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ramblings-of-a-chaotic-neutral · 1 year ago

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Time for today's silly Merlin au! This time featuring himbo Arthur!

I think that the show should have leaned into the whole "Merlin's technically a creature of magic" aspect, both in terms of being magic incarnate and kin to the dragons, and I think Arthur should have also been forced to come to terms with it as well. However, this is Arthur we're talking about, so of course he wouldn't come to the right conclusions right away.

In this scenario, around season 5-ish, there's an evil sorcerer seeking revenge against Camelot for the purge who puts a spell on all of the humans in Camelot, one that would weaken them and cause such fatigue that no one would be able to even stand up after a while. But it's a powerful and taxing spell to cast, so the sorcerer can only afford to target the humans in Camelot to keep the number of targets as low as possible. Besides, what could the livestock in Camelot do to stop him anyways?

So everyone in Camelot is falling under this spell, and Arthur and the knights are rushing to prepare for battle against the sorcerer to make him lift the spell. However, with each hour that passes, everyone grows weaker and weaker.

Merlin does, of course, know that this spell has been cast and what it does, but he doesn't feel its affects and assumes that his magic is protecting him. He acts like he's growing weaker so he doesn't fall under anyone's suspicions for the wrong reasons. However, after Merlin summons and talks to Kilgarrah for advice on how to break the spell, Kilgarrah informs him that Merlin wasn't protected by his magic, but rather by the fact that he isn't truly human.

And Merlin decides to unpack the implications of that some other time, because he's got a kingdom and a prat to save.

Fast forwards to the knights getting their asses kicked by the sorcerer and the evil sorcerer preparing to kill Arthur, who's lying on the ground with his eyes closed. All the other knights were knocked out by a blast from the sorcerer, but Arthur's still barely clinging to consciousness, yet he's too weak to even open his eyes. All he can do is listen helplessly as the sorcerer prepares to kill them all.

But then the sorcerer yelps, as if he were hit by something. Arthur's hope skyrockets as the sorcerer yells "You! How are you even still awake?! Every single human in Camelot should be feeling the full effects of the spell by now!" Arthur thinks for a moment that one of his knights has found enough strength to overcome the spell and fight back, but that hope is quickly dashed when he hears Merlin's voice responding like he isn't tired in the slightest, saying, "Well it's a good thing I was never really human then."

Merlin decided to say that to throw the sorcerer off-kilter enough to distract him and give Merlin an advantage in the fight. Besides, Merlin can see that all of the knights, including Arthur, are knocked out on the ground, so there's no harm in admitting it to this sorcerer who he's definitely going to have to kill.

Arthur, meanwhile, is still conscious and completely reeling from Merlin's words. What the hell did he mean he wasn't human?! Has some vile magical creature taken Merlin's place?

After the battle (which sounded to Arthur like a bunch of grunts, pained yelps, and a final, wet gurgle), Arthur could feel the effects of the spell lifting, letting him open his eyes with a gasp. He frantically looks around to make sure Merlin's ok, but Merlin's only a few steps away from him, while the sorcerer lies dead on the ground with a sword buried in his chest.

Hearing Arthur's gasp, Merlin turns to him with a relieved smile and helps pulls Arthur to his feet. Arthur, meanwhile, is too stunned to even ask how Merlin of all people managed to kill a powerful sorcerer by himself, but Merlin's giving some unbelievable explanation that involves distracting the sorcerer and then getting a miraculous opening and stabbing the sorcerer. Arthur's nodding along, but inside, he's really searching man who might be Merlin or might be some magical imposter posing as Merlin, as awful as that is for Arthur to consider, for any signs that he's truly Merlin.

If he's an imposter, Arthur has to give him credit, he plays his part well. The man in front of him looks exactly like Merlin, talks like Merlin, walks with Merlin's lanky gait, and seems to know everything Merlin knows, even their inside jokes. Still, Arthur needs to be sure, so after they get back to the castle, Arthur goes down to the vaults and grabs a secret object that Uther used in the purge that could detect illusions and glamor magics. It was a simple clear crystal in the shape of a sphere and small enough to fit in the palm of a person's hand, but if someone or something that was using magic to alter their appearance came into contact with it, the crystal would glow with a bright light.

