which is where keiko works. it started as just casual client/employee conversation, but as dobusu started visiting the library more often and eventually became a regular, they got to know each other much better! in particular id like to imagine they swap reading recommendations quite often; dobusu seems the type to enjoy a good romance novel, and keiko is definitely a seasoned-enough bookworm to know how to wade through the garbage to find good recs for her in that genre.

eventually, keiko bites the bullet and asks for her phone number so they can start hanging out outside of work, and from there they maintain a close friendship! both of them are in pretty different places in their lives, so i think they would be good at offering one another a fresh perspective on whatever their problems may be. on a sillier note, though, i like to imagine that they like to catch each other up on whatever gossip is happening on the outskirts of their respective friend groups/social circles at the moment. heres a little doodle of that :-))

#larry time #answers #dobusu #ocs #keiko #this is my first time drawing dobusu which feels like a crime because i really like her #but rest assured it would not be the last 🔥

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siriusly-sapphic · 2 years ago

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META: Trans Narcissa Malfoy

This is 7K words long and divided into 8 bullet points. It can also be found on AO3 through this link.

This is going to be an overview of my trans!Narcissa headcanon, with a look at queerness in the Black family/pureblood society as a whole, different family dynamics, and how growing up a trans kid in a society like this influences different headcanons/aspects of her character. Needless to say, this is based on my own headcanons and the very limited canon information we have about her (most of which does not inform us about her childhood and family relations as we’d like). It’s by no means meant as an argument as to why everyone should adopt this headcanon, it’s just informative and fun.

I have one reason for writing this and one reason only and it’s “I love this headcanon and want to be able to refer to it without spamming a whole explanation and additional headcanons into an unexpecting discord chat”. Plus, I want to write more headcanons about specifically my take on Narcissa, and for some of those headcanons it’d be very convenient to just be able to refer back to an existing post on how her being trans influences some things in the rest of her life.

How this will be structured:

First things first

1: A general look at how I think queerness is seen and treated in the Black family and by extension pureblood society.

2A: The Black family and the importance of sons and Heirs.

2B: Specifically Narcissa’s position.

3A: Getting to Narcissa’s specifics: a timeline on her realisation and coming out.

3B: Specifically, her parents’ and sisters’ reaction and her own fears.

4: Tying back to the Heirs, the reactions and attitudes of Narcissa’s cousins.

5:Narcissa’s plans for her future and openness about her being trans and queer. (Side tangent: Narcissa and the way she confirms to roles, not individuality.)

6A: Narcissa’s marriage and having a baby

6B: Raising Draco

7: How she chose her name.

8: Some fic recs to close it off

There'll be mentions of transphobia and miscarriage in this post!

Alright so let's get into it I’m so excited.

Firstly

The very simple reason why I love this headcanon. It’s entirely born from a conversation with a friend back in like 2014 on “but why doesn’t her name fit the rest of the cousins/most of her immediate family?” during which we looked at other fanon theories and then went “but what if…” and settled on this. There are obviously other theories, one of the most popular ones that I’ve seen being that Druella cheated and Narcissa is not a Black at all, hence Cygnus refused to give her a traditional name. Personally, I don’t like that as much, and I prefer to think of it as a name she chose herself.

Realistically, the author named Narcissa as a Malfoy and had not decided or simply forgotten that her maiden name would be Black. Narcissa as a character was very blatantly created as Draco’s mum and Lucius’ wife, and therefore she looks like that and not like a character born into the Black family. I don’t care. I’m giving her some fucking agency.

(Sidenote: I know that TODAY there is a star named Narcissus. It was named in 2014 which is well after Narcissa’s birth and the books’ release and it was named by a random person. This is not what Narcissa was named for.)

1: Queerness in the Black family (and pureblood society)

The way I see it, queerness in and of itself is not grounds for disownment within the family. Pureblood society functions best when everybody does what is expected of them, and is vaguely happy doing it. By no means does this mean that it’s celebrated or wholeheartedly accepted, but as long as it does not interfere with your willingness to fulfil your duties, who cares. If you’re insistent and dutiful, you can even change which role you’ll fulfil for your family, if the circumstances allow. At the same time, I imagine it’s a bit of a ‘don’t ask don’t tell’ situation, where privacy is greatly appreciated depending on the circumstances. Be gay, if you want to be, but do get married and don’t make a scandal.

How this interacts with different people in these families fully depends on what is expected and needed within a specific family. For example, a family like the Lestranges with two pureblood sons, wouldn’t have much of a problem if one of them was gay, as long as at least one of them got married and continued the family name. A family with only one son would be more strict about this, and most likely absolutely would expect their son to marry a witch regardless of his sexuality.

In the Black family specifically, this is complicated because the cousins cause enough trouble without involving queerness. If all of them believed in the blood politics and no one got disowned, Sirius being queer would not have been a huge deal. What I do believe caused problems is Sirius very happily and openly snogging halfblood wizards or blood traitors. If he’d bought into his family’s ideologies and Regulus had gotten married to a pureblood witch, and Sirius would’ve fallen for some wizard of the Sacred 28, arrangements could be made to make that work.

More specifically being trans, again, so highly depends on the circumstances. One of these is, again, simply the amount of other children willing and able to do as told. I will get into the importance of Heirs in a bit, but having at least one son per family is something most families strive for. In that regard, a trans son would be more likely to be happily received than a trans daughter, but again it depends on the circumstances. If a family has three children and two of them are cis wizards, the third being a trans witch would be far less of an issue than if (as in Narcissa’s case), the first two are also witches.

Obviously this is a far more complicated topic, but that’s the gist of it: it depends, but if you’re willing to do as told or you are lucky enough to have the siblings to ‘make up’, being queer is not the end of the world and can absolutely be accepted. Also, again obviously, I’m by no means saying that that’s a good and ideal way of treating queerness (or your children in general). I hope that’s clear.

2A: Sons and Heirs in the Black family

This is specifically about the importance of the name and of the Heir in the Black family, and how I imagine this would work for the two different branches we see in canon. (Orion and Walburga’s children, and Cygnus and Druella’s.)

Long story short: they’re important. Both Druella and Walburga would have entered their marriages knowing that the main thing expected of them is to not only have at least one son, but to raise that son into a proper Heir ready to continue the name and reputation of the Black family. In my head, this largely goes per branch of the family tree. Walburg having two sons does not mean that Druella should not have one, and if both had a son it would not matter as much who’s older. They’d both be raised as the respective Heirs of their fathers, and that’d be the most important role within that family.