Arthur plants the sphere in his chambers and disguises it as a new paperweight. The next day, Arthur pretends to accidentally knock it off his desk, sending it rolling across the floor, and orders the maybe-Merlin to pick it up and bring it back to his desk. Maybe-Merlin rolls his eyes in a perfect imitation of Merlin and walks over to the crystal. To Arthur's shock and relief, the crystal doesn't glow when Merlin picks it up, so he definitely is the true Merlin.

But then that leads Arthur to a horrible conclusion: the Merlin he knew wasn't a human, and never was. And the only creatures with the ability to look convincingly human were creatures of magic.

Oh god, Merlin was a creature of magic.

Arthur decides that, in order for him to plot an appropriate course of action, he needs more information. Namely, he needs to know what exactly Merlin is.

So, Arthur sneaks into the library and secretly takes some of the bestiaries, searching for what manner of creature Merlin truly is. Arthur tries not to jump to the worst possible conclusions, but all of the creatures of magic that can take human form that Arthur knows of are horrible monsters that prey on humans. Take the sidhe and the lamia for examples!

But people don't randomly go missing or turn up dead from monster attacks very frequently in Camelot, and Merlin cries when Arthur so much as shoots a bunny, so if Merlin's some sort of monster that kills and eats humans, he's doing a piss poor job at being one. So, Merlin must be some sort of creature that doesn't hurt humans, which certainly narrows down the list.

Arthur eventually finds a list of peaceful, human-like creatures of magic, and he starts trying to narrow down what Merlin is. He couldn't be an elf, since his ears were huge and round, not pointed. He couldn't be a gnome, he was too tall and gangly. He couldn't be a nymph, he spent too much time indoors to be a nature spirit. He couldn't be a leprechaun, he didn't have a beard or an affinity towards gold. He couldn't be a fae or a sidhe, he doesn't make deals with anyone (besides when he goes gambling at the tavern). And he certainly couldn't be a dragonlord, they were all dead!

Arthur was just about to give up when he finally found what he was looking for! The book's passage on fairies described them as benevolent relatives to the fae who would often disguise themselves as humans and would bring good luck and fortune to whoever befriended them, while sometimes engaging in some fun mischief! That must be Merlin!

Come to think of it, Arthur did have some great moments of luck, some of them almost miraculous! Morgana's magic failing her the day of a battle, defeating a dragon single-handedly, surviving the questing beast's bite, and of course defeating monsters that were said to only be killed through magic. And Merlin had been there for all of those events!

The book also describes fairies as creatures that love all living beings and are closely connected with nature, which makes perfect sense considering how much Merlin hates hunting! And fairies could see into the true hearts of people, which was how Merlin always knew if a person was untrustworthy!

It all made so much sense! This even explained Merlin's random "visits to the tavern", when Arthur knew that Merlin rarely ever drank. According to the book, fairies could only maintain their human forms for so long before they needed to spend some time in their smaller winged forms.

The book even addressed how fairies could be born from a union between a particularly powerful fairy and a human, which even explained why Merlin never knew his father and how Merlin could be a creature of magic while having a human mother!

Now that he knew the truth, Arthur felt so much relief! His best friend wasn't some diabolical monster, he was just a playful and friendly fairy trying to live as a human! It made so much sense!

And now all Arthur had to do was prove it. All evidence pointed to Merlin being a fairy, but he needed concrete proof before he could take any action. According to the book, the blood of a fairy in a human disguise sparkled under the light of a full moon. So, Arthur devised a plan to take Merlin out on an overnight hunting trip the day before the next full moon and "accidentally" cut Merlin's arm with one of the crossbow bolts. Arthur would then bandage the cut for Merlin and, after a couple hours, insist on changing the bandages, and pocket the first bloodied bandage.

Sure, Arthur felt guilty about purposely cutting his friend, but this was Merlin's fault for keeping the fact that he wasn't human a secret over their ten years of friendship! So, Arthur goes through with his plan, and when he held the used bandage up to the moonlight after Merlin had fallen asleep, he has to hold back a gasp as the red blood on the cloth shimmers and turns a bright golden color. Well, the book was right, the blood certainly sparkled!

(It was a shame that Arthur never read into warlocks, and how the magic in a warlock's blood made their blood turn gold under the light of a full moon.)