For Sirius and Narcissa, in this case and following my basic timeline, this means that for the first fifteen years of Narcissa’s life, they were both viewed as the respective Heirs of their family. Regulus is Sirius’ ‘spare’, in that sense, in case Sirius fucks it up along the way (which, obviously, he does and we all love him for it), but that does not translate as much to giving Narcissa any leeway. Would it have been ‘worse’ if both her cousins were witches? Sure, absolutely, but having two male cousins does not mean her father doesn’t want his own Heir, too. Narcissa was supposed to be that, and clearly wasn’t.

2B: Narcissa’s own position in the family

In a way this builds very much on the semi-popular fanon that Narcissa, cis or trans, was supposed to be her father’s son. She’s the youngest of her sisters, and she’s the last child Druella has. She was Druella’s last chance of having the Heir her husband needed and fulfilling her duty towards the family she married into. I have seen headcanons where Narcissa is born a cis girl, immediately offsetting disappointment in her family because that’s not what was supposed to happen, and she suffers this perceived failure of her mother for much of her life.

If she’s trans, that’s not immediately what happens.

In this instance, Narcissa is born and she’s assumed to be the Heir her parents were waiting for. Her father’s Heir, his only son, her mother’s duty fulfilled and their absolute pride and joy. She would have been raised with the knowledge and understanding (and, I sincerely believe until she came to the realisation she’s a girl, full willingness) that she’d marry an appropriate pureblood witch and continue the family name, have her own Heirs, and do exactly as her family needed. After two older sisters, and as they grew older two rebellious older sisters (in different ways, but still), Narcissa was the golden child. Including as they got older compared to Sirius, she was the ‘better’ Heir.

Until she wasn’t.

I think this put Narcissa into a position where the role she had been raised and praised for her entire life, at one point becomes something that she can’t possibly live up to. Narcissa has always been raised for a very specific purpose, a purpose that I genuinely believe she would have wanted to fulfil if she thought she could, and then she comes to the realisation that she can’t. She knows her family. She knows what she needs to be, and she knows she can’t. Narcissa was the light of her family, the absolute golden child. She was that annoying brat that other parents pointed their children to in a “look at her, be more like her” manner. The example of what it meant to be a pureblood wizard’s Heir.

And that brings me to perhaps my favourite thing about her in this entire post.

She knew exactly what she was doing when she came out. She knew what she was risking, she knew what she was giving up, and she did it. More about that process in the next part, but that’s important. I don’t think there were many moments in Narcissa’s life where she chose something for herself without letting her family’s needs overshadow hers. Her coming out was exactly that. That was a choice she made knowing full well that it was one of the worst things she could do to her family, and I admire her for it.

That said:

3: The timeline, her realisation and coming out process

So in the briefest overview: the way I tend to write Narcissa, she realises that she’s trans somewhere in the beginning of her fourth year at Hogwarts, at 14. She comes out to her family (and with that, really, the rest of society) in the summer between fourth and fifth year, allowing her to start her fifth year as Narcissa.

That’s the timeline, roughly. But what matters here too, is how her cousins and sisters are doing. Frankly, Narcissa would’ve had an easier time transitioning if Sirius and Andromeda had stayed in their lanes (and she absolutely does carry some resentment about that towards them, however unfair this may be). For this I’m using mainly an alternate age gap between the Black cousins, not the canon one, but I’ll also make a brief note on how canon age gaps could work into this!

The way I most often write the Black cousins’ ages is as follows: when Narcissa is 15, Andromeda is 17/18, and Bellatrix is 19. Sirius is 14/15 and is only a few months younger than Narcissa, and Regulus is 13.

The most important thing about this is, for the sake of the timeline, this means that Sirius is already sorted and is already rebelling and is well on his way to getting disowned. He’s the family disappointment, only outdone by Andromeda who’s eloped with Ted at this point. Narcissa is the golden perfect child more than ever. And she’s realising she’s not.

This also means that her sister is already disowned. There are some rumours about Sirius potentially being disowned, too. Narcissa would be incredibly naive to the workings of her family if she went into coming out without acknowledging there was a possibility that she would be disowned. As I said, I don’t think that in pureblood society, being trans would necessarily immediately translate to being disowned, but in this particular case… That’s a very real possibility.

I think she knew that. I think she was willing to take that risk, and she was willing to suffer the consequences of being disowned. She knew it was a possibility, and she accepted that.

Between her realising she’s trans and her telling her family, there’s a period of time where I do think she genuinely tried to bargain with herself about it. Trying to see if she could make it work. If she could pretend, and keep pretending, and deny this about herself. And she decided she couldn’t, and it wasn’t worth it. Her choosing that her own well-being is more important than what her family needs from her is a rare decision on her part — it’s honestly not one she makes much more often.

Obviously, she did not get disowned. But that doesn’t change that she didn’t know that, and I want to give her credit for that.

If you want to follow a more canon timeline: the main big difference here is that Sirius would be a lot younger. By the time Narcissa comes out, he would not be rebelling yet, and while this places Regulus in a less vulnerable position at the time, it doesn’t necessarily change the pressure on Narcissa’s shoulder. Her father still would not have a replacement for his Heir.

3B: The family’s reactions to her coming out

So why is she not disowned?

My headcanon is basically that Druella wanted to disown her. Walburga perhaps even wanted to disown her. Cygnus considered it, very genuinely so, and then decided not to.

Again for this we look at the context: Andromeda has been disowned for eloping with a muggleborn wizard. Bellatrix is devoted to blood purity, but instead of being this obedient daughter to her family she’s following around Tom Riddle. In my head, Bella doesn’t get married very young and she’s quite rebellious in her own way in the sense that she wants a place in Voldemort’s circles and doesn’t really look for a husband immediately.

Narcissa has two sisters, one who’s disowned and one who has no intention of being the ideal daughter her parents would’ve preferred. Now, what their parents want is for Narcissa to remain their Heir, but Cygnus isn’t stupid either.

He’s in a position where whether he disowns Narcissa or not, his Heir is gone. Either he disowns her and she leaves the family and gets to live her life in peace, or he doesn’t disown her and she might not be his Heir anymore, but she’s still his devoted daughter. And Narcissa is devoted. She loves her family, she takes pride in her family, and her parents know that. Furious as they might be that she chooses herself over her family when she decides to transition, they’re not stupid and they know that she is devoted to the family reputation and whatever else she might do to help it.

So I think Cygnus decides not to disown her, with the deal that if she won’t be his Heir, she’ll be a damn perfect daughter. And Narcissa absolutely makes it her purpose in life to be just that. Cygnus’ reaction can be summed up as being disappointed, but willing to see what Narcissa can do for his family when she’s allowed to be herself. He’s not a great father, but that’s an alright moment. He does genuinely love his daughters, even if none of them end up quite what he’d expected or wanted from them, and between the three of them Narcissa remains his favourite.

Druella… I plan to write a whole separate post on Druella and Narcissa’s relationship. But Druella wants Narcissa to be disowned, and when Narcissa isn’t disowned, Druella does not forgive her. Druella became a mother because she was a wife and she had to give her husband sons. I think the way she sees it, it’s very simple: Narcissa was supposed to be the fulfilment of Druella’s duty, and instead she became the reason Druella ‘failed’. There is nothing Narcissa can do after coming out that is going to make Druella truly proud of her, truly happy to have her as a daughter. I don’t think that stops Narcissa from trying, but her mother very much sees her as a reflection of her personal failure, and she’s not getting back from that. Druella’s heinous, really.

Moving on to Narcissa’s sisters, Bellatrix and Andromeda: this ties back again to being trans or queer in general, is not as big a deal in most of the wizarding world as circumstances can make it. Andromeda is eloped by the time Narcissa comes out, or she’s in the process of running away, and I imagine the biggest feeling she has about it is concern regarding their parents’ reaction. She loves her little sister, though, and if anything she’s disappointed that Narcissa chooses to stay within the family when given the chance instead of just leaving. Bellatrix is a little more complicated, but ultimately positive.

For Bellatrix, I think her feelings are split between this strong protectiveness over her little sister, which is also fuelled by Andromeda having just left and Bellatrix is furious with her and really determined to not lose another one of her sisters. Where Andromeda is disappointed that Narcissa stays, Bellatrix celebrates it. On the other hand, she’s kind of jealous in a way, and that pisses her off. I think between Bellatrix and Narcissa, Bellatrix has always been the oldest and Narcissa has always been the most important. Bellatrix, in a way, would love to have what Narcissa was born into. That importance to the family, that position of power that Narcissa’s grown up in, being the favourite without even really trying. Narcissa was the one her parents had waited for, Bellatrix was ‘just’ the oldest daughter who had to prove herself.

And obviously, it’s not that simple, and it was hell for Narcissa in a different way, but from Bella’s perspective… I can see her being a little pissed off that Narcissa, out of all people, is stepping back from that role that she used to take such pride in and that the family has always prided her on. Ultimately though, Bellatrix also isn’t stupid and she can damn well see that Narcissa is going through it and needs her big sister, and I do genuinely believe that Bellatrix loved her sisters very deeply. It’s the two of them against the world, in a way, and they have each other’s back.

4: Heirs and cousins

Okay so tying back to the importance of Heirs in this godforsaken family. Sirius and Regulus’ reactions to Narcissa’s coming out are painful in two opposing ways. Here it becomes important, too, that Sirius and Narcissa in my headcanons are quite close in age.

Sirius and Narcissa grow up close together as the Heirs to their fathers. That’s such a particular kind of pressure and strain onto a young child that only the two of them really understand. Even compared to other pureblood families, not all of them are quite as uptight and strict. They found a lot of understanding in each other for those first 14 years. Regulus is Sirius’ ’spare’, in a way, and is not raised with quite that same pressure (yet).

The interesting thing here is (and one day I’ll do an entire post on just Sirius and Narcissa bc I love their dynamic) that both Sirius and Narcissa, as they get a little older and enter their teens, stop wanting to be the Heirs to their family. For the different reasons, obviously, but that still happens. Both become, in a way, disillusioned with these ideas that they’ve been raised with all their lives. Both of them, for different reasons and perhaps without expressing this to each other initially, want out.

Because both of them in a relatively short timeframe make it clear that they don’t intend to be these perfect Heirs they were supposed to be for much longer, Regulus gets put in an extremely difficult position. I do think that both Sirius and Narcissa feel a degree of guilt towards him, for that reason, even if they know there wasn’t really another way to make it work. From Regulus’ perspective though… I think he loves Narcissa, and he looks up to her, but for the first while after she comes out, he feels betrayed. He feels like she’s just made his life more difficult for a selfish reason, something he was already starting to feel about Sirius, and he doesn’t respond very well. He gets over that, with time (I think Sirius being officially disowned brings Regulus and Narcissa much closer, as they’ve both experienced that kind of ‘betrayal’ from a sibling. Yeah, seeing your siblings and cousins making choices that benefit them but make your impossible duties harder to fulfill is more often seen as betrayal by these kids then not, apparently).

Sirius, ironically, feels betrayed too.

As I said earlier, I think a lot of what pureblood kids are and aren’t allowed to get away with highly depends on what their siblings and cousins are doing in the meantime. For Sirius, this kinda means that when Narcissa comesout he knows that him running away is going to make things harder for Regulus than they would already have been. That complicates his feelings, but I think Sirius’ main feeling of betrayal actually comes from Narcissa not leaving the family.

I think that when Sirius and Narcissa both came to the conclusion that they didn’t want to be the Heirs of their family anymore, Sirius got a little hopeful. I genuinely think that for a short while there, his plans involved Narcissa being disowned and him being disowned too and the two of them who are already so close being able to make a better life for themselves away from the family that he’s grown to hate. Sirius doesn’t anticipate that Narcissa doesn’t want that. For Narcissa, disownment is a risk she’s willing to accept the consequences of, but when she’s not disowned she’s grateful and she’s happy and she refuses to entertain the idea of voluntarily leaving the family behind.

For that, Sirius feels betrayed. Regulus wants Narcissa to never have come out at all (for a little while), Sirius wants her to go all the way and truly rebel. Narcissa’s stuck in the middle where she always feels safest, and everyone’s left disappointed.

I promise things get a little happier.

5: Narcisssa’s plans moving forward

Looking at the course of her life, I think it’s safe to say that for Narcissa’s genuine happiness and well-being it would’ve been best, actually, if she’d been disowned at fifteen. If she had been forced out of the family, forced to find a different way of living outside of this restrictive family that demanded too much of her, she’d have been better off. But that’s not what happened.

Narcissa isn’t disowned, and to her that’s the best news she could’ve gotten. What this means, however, is that she’s now in a position where the reason she was allowed to stay a part of the Blackfamily, is because there was a chance she could be the perfect daughter neither of her sisters were. She takes that to heart, far too willingly, and it affects almost everything she does moving forward. To Narcissa, in some tragic way of thinking, she owes her family that much. She owes them perfection, because she failed the first time around and her father ‘forgave’ her. Moving forward, a lot of her motivation becomes “making her family proud” which can in a way be translated to “don’t make them regret this decision”.