Arthur then turned to look at his peacefully sleeping friend, and swore that he would do everything he could to help his friendly little fairy.

Shortly after that revelation, Arthur starts actively noticing all of the strokes of luck he has. Bandits can never land a hit on him because they're too busy getting knocked out by tree branches or tripping over roots, his baths and meals are always the perfect temperature no matter how long he waits, and his injuries all heal at near-impossible rates. Hell, Arthur couldn't even recall the last time he got sick with something as small as a cold!

So Arthur tries to do little things for Merlin to show him his appreciation, like giving Merlin flower crowns (which fairies are said to like and Merlin absolutely adores), giving him a shiny silver mirror (fairies are supposed to like shiny things, and Merlin's never had a proper mirror before), and giving Merlin parts of his own meals as a food offering (which Merlin of course isn't about to turn down).

(Arthur's also kinda frustrated at the lack of information about fairy courting rituals lol!)

But Arthur isn't the best at keeping secrets, so the knights of the round table eventually catch him trying to set up a nice little fairy ring for Merlin in the garden, and they also "figure out" that Merlin is a fairy, and it all spirals from there until the entire castle is trying to show their appreciation for their fairy friend.

Merlin's very confused by all of this (since Arthur's terrible at actually communicating, Merlin doesn't know that Arthur thinks he's a fairy), but he's not about to turn down all of these lovely gifts!

And there's lots of different directions the story could go from there! A pretty funny scenario would be some rival king catching wind of how Camelot's great victories are all because of their king befriending a kind fairy, so he kidnaps Merlin in an attempt to make Merlin grant him such great luck and victory in battle. However, all they do to imprison Merlin is pour a circle of salt around him (since they firmly believe that fairies cannot cross a barrier of salt).

Merlin's just kinda raises an eyebrow and thinks that this is the weirdest kidnapping ever, steps over the salt, and escapes back to Camelot.

Thank you for reading through my rambling! :D

#bbc merlin #merlin #merlin bbc #arthur pendragon #merthur #merlin au #himbo arthur #merlin prompts

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mytheoristavenue · 11 months ago

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MHA Mezo Shoji x Reader - Make Believe - VII

Summary: You ask Shoji to pretend to be your boyfriend for a dinner with your parents.

Warnings: mutual pining, fake dating trope, only one bed trope, nsfw, virgin!reader, virgin!Shoji, use of his quirk, mentions of scars, size difference, mentions of oral (fem receiving), heavy petting, angst, fluff

The night hours began to tick by as tried to wind down, doom scrolling on your phone. Every so often, your eyes would flick to the floor to the left of your bed- or more specifically, Shoji, still naked from the waist up, save for his mask. He laid on his back, having laid out his towel to rest on, also on his phone. You couldn't help but steal glances at his bare form, though it made you feel incredibly perverted. Your breath would hitch nearly every time he shifted, thinking he'd caught you for sure this time. He stayed none the wiser.

"Think I'll probably get some rest soon," he eventually said sitting up and stretching his muscles, twisting and popping his back. "Got maybe a blanket and pillow I can borrow?"

"Shoji..." your eyes softened at him, but you turned your gaze away before your words could capture his attention. "I'm not actually gonna make you sleep on the floor..."

"It was my idea, you aren't making me do anything." He persisted. "It's fine, really."

"Let me rephrase," you sighed, crossing your arms stubbornly. "I'm not going to let you sleep on the floor." You flashed a momentary smile, before realizing he was staring back and you glanced back at the wall, patting the spot beside you as you scooted over. "Get up here."

"I'm seriously good, (Y/N)," Shoji insisted, shaking his head. "The floor's actually pretty comfortable," he lied. "And if you don't have bedding to spare, I'll survive."

"Shoji," you warned, shooting him a glare. "Don't make me say it again." Sighing and giving in, he picked himself up off the floor, dusting himself off and scooping up the towel before draping it over the footboard. Hesitantly, he sat on the bed, legs still dangling. "Get under the covers, you'll weigh them down if you sleep on top." You said, swallowing at the way his body heat tickled your skin. Bashfully, he did so, lifting up the quilt and shimmying under it.

"Now, I think we should set some ground rules," you continued, trying not to let the lamp light show your red cheeks. "No cuddling, no touching, we sleep back to back, got it?"