And it’s very simple, really: all she has to be is perfect. Narcissa is someone who understands what is expected of her very very well, and for the most part what is expected of her corresponds with what she wants. She knows the rules of pureblood society, and I think from her perspective the most straightforward way of keeping herself safe and protected is by simply following these rules to a tee. She doesn’t push her luck, she keeps her head relatively down and does as told when it matters.

She’s one of those women who genuinely looks forward to marrying a rich man for his last name and have two picture perfect sons for him. While I think she’s a romantic at heart, I also think she’s ultimately realistic and she’s okay with not getting a fairytale marriage if that’s what her family needs. Narcissa takes so much pride in the Black family name, and honestly I think she’s aware that it’s partly that name that means that no one else in pureblood society would dare question her regarding her coming out or her transition. Whether that’s true or not (it entirely depends on other world building, obviously), she’s absolutely grateful for the protection offered by the Black name. Even if her parents are less than pleased about it, even if her mother wants her disowned, as long as she’s not, her mere association with the Black family offers security and a place in society that she otherwise easily could have lost.

In her eyes, the path forward is clear. Be Cygnus’ perfect daughter, become some pureblood wizard’s perfect wife, and raise his perfect children. It’s easy, it’s something she wants, and it’s something she’s genuinely good at. Narcissa understands society, she plays the game very well, and she has a good time playing.

The caveat here is that I do think this comes with the consequence of Narcissa genuinely not having much of an identity beyond the way she exists to other people. This is again something I want to make a separate post on, but for now: Narcissa has been raised to fulfill a purpose, not as a child and a person in her own right. When she transitioned, she didn’t necessarily seek out individuality, either. She sought to change the purpose she fulfilled in her family, and quite frankly being her own person with individual needs and desires was not high on her list of priorities.

Narcissa was raised the Black Heir, and it takes her a really long time to stop identifying herself as much more beyond Cygnus Black’s Daughter or Mrs. Lucius Malfoy, or even simply Draco Malfoy’s mother. Following a canon timeline, I don’t think it’s unrealistic for her to not truly let herself be just Narcissa until the Second War is over. Even when she perceives herself to make a genuinely selfish decision in pushing forward with her transition despite her family’s wishes, she does it in such a way that still does not allow for genuine personal freedom on her part. That’s just not what she seeks out — and it takes her a long time to realise that that’s even something she needs. (That said, fics and headcanons that push her to realise this much sooner are my absolute favourite).

Throughout the rest of her life, she kind of exists in this space between being out and being open about being trans (and being queer in general, I also headcanon her as being bisexual). For obvious reasons, most everyone in the wizarding world who reads Witch Weekly and keeps up a little bit with pureblood society knows that Narcissa’s come out. It’s genuinely big news for the infamous Black Heir to transition. That’s a thing. Narcissa doesn’t mind that that much, it’s something she expected but it’s also the reason she is genuinely very grateful that her family has her back in the eyes of the public.

But after the initial wave of shock and curiosity, when she’s married and she’s on her way of having a baby… she doesn’t mind just never bringing it up again. Narcissa never treats being trans as a secret, and it’s absolutely not something she’s ever ashamed about, but she’s not the kind of person who gets involved in activism or longs to be a spokes person for the trans community. You’ll never see her at a pride parade. It’s honestly a shame, and I think it could do her well to find genuine pride (and not arrogance), but that’s not who she is.

I imagine for Narcissa, it almost feels like her transition is a very specific chapter in her life that happened, that’s past, that she feels no shame about whatsoever, but she sees no reason to revisit it. Most people of Harry’s generation that aren’t purebloods won’t even know, and she doesn’t care if they do (if asked, for whatever reason, she sees no point in hiding. She’s not closeted in any way. She simply passes well and has no desire to bring up the past.)

6: Narcissa’s marriage and having Draco

First things first, the first “but actually” comment I always get if I mention trans!Narcissa is “but she has a child” and quite frankly, fuck that. This is a world with magic and the magic in HP has shitty rules that allow for near anything to be possible. This is also a fandom that loves to write cis teen boys accidentally knocking each other up and if you can make that look plausible in your worldbuilding, a trans woman with the resources and privilege Narcissa has, can damn well make it happen.

That said: her family. This will be a little shorter, because there are so many different interpretations of lucissa and I love so many of them but most of them are pretty similarly influenced by Narcissa being trans, honestly, unless you choose to headcanon Lucius as transphobic which personally, I just don’t want to. (My favourite description of Lucius comes from @nymphadoratonqs's portrayal of him in the sense of him being equally misogynistic towards cis and trans women lmao, but that still doesn’t apply to all lucissa ideas).

Regardless of whether Lucius and Narcissa have this epic love story or if it’s a cold and loveless arranged marriage, Narcissa would’ve married him blindly when her family wanted her to. It’s honestly that simple. To her, Lucius doesn’t have to be Prince Charming, even though she’ll love to be convinced he is. Lucius is simply a part of the duties she has towards her family, and the marriage between them is something she wants not necessarily for love but for the status and protection it provides her with and the good it does for her family’s reputation. I tend to headcanon that Narcissa married Lucius before Bellatrix married Rodolphus, so it was pretty important for her to get married quickly and get married well.

Her marriage to Lucius is in this way simply the next step in what I described in point 5: it’s what she has to do, and it’s something she’s willing to do. She likes being a wife, she genuinely does, and sad as it is, Lucius’ behaviour or care for her does not immediately change that. Whether they are madly in love before they get married, or he doesn’t bother to ask her how her day was for the entirety of the marriage.. She wants to be his wife, and she prides herself on the name Mrs. Lucius Malfoy as much as she prided herself on the name Narcissa Black.

Regarding Draco, Narcissa wants to be a mother. I think she found it quite hard in the first years, and her difficult relationship with her own mother didn’t help in the slightest, but she wants motherhood. It’s a pretty common fanon idea that Lucius and Narcissa struggled to conceive and/or suffered from miscarriages before having Draco, and that’s always been a headcanon I’ve adopted myself too.

Miscarriages happen, that’s just a tragically common fact of nature. Fertility struggles happen. These things are more common than people often acknowledge, and I don’t think the wizarding world is very different, I’d certainly ague that pureblood society is terrible about it. A pureblood witch’s most important duty is to provide her husband with sons and continue that precious bloodline. When Narcissa struggles to get pregnant, and when she loses a pregnancy, she’s both devastated and deeply humiliated.

Obviously it’s not true, but it feels like there is this one thing that she wants and that she also must do, that is expected of her, and is almost something that she feels like should ‘prove’ that she was right to think herself capable of being this perfect wife and daughter. And she fails. There are very few things that she’s quite as private about as her struggles with pregnancy. Up until the moment she’s far enough along with Draco that it feels relatively safe, she insists to anyone who asks that she and Lucius are purposefully waiting until the war settles down to have children. She absolutely refuses to admit to anyone, with perhaps the exception of one or two genuinely close friends, that anything else is happening.

And then there’s Draco.

6B: Raising her son

Draco as we see him in canon is a spoiled brat, a bigoted child, and just a general asshole. Love him or hate him, he takes after his parents and he needs some fucking work. Narcissa loves him more than she’s ever loved anything or anyone.

There’s a lot more to be said about Narcissa and Draco’s relationship, also in relation to Narcissa’s own parents and the war and it’s all so interesting, but for this particular post I’m focusing on the way Narcissa chooses to raise her son, the Malfoy Heir, after her own experiences being her father’s Heir and the pressure and the disappointment of letting him down. Narcissa knows what’s expected of her in regards to raising Draco, and she knows what will be expected of him, but there’s a line.

As I mentioned earlier, while Narcissa never bothers going through effort of hiding being trans, it’s not something she brings up herself and she prefers to live her life without giving people any potential reasons to criticise her. The exception is Draco. She ensures that from a young age, he knows she’s queer, and most important that he knows that should he ever realise he’s queer himself, she’ll understand and she’ll love him. She never wants him to feel quite as trapped in his position in the Malfoy family as she did, and she never wants him to struggle between the decision of potentially being disowned and living a life he can be genuinely happy in. Obviously, in the grand scheme of the war, none of this really ends up mattering, but that’s a very conscious choice she makes when raising Draco.

There are a lot of mistakes she (and Lucius) make when raising their son. Draco’s spoiled rotten, he’s never been told no, and then he’s put in this extremely dangerous situation as a result of his parents’ choices and mistakes. Narcissa, devoted of a mother as she is, fucks up. But she does this right. She really does. There is nothing Draco can do that would make her even consider turning her back on him, and he knows that.

7: Choosing her name

This is both where this headcanon originated and my favourite little tidbit about Narcissa’s character. I strongly believe that her deadname did fit the Black family tradition of stars and constellations and all that fun space stuff. I’ve also said that I very much believe that Narcissa was overjoyed to be able to remain a part of her family, and that she did genuinely strive to be the perfect daughter for her parents.

So why did she choose a name that did not reflect the tradition of the family she loves so dearly?

Long story short: it’s a small reminder, every day, that she did choose herself.

I think she picked the name Narcissa before she came out to her parents, before she knew if she was going to be disowned or not but at a point where she did know that she wasn’t going to be held back by the fear of disownment. She purposefully chose something that had nothing to do with her family because she had to be able to remind herself that as much as she wanted their approval, she didn’t need it. (Of course, as she grows up she does a whole lot more with the explicit purpose of gaining their approval, but Narcissa is nothing if not a very contradictory woman).

The name Narcissa comes from Greek Mythology, and it’s my personal headcanon that especially when she’s younger, she’s quite the little nerd about Greek Mythology. She read the myths in Ancient Greek and all that, and she’s honestly so pretentious about it. (Additionally: Uncle Alphard gave her her first book on mythology as a young child and she’s held onto it ever since). Narcissus is a figure who is so beautiful that just about everyone who meets him falls in love at first sight, and he’s so arrogant that people kill themselves from how cruelly he rejects them. (Literally. There’s one guy who declares his love and says he’ll die without Narcissus’ affection, and Narcissus sends him a dagger in response.) Eventually, cursed by Aphrodite for the way he treated a nymph called Echo, Narcissus falls in love with his own reflection in the water. He withered away, so heartbroken that he could never love himself, until he was transformed into a daffodil.

I think it’s one of Narcissa’s favourite myths for a long time, and when choosing a name it feels almost obvious. Part of her simply genuinely wants to be that beautiful. She wants to be able to look in the mirror and all but fall in love with herself. And she certainly succeeds.

It’s also simply a quiet act of rebellion that no one but her own family would even notice. No one else would actually realise that technically Narcissa isn’t derived from a star, it sounds every bit as pretentious as all the other names. It’s very clever in that way. Only her parents will ever really know just how willing she was to step away from the family for her own sake, until she didn’t have to.

8: A couple of fic recs and ideas

I’ll say there aren’t a lot of works where Narcissa’s explicitly written as trans (there are 23 works in the “trans narcissa black malfoy” tag, and a lot of them are from ships I’m personally not interested in reading). I’ve listed a handful of fics, and a few ideas for stories that I would love to read or write one day.

Excellence by SiriuslySapphic

Yeah yeah I’m starting with a self rec. I’ll also say that though not every Narcissa fic on my page actually goes into detail of Narcissa being trans, all but one WIP is written with trans!narcissa in mind bc that’s just the way I write Narcissa.

Excellence is a Dorcas/Narcissa WIP that starts in fifth year (after the summer that she comes out) and will follow them throughout the first war. It’s about the two of them figuring out who to be in pureblood society, how the war divides everyone, and queerness in the wizarding world with a healthy dose of magical theory later on. It’s not canon compliant (Dorcas doesn’t die), and will be angsty with a happy ending.

A Most Uxorious Tale by TheWakeless

Ux-o-ri-ous def. having or showing an excessive or submissive fondness for one's wife.

This is 40K words of Lucius/Narcissa with the vibes of Morticia and Gomez Addams. It’s mainly canon compliant with a happy ending and it deals with Narcissa’s transition, her childhood, a lot of dark magic and gaining the Dark Lord’s approval. It’s a detailed look at how queerness exists in the wizarding world, and what it’s like to transition within pureblood society.

Two-way Mirror by Lightinthehallway

So I mentioned just how interesting Sirius and Narcissa’s relationship is freaking interesting and her being trans only increases that complicated dynamic. This fic looks at exactly that, except they’re both trans and it’s a whole thing and there’s pain and betrayal and trust, and I love it. Andromeda’s reaction in this really hurt me, but I also kinda like that complicated take on their relationship. This is also a fascinating look at how coming out goes differently in both branches of the Black family, and how it interacts with existing family dynamics!