"Right," he agreed, nodding and swallowing hard. "It'd be weird if that happened, considering we're not really dating."

"Yeah," you replied halfheartedly, rolling over as he did the same. You couldn't help but blush at the sensation of his bare spine against your clothed one. For a moment, you wondered if he'd notice if you lifted your shirt to feel his skin on yours. You promptly shook the idea out of your head when you noticed him trembling, lying stick straight.

"Shoji, is everything alright?" you asked, concerned, rolling back over and propping yourself up on an elbow.

"Yeah," he answers sheepishly. "It's kinda embarrassing." He chuckled.

"Tell me," you pressed, laying a hand on his forearm to see over his hulking form.

"My left arms fell asleep." he laughed nervously. "I'm not really used to sleeping on my side, I can usually only get comfortable sleeping on my back with my arms stretched out." He explains awkwardly. "I'm sure it'll be fine, though. If I get too uncomfortable, I'll go back to laying on the floor."

You felt terrible, you were so focused on your own comfort, that you forgot to take into account his. Of course, he wouldn't be able to sleep with his back to you, having three arms to lay on. "I'm so sorry, Shoji! I didn't even consider how your quirk must make mundane things difficult for you!" you worried, pawwing at his arm as he sat up with you. "I didn't mean to be so selfish!"

He waved you off, sctraching the back of his head, while trying not to fluster at your touch. "It's really okay, I totally understand. I guess I'm just built different," he laughed. "Literally."

"Maybe we should cuddle..." you suggested almost silently, twiddling your thumbs and staring at your lap.

"Hmm?" he hummed questioningly, glancing over and tilting his head.

"I-If we cuddle," you continued bashfully. "You can lay on your back and stretch out your arms, and I can lay on one of them." You explained. "Otherwise I could sleep with my head near your feet but..."

"Yeah let's not do that," Shoji joked. "But if you wanna cuddle we can..."

"I-it doesn't count though, it's not real, remember?" You said, more to reassure yourself than him.

"Right," he nodded, laying back as you pulled the cover back up. Once he was fully stretched out, you began to get comfy, snuggling up to his side. His top arms rested behind his head, his middle right supported yours, and middle left rested on his stomach along with bottom middle. The last one- the bottom left, snaked around your waist as his eyes fluttered shut, pulling you a bit closer with hand resting on your hip. Shoji could feel you become rigid under his fingertips, eyes snapping open and removing his hand. "S-Sorry, I-"

"I-It's okay," you interupted. "You can put it back..." To your relief, his hand crept back up to where it was before.

"This okay...?" he asked reluctantly, thumb ghosting circles over your pajama bottoms. You hummed in response with a nod. "Good," he replied sleepily. "I want you to feel good." Your head darted up to look at him, face entirely red. "I-I didn't mean anything weird! I mean like comfortable! I-i wanted to make sure you were comfrotable!"

Secretly, Shoji did want to make you feel good. Though it'd kill him to admit it, he was head over heels for you and was a victim to every emotion that came with that. Even the ones that left him pawing at himself in the dead of night, your name in whispers on the air around him. It was true that he had fallen for your kindness, power, and reckless care for others, but your evey thought left static on his skin.

It didn't help matters that you did not possess a single phyhsical attribute that Shoji disliked. He'd never consider himself as having a type, but if he did, you'd be the spitting image of it, and ervery good look he got at you reduced him to jelly. That's what landed him in this mess in the first place, an hour from home in borrowed clothes with a harsh sentance of detnetion surely awaiting his return. All you had to do was flash him that sugary sweet smile and bat your lashes and he was doomed.

"This is nice..." your voice shattered his thoughts and his attention returned to the present. "I wnder if it'll feel this nice when get to do it for real with someone."

A part of him wanted to lie and tell you it wouldn't feel nice with anyoen but him, irritated at the thought of someone else holding you, but he knew it'd be wrong. In the end, he compromised. "It probably will," she said sheepishly. "But one of the best parts of my quirk if that I give good hugs so..."

"You do give the best hugs..." you confirimed, voice tired and threatening to drift off.

"You know, if you ever want more hugs form me..." he trailed, unsure what he even planned to say. "Just ask..."

"As much as I love your hugs, Sho," you yawned, too lazy to even finish the last syllable of his name. "Think we should maybe spend some time apart when we get back."