And some ideas: I think it’d be so interesting to write about Narcissa a little bit later in life, perhaps while Draco and his friends are growing up. Fics with conversations between Narcissa and Draco, maybe, or him coming out to her later in life?? I also love the the trans!pansy headcanon, and I’d honestly love to see fics or hcs where Narcissa is this kind of role model to younger pureblood kids and just?? Please?

I also really love the idea of Narcissa after the second war getting the chance to live a life for herself, in a world where pureblood society and last names matter a little less than she was used to growing up. Narcissa being able to figure out who she is beyond last names and titles, as long as it may take? (This works beautifully in combination with a lot of different post war ships, too! A current favourite of mine is Remus/Narcissa healing after the war).

(I’m obsessed with Narcissa learning the beauty of individuality and personhood) so another idea is literally any AU that lets her get out of the Black family as it works. Narcissa who gets disowned when she comes out, is devastated, and in the long run finds she’s better for it. Narcissa who runs away willingly when Sirius does, or who ends up on Andromeda’s doorstep shortly after Hogwarts because she’s come to the realisation that she matters as more than a Role.

Conclusion / TLDR

The basics of everything I just said (it’s a grand total of 7K words) can be summarised as “Trans!narcissa comes out at about 15 in a family that values the contribution children make to the family reputation over absolutely everything else. She’s not disowned because her father decides to let her prove herself worthy of carrying the Black name after all, and she genuinely wants to make it her life purpose to basically not let him down. She struggles a lot with the concept of being an individual and does not see this as a problem, but she raises Draco with an insane amount of spoiling and a genuinely healthy dose of you are loved and will never have to fear being thrown out over something you can’t help. Her name is its own little form of rebellion that no one but her parents really notice and it also shows off that she’s a tiny little nerd at heart.”

Otherwise, I don’t really know how to end meta posts like these so…? That was that? I hope this was an interesting read. If anyone has any like questions or recs or just thoughts my inbox is open lmao I love to waste time talking about Narcissa Malfoy.

#narcissa malfoy #harry potter #hp meta #marauders era #dead gay wizards #that's a tag used for the marauders era too right lol #lucissa #draco malfoy #trans headcanon #trans narcissa #hp headcanon #my posts #meta #my meta

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flu5zn · 9 months ago

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⠀✼⠀⠀.⠀⠀⠀،،⠀PROLOGUE : BALANCE.

almost. it’s a big word for me. i feel it everywhere. almost home. almost happy. almost changed. almost, but not quite. not yet. soon, maybe.⠀┉⠀from, “Almost Home” by joan bauer.

&.⠀ʿʿ⠀CHARACTERS﹕DEVIN XIE feat. her family. &.⠀ʿʿ⠀WORD COUNT﹕1.7K &.⠀ʿʿ⠀WARNINGS﹕swearing, drugs, weird family dynamics, corey catches a stray. &.⠀ʿʿ⠀NOTES﹕gonna be doing a little prologue series as kind of a character study for each of the members to give insight into what they were doing before the band. as well as some of the things that shaped their choice to join the band.

Devin could never tell when her parents were angry with her. Whether it was because they were always angry with her or because she never cared enough to figure it out, she wasn't quite sure. She wasn't exactly the perfect daughter, that she can admit. But their perpetual disappointment in her never bothered her as much as they liked to think it did.

She had developed her brand of nonchalance pretty early on. Always the child who rolled her eyes while her parents gave important speeches to important people, always the child those same important people avoided making small talk with. By the time she was old enough to drive, Devin did her best to avoid those important speeches altogether. But if she couldn't, there was always a group of misfit nepo babies with plenty of substances that numbed her spirit in ways only designer drugs could. Getting high was often the only time she felt truly free. Outside of the watchful eyes of her older sisters, and their parents, and the scrutiny of her parents' high positions.

Inside her bubble of intoxication, a reality fabricated entirely for herself allowed her to pretend she was nobody for a few drugged moments. Devin was always at peace when she was within that paradise. Her breathing slowed, her pupils blown, her speech slowed with a smile that curved at the edges of lips that had yet to be touched by a surgeon. Her best friends, Corey and Genesis, called her selfish. Claiming the little care she had while sober disappeared as she immersed herself within her hazy world.

"Sometimes I start to care about you and wonder where you disappear to. Then, I remember who you are and I care less."

Jennifer always reminded Devin of a bitter old woman. Hardened by the burden of being the eldest daughter and the weight of perfection on her shoulders, it was no secret why Jennifer had always been such a hardass.

Devin's eyes rolled impossibly far at her sister's words. "If I wanted your sympathy I would've keeled over and put a bullet in my head by now. Fuck off, Jenn."

The two weren't close, they never got the chance to be. Equally stubborn, and equally stoic, the sisters were at odds from the moment Devin was born. As the story goes, four-year-old Jennifer was the first to make the very quiet baby Devin cry when her parents first took her home from the hospital.

It should be worth mentioning that Marilyn Xie was a known compulsive liar, a fact a very young Devin had been fed by her father, George, when her mother had still been a subject of her admiration.

It was interesting to see the two sisters interact. It wasn't that they hated each other. No— Jennifer thought Devin too resourceful to resent her, and Devin found Jennifer too resilient to be anything more than a nuisance. In all honesty, the sisters' relationship was complicated. Perhaps if they were born into a different family they would've been closer, perhaps not. Devin never cared much to ponder the possibility for too long. It gave her a headache to consider alternative timelines.

To Jennifer’s credit, however, she wasn't Evelyn.

"You're so fucking tense, go get laid and lighten up Chrissy."

Evelyn always made it a point to call Devin by her birth name. She held that power over her younger sister and dangled the name over her head, daring her to lash out. Devin never did lash out, she knew better than to be upset over anything Evelyn could come up with to insult her. No matter how low.

Evelyn was much too intelligent to be aloof or indifferent—no matter how much she tried to act it. Devin never quite understood the second eldest daughter and all the peculiarities of her behavior. Dubbed a "gifted" child before she could consistently perform long division, Evelyn was always "just enough". She was the planned second child, the smart one with the perfect arrangement of genes that gifted her a beauty that surpassed all of her siblings.

"My options are getting slim considering you've fucked half of Manhattan at this point."

Admittedly a gross exaggeration, Devin, and Evelyn ran in close circles. Only two classes above her younger sister, Evelyn had somehow managed to make connections with anyone remotely close to Devin. Her shadow remained large over Devin’s very existence, towering over her despite being nearly four inches shorter.

"Half of Manhatten thinks you’re a bitch anyways," with a huff Evelyn was off to god knows where. She did that often, as their parents liked to willfully ignore. For every pointed observation Jennifer made of Devin's habits, their parents constructed three more double standards to support their bias toward their two eldest daughters.

Evelyn never peeved Devin the way that Jennifer did. Devin knew better than to cross Evelyn who was much more resentful than Jennifer ever had the energy to be.

On the last occasion Devin had decided to test the grasp of Evelyn’s wrath, she had ended up with a headache. The kind of headache you only get when you witness your best friend, tiptoe across the edge of his father’s penthouse after experiencing his first heartbreak at the hands of your gorgeous older sister.

"Evelyn cheated on Corey because she’s a bitch and that’s just what she does. Not sure what that has to do with you." Stephanie had always been the most agreeable of Devin's four sisters.

The two weren't close by any meaning of the word. They simply tolerated each other enough to get along for an extended period. Finding a common enemy in Jennifer’s self-righteousness brought the girls together once Stephanie entered high school. Often locking themselves in Devin's room to smoke weed, the burn of grapefruit-scented candles mixing with the potent herb to create a smell that only meant trouble. It wasn’t lost on Devin that Stephanie would never go further than smoking. The fourth daughter leaned empty-handed against walls Devin and her friends would crouch next to when they snorted lines off tables. She’d pretend she didn’t see them, keeping guard at the door before some sleeve offered her a joint to keep her busy.

It was a mystery to Devin how Stephanie managed to fly under their parents' radar for this long when considering how defiant the fourth daughter's true nature was. Though she had considered it might be her cowardice that allowed her to coast by for so long, Devin was convinced she would snap at some point— she never did.

"It has everything to do with me. Corey's a whore, and Evelyn doesn't put enough effort into finding guys I don’t know, to fuck with." Devin sighs, smoke leaving her lips at the sound.

"Fuck this," Stephanie spat, almost mirroring the vengefulness of Evelyn’s nature.

Devin often noted the patterns of her elder sisters' behaviors that embedded themselves into Stephanie’s behavior. In all honesty, Stephanie didn't have much of a personality of her own. She was a copycat; doomed to comparisons and repetition. She was the fourth child born to their parents, the manifestation of an obsession with righting the ways they went wrong with Jennifer’s stoicism and Evelyn’s callousness and Devin’s nonchalance.

To their credit, it worked.

Devin never could get past Stephanie’s absence of a unique personality. She agreed with everything she said, grew angry when expected to, and suppressed every urge of rebellion Devin knew she was capable of in favor of the security of her trust fund.

Despite her faults, however, no one remotely bothered Devin the way Victoria did.

"Mom and Dad miss you. They're asking when you'll come to visit."

Poor, sweet Victoria Xie. The perfect culmination of George and Marilyn’s parental experiences—and fittingly, hated by all four of her elder sisters.

A perfectionist by both nature and nurture, Victoria could do no wrong. Devin was convinced her youngest sister was physically incapable of disappointing their parents. Though Jennifer praised the youngest for being everything Devin wasn't, even she knew Jennifer wouldn't miss hearing of Victoria's consistent perfection.

"Victoria, stop—"

Devin often found herself high-strung around the youngest Xie sister. Annoyed by her name itself before she ever got to hear her sing-songy Disney Princess tone.

"Christina, I said they miss you."

She often spoke through gritted teeth, holding back her words and reminding herself of her place within the family. She wasn't devoted enough, much less pampered enough by her parents to speak to Victoria the way she could the others. She had to coax herself back into the familiarity of carelessness before she could have any sort of conversation with Victoria.

She was much too sweet, much too often for Devin's comfort. And as Victoria grew older, Devin was sure she became aware of how much the middle child resented having to hold any sort of contact with her. Yet, if she felt any feelings at all for the way Devin avoided her, Victoria never showed it.

Of all four of Devin's sisters, Victoria was the only one who could ever get Devin to care. She liked to imagine her parents used this to their advantage. Drawing Devin out of her isolated existence on the other side of the world to get her to make appearances; an effort to keep up their reputation.

Of all four of Devin's sisters, Victoria remained the only one who could bend Devin to her every will and whim. Though they were frequently their parents' wills and whims, Devin knew better than to cross Victoria. She was much too perfect, too much of the time.

Devin could never compete with perfection.

"Tell them I'll make it for brunch next week."

Her manicured hands massaged her temples with her phone lodged between her right ear and her shoulder blade. Nursing at her headache gave her a moment of clarity, just in time to hear Victoria's response.

"Perfect," her tone perfectly bright. "I’ve already sent you the plane tickets, see you next week, Chrissy."

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eggs-can-draw · 2 years ago

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various pregame shenaniganeries, including a baby shu because I missed him :) kinda long naegamigiri timeline thing under the cut that I made at like 1 am on friday

Hi hi hi sit down we’re gonna talk about pre-game naegamigiri because they’re kinda the reverse of how in-game naegamigiri ends up together in my head. HI hihihi this is Egg slightly later this kinda grabbed me and ran into the sunset so naegamigiri timeline thing lets goooooooo

So to start us out, we have the top two in the class, Togami sitting at no. 2 and Kirigiri sitting at no. 1. Togami being Togami, instantly turns this into a competition. His number 1 priority becomes rising to the no. 1 spot and shoving it in this dumbass detective’s smug face. At first, Kirigiri really couldn't be bothered, but sadly, she fell victim to Togami’s secret second talent, Super High School Level Drama Queen. So pretty quickly into their first year, Kirigiri and Togami are academic rivals! Both being naturally competitive, it rapidly evolves into full on rivals! Until…over time. They become reluctant friends. And suddenly class-78 has the world’s scariest power couple.

BUT EGG! You may be screaming at me, WHERE IS NAEGI IN ALL THIS?? Well you see, as the shsl lucky student and self proclaimed Just Some Guy, when he quickly fell head over heels for the power couple, he instantly assumed both were waaaay out of his league. I mean, who wouldn't? Togami practically refused to give ANYONE the time of day, and Kirigiri is one of the most closed off people on the PLANET. And while he does make friends with them during the rivalry era of their relationship, he resigns himself to pining for both from the sidelines

LITTLE DOES HE FUCKING KNOW THOUGH. Kirigiri and Togami are definitely happy together, but their relationship as it is feels like it's... Missing something. After about a week of awkward tension, they both admit to having a crush on Naegi. With both of them on the same page, they make it their mission to confess to Naegi, and get him to join the polycule!

So yeah it's a lot of fluff from both Kirigiri and Togami, Very Obviously Flirting and Naegi pulling the classic “Ok But Did They Mean It As A Friend” that slowly gets more and more intense.