Your noncahalant attitude about suggesting the two of you take a break from one another made his blood run cold and he couldn't keep his composure. "W-Why? Why would you want that?"

Your gaze shifted up to him questioningly. You'd hardly ever seen Shoji had strong emotions about anything so it unnerved you that he'd been so on edge all night. "What's with you?" you asked, perhaps a bit more accusitorily than you had to."

"What's with me?" He said, taken aback and confinscating his grasp on your hip, though if it was meant to be some sort of punishment or not, he couldn't decide. "What's with you?"

"Me?" You retorted, sitting up fully, officially offended.

"Yeah, you." He sassed back, also sitting up, towering over you, even hunched. "What, you just wanna go home and not be friends anymore or something? You know, for a fake relationship, this kinda sounds like a break up."

"A break up?!" you shouted in a hushed tone, so as not to wake your parents. "Shoji, we're not together! I just meant that someone has already probably started a rumor about us being gone together, if we cool it on spending time together, it might go away quicker!"

Swallowing hard, realizing he gravely misunderstood your intention, but still hurt, Shoji swung his legs over the edge of the bed, back facing you. "I still don't understand why you think I'd want that..." he trailed quietly, demeanor suddenly even tamer than usual.

"You wouldn't wanna nip a rumor that we were dating in the bud?" You asked skeptically. "You know how our classmates are, Shoji. We'd never hear the end of it."

"Not if it weren't a rumor..." he half confessed, peaking over his shoulder at you before glancing away.

You were befuddled and terribly confused. "What do you mean by that?"

He man sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "You drive me insane, you cannot possibly be this dense." His words cut you deeply, but you had no time to confront him as a pair of disembodied lips slithered over to you, doing the talking for his. "If you're embarrassed to be seen with me, you can just say that." He snapped, arms all crossed, save for the one that was tearing into you at the moment.

"S-Shoji, why would you think that?" you sstuttered out, tears welling in your eyes.

"Because at this point, you're the only one that this isn't real for. It's real to me, okay? "He sounded exhausted, voice hoarse anbd cracking with raw emotion. "You can't pretend not to know how I feel about you, it's so obvious."

You gulped, confused with heart racing. "Let's say for a moment that I don't..." you prod, hoping he'd shed light on things. An exhaserbated sigh came from him as he turned around to face you, dark and typically cold eyes glossy and over flowing with emotion.

"I'm obsessessed with you, (Y/N)." He stated, voice ragged like he'd run a marathon. "I'm head over heels for you and I always have been!"

"S-Shoji, I-" He didn't even give you a moment to respond, yanking his mask down in a fit of desperation, and crawling across the bed ot you, pressing his naked lips you yours at long last. You froze against him, rigid and unsure of what to do. Shoji had always been the special person you wanted to share your firsts with, but if you kissed him back this time, it would make it your first official kiss- was it the right time? The right place? Could you replay this moment forever in your head and feel fuzzy everytimne from it?

Reguardless, your body betrayed your rational thought, throat releasing a starved whimper as your lips smooshed against his with almost the same amount of need that he displayed. Eyes fluttering open, you were met with an unfirmiliar sight as you parted from him, panting. He did this same, catching his breath as he rested his forehead against yours, tension from hiding his feelings finally releasing with his exhale.

"I-I've never..." you began, stare glued to the bottom of his face. "I-I've never...seeen you without your mask before..." I admit quietly. Shoji's eyes blew wide as seperated from you the same way he had in the kitchen earlier, this time slapping a thick hand over his lips. He turned his back on you again, cursing himself for being so impulsive, all the while fumbling to stretch the fabric back over his chin.

Your hand found his forearm and you crawled closer hoping to comfort him. "I-I'm so sorry, I don't know what came over me." he stressed, wrestling his mask back on. "Fucking thing..." he muttered angrily.

"M-Mezo..." You murmured, hoping the sound of his given name would catch his attention. Luckily for you, it did. He froze, still facing the wall for fear of being perceived by you.

"Y-Yeah...?"

"Let me see you..." you plead, trying to pry him towards you, hands on his biceps.

"I-I can't," he mumbled, shrinking into himself. "You'll think I'm a freak, I-"

"Mezo," you said again, more sternly this time. "Please? How am I supposed to kiss lips I've never seen?" The idea of you wanting to kiss him again seemed to spark hope in him, but it wasn't quite enough to fully chip away at his conviction.

"You'll never want to kiss me again if you saw what I looked like." He argued weakly, fingers grazing over his face.

"I'm willing to take that risk." you reassured only to be met with a swift:

"Well, I'm not."

Sighing, you stood up, creeping over to his side of the bed, standing in front of him, looking as if he were holding his face together in his hands. Gently, you took him by the wrists, prying the modesty away form his features. Hesitently, he let you, looking up at you as if he were a child trusting you to fix a beloved toy.

Once you had him unveiled, your heart skipped a beat and your breath hitched. His lips were wide, wider than that of a typical looking person, forming what you'd imagined would be the biggest, most dazling smile. Decorating his lips was a myriad of scars, though you couldn't possibly guess what could have cause them and you didn't intend on asking. You gingerly ran the pad of your thumb over a few, noting that they were deep and raised. Lastly, teeth, you noticed, were perfectly straight and ivory white and even though there was hardly a soul alive that had seen them, it was obvious that Shoji took great pride in his oral hygeine.

"Say something..." he begged and you watched his lips move, entraced in his appearance.

"Mezo..." There was his name again, sending chills down his spine with the airy way it fell out of your mouth. "You're so beautiful..." you said, unblinking, admiration not wavering in the slightest.

He had half a mind to come up with some smart alick remark, but he hadn't the time as he felt your lips brush across his, pressence ghostly and barely there. A part of him still longed for the comfort and modesty of his mask, but he was putty in your hands and he knew it, there was no way he was getting away from you so easily after everything he'd said.

"T-Thank you..." he choked out between kisses so delicate they could hardly be called such at all.

"I know nothing could ever make you feel confident in your looks after what you've endured that lead you to hide it but for what it's worth," You soothed, still standing between his legs cradling his head in your hands as he sat in front of you. "You really are just so pretty, Sho..."

It was as if that word made something inside him snap, jumping up, towering over you and pinning you to the wall opposite him. His lips instantly found yours in a needy kiss as his arms scooped you up. "C'mere," he muttered against your mouth as a second pair of lips brushed against your nape, lost in your hair as it peppered kisses on the back of your neck.

"M-Mezo..." you whimpered between hungry kisses, writhing in his grasp.

"This is all your fault..." he sighed against you, not letting go of your kiss for anything. "I told you, you drive me insane," You couldn't help but let your head fall to the side as you moaned, giving his second mouth more real estate on your throat. "Now I'm all riled up and I can't contain myself..."

You had never in a million years imagined the words he was blessing you with. Sure, you'd fantasized about him in a sexual way, but you never pegged him for the verbal type, yet here he was. He'd always somehow had a knack for making you blush but with the way he spoke to you, so deserate, yet stern at the same time made your knees weak as they buckled from beneath you.

"Careful there, baby," he cooed, catching you, reflexes sharper than ever. "Don't think I'm gonna go easy on you just because you can't stay standing." You didn't even have it in your to respond with proper words, simply groaning in his grasp. "What's the matter, baby?" He whispered, breath ragged against your face.

"M-Mezo..." you sighed, back threatening to slide down the wall if he weren't supporting you.

"I hear you," he grinned wickedly, pivoting backwards and laying you on the bed, looming over you. "Loud and clear." He studied your form, button up pajama shirt lifted up on your tummy, pink frilly duvet puffed around you. "Just let me take care of you, I've waited so damn long for this."

As soon as you nodded with permission, several pairs of disembodied lips descended upon you, sticking kisses to any exposed flesh they could find. One pair tickled your stomach with ghostly brushes, but never dared to ask for more real estate to work with. He wanted to give you the control, let you decide when and what you show him.

"Your skin's so soft," he murmured against it, though you were unsure where the voice had come from. "Can't wait to have it in my teeth."

His words flustered you infinitely further, nerves puppetting your arms up to sheild your face with your palms. "M-Mezo..." You whined again, unable to form little more than his name.

"I'm here," he replied, grounding you back into the moment as you zeroed in on where the words came from- his true mouth, above you, watching your writhe beneathe him. "Not going anywhere, I swear."