Like. Picture this. A fancy candlelight dinner, the three of them at an expensive Michelin star restaurant, Kirigiri and Togami both got Naegi flowers, afterwards they went on a walk through a local park and watched the sunset with just the three of them.

Naegi still didn't get the hint.

After almost two years of flirting with Naegi being (somewhat willfully) oblivious, they decide to bite the bullet and just tell him. The dynamic duo write Naegi an adorable love letter, laying all their feelings out in the open, but the day they give it to him, just happened to be the day that class-78 was barricaded inside Hope’s Peak.

He was going to read it in his room when he was called down for the memory wipe, and it just happened to fall out of his pocket as he was walking out.

But fear not! This story isn't over yet! The polycule is real and they do love each other!

Beginning the game, Naegi can't help but feel. Weird. Whenever he's around Togami and Kirigiri. His head feels light and his chest gets all fluttery and he stumbles over his words a bit more than usual.

While looking through one of the classrooms on the second floor, after the first trial, he finds. A letter? Its torn and damaged but when he opens it, the handwriting feels oddly familiar? Names have been scratched out but he can't help but feel incredibly hot in the face when he reads it. He doesn't know why, but seeing this gives him a boost of confidence! While Monokuma shows up to rain on his parade and take the letter, it doesn't work and he uses this confidence to approach Kirigiri. They have a heart to heart and both admit to feeling the warm fuzzies around each other for an unknown reason. They’ve known each other for what, half a week? Kirigiri can't help but be intrigued so they decide to hang out more, this leading the two into a soft and fluffy relationship.

As trial two comes and goes, they both come to a startling yet all to familiar realization. They ALSO get the warm and fuzzies around Togami. That bastard. While making sure to do so outside of the earshot of a certain shsl Murderer, they both approach Togami, who (begrudgingly) admits to feeling the same. While it starts out a bit rocky, the three form a solid and loving polycule.

AND THEN CHAPTER 5 HAPPENS. I could talk about chapter 5 for a million years. Honestly. The angst potential is so so so so so so so strong. Togami doesn't want to believe that he’s been tricked by the two people he promised himself he’s make it out alive with, Naegi refuses to believe that Kirigiri would kill anyone but also a dead body doesn't just appear out of nowhere, and Kirigiri is just TRYING TO SURVIVE.

Pov you are Asahina, Scissor System, Yasuhiro, and Junko and you are witnessing a brutal divorce. The fire is real.

After Naegi’s execution, Togami is a MESS, Kirigiri completely shuts herself off, her one priority being getting Naegi the fuck outta the trash and making up with her short boyfriend. Once the sunshine boy himself is back, tall boyfriend has grown some bad abandonment issues and is beginning his journey as the Super High School Level Mother Hen, so as he’s lecturing treating Naegi’s for his injuries from almost being executed, Naegi gets them all to kiss (literally) and make up. Things aren't perfect, but they're on the same page.

And then trial 6 happens, and they win the killing game. Things seem scary, but they know that whatever they face out there, they’ll have each other.

It doesn't take long for the future foundation to find them, the small group of kids like scared animals being thrust into a world they no longer remember. Naegamigiri refuse to let go of each other, even when the FF’s medic team try to give them a check up to make sure they weren't seriously injured (which in Naegi’s case, led to Kirigiri and Togami yelling at the medic team that tried to shove Naegi onto a gurney and deeper into the hospital wing without them.

Things are tense and scary and they are tired but no matter what they have hope. The world is big and scary and completely foreign to them but no matter what, they have each other, and they have hope for the future.

FLASH FORWARD! The three are official members of the Future Foundation, and have been working on their little pet project involving The Remnants of Despair. After a lot of long talks, they agreed that they wouldn't get married until the tragedy was completely over, then where they would all leave the future foundation to pursue their ambitions and live a happy life together. This agreement, however, does not extend to children. This quickly becomes very relevant when through a series of vaguely ambiguous events, they ended up with little Shuichi Last-Name-Pending! So things get a smidge more stressful. The middle of the apocalypse is the perfect time for a kid. I have no idea what you're talking about.

Then UDG happens. And the stress. Rises. To put it lightly. Almost losing Togami definitely shifted perspective for the power trio. Kirigiri and Naegi were terrified of the thought of not only losing their partner, but Shuichi having to grow up without one of his parents. Togami got progressively more mother hen, despite being the one who almost died.

On the happier side, Komaru was very happy to find out she was an aunt! Once the tragedy is over, she is going to spoil the ever loving shit out of him. I’m sorry sir, but my nephew asked for no fucking pickles!

Things get kinda vague for me after this. Sdr2 happens, with Naegamigiri once again almost dying as you do. Shuichi gains a surprise new uncle, he also gets babysat by Asahina, and once naegamigiri get back I remember that I haven't finished the dr3 anime.

Not 100% sure if I’m gonna keep the dr3 killing game who knows. Maybe things stay cute and fluffy and nothing huge happens for naegamigiri until the tragedy is officially over and Togami and Kirigiri leave the future foundation to pursue their passions (FF wont let Naegi leave, sadly, he did get to change his job to a stay at home one tho, mans basically does paperwork on a laptop all day and sometimes has to go on long business trips to speak to people all over the world to help restore hope and stuff)

One important detail: The HPA survivors are not involved in the resurrection of hope's peak. It's something that's bugged me for a while and it just. It doesn't sit right with me.

A long time later, Shuichi and his friends attend Hopes Peak (a certain gremlin has to lie to their dad to get there due to Bad Blood Tee Em but it's fiiiine they're all fiiiiiine) where shit hits the fan, and I’m not gonna reveal that until I finish v3 so for now, that’s it! Get out of my house! Come back later! You’ve had your food for the day!

#eggs can art #eggs can speak #naegamigiri #byakuya togami #makoto naegi #kyoko kirigiri #naegami #naegiri #togiri #they!!#they!!!!!#Naegi's ahoge is a force of nature and cannot be suppressed for long #very very heavily considering cutting the v3 killing game entirely #HELLO THIS IS EGG FROM THE FUTURE I MEANT DR3 #either that or pulling something a lot different #I just. I really dont like how Monaca was treated as a character #it felt like she was built up to be the next big bad and then. suddenly she's a space NEET #yeah she would be a predictable mastermind but she doesnt need to be the person actually responsible FOR the killing game to still be #running it. like. yeah Kamukura is the mastermind of sdr2 but ai!Junko is still the one who actually orchestrated it all and held the actual #game yknow.#danganronpa #drthh #danganronpa trigger happy havoc #still feels like it should have one more h #art #artists on tumblr

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