Your hands wiped down your face and sunk below your jawline, resting on your throat for a moment. You watched as he smirked, pearly teeth glistining in the moonlight that peeked through the window. "I'm afraid your gonna have to be patient if you want me to choke you," he teased, knowing well that that wasn't want was on your mind- well it was now, at least. "You'll get everything you want, I promise, just be patient for me, baby." He leaned back letting his lips press against your forehead.

"D-Don't patronize me..." you finally said, pouting as your fingers trailed beyond your collarbone and landed on the top button of your shirt.

"Oh, baby," he cooed, softening on his playfulness, realizing you were willing to share something special with him. "Do you wanna show me something?" You very timidly nodded before glancing to your right, embarrassed and having second thoughts already. That was until be began to dote on you, sealing your fate. "You're so generous, willing to share your body with me..." he sighed, lowering to his knees, still hovering over you, while scopping you up in his clamshell of an embrace. "I'll make sure to cherish it, however much or little you decide to give."

His words pulled on the strings of your desire, making you want to immediately strip fully, donating yourself to him, but you resisted. Trembling, your fingers worked your top button, spurred on by the gasp that escped his lips when the two sides of the attachment laid seperate against your sternum. One by one, they all came undone until your chest and stomach were one collumn of plush skin, framed by patterned cotton on either side. Your ribs heaved, rising and falling with anticipation for his reaction.

Shoji stared down at you with all the admiration of a devoted follower praying to a holy relic. He studied the way shadows and hightlights danced across your newly unvieled skin. "Say something..." you begged, just like he had earlier. "D-Don't just stare..."

"Theres nothing I could possibly say," he replied, making your heart sink, arms insticutally rising to protect your modesty. To your shock, your wrists were instantly pinned to either side of your head. "Don't hide from me, I wasn't finished." He warned softly, thumbs grazing over the veins that ran down your wrists. "Theres no words that could possibly begin to describe how you look right now but..." he paused, head dipping down to lay kisses on your ribs. "I'd die a happy man if I could spend the rest of my life staring at you until I could make some up."

You had never expected Shoji to be so elloquent. Everything he said or did made you feel like the only girl on the entire planet, you felt increadibly special here beneathe him. Your thoughts of his articulation, however, were shattered by the sensation of a long wet tongue slobbering a stripe from your belly button upwards, hooking under your right breast, tickling you in a terribly lewd manner. Your breath hitched and no amount of self control could have ever stifled the embarrasing moan that slipped into the air. "Me-Mezo!" You cried, overstimulated tears pricking your screwed shut eyes.

You could feel him chuckle against your skin as he sloppily made out with the crevice under your breast, teeth nashing against the curvature of it where most of the weight rested. To him, it was heaven or better, having your still partially obscured tit resting against his face, supple skin under his tongue. "Mezo..." you crooned, craning your neck upward, fruitlessly trying to find his gaze. "T-Touch them..." you granted permission, only to have him refuse your request, chuckling darkly.

"You gotta take it off for me if you want more than this," he teased, nuzzled into your ribcage. "I'm only workin' with what you give me, baby. Ball's in your court." With that, you promptly wiggled out of your shirt, tossing it in a direction you didnt care to look for, before laying back down, blushing at the way he ogled you as your breasts settled against your chest. "Shit..." his breath hitched as he stared hungrily at your nake torso.

"T-Touch me, please, Mezo?" you plead, batting your lashes up at him. His hands were on you in an instant- all of them. Fingers gripped your hips, carressed your ribs, kneaded your tits, touched you everywhere all at once. The delicious and foriegn stimuli overwhelmed your senses immediately, extracting strings of vulgarity from your vocal chords. Shoji revelled in your songs, eyes half lidded and full of desire as his digits tickled you in the best ways.

"Like that, pretty thing? Like my fuckin' hands all over you?" He smirked, drunk on the moment as his fists closed around any flesh they could find.

"Y-Yes, God, yes!" you cried, squirming under him, only to have him press a firm hand to your sternum to hold you still.

"Stop fucking moving," he commanded with an arroused and cracked laugh. "Let me look at you, baby." You froze at his words, desperate to do anything to get him to shower you in praise again. "Shit, so pretty..." he cooed, dipping down to trail kisses down your chest and tummy before two extra mouths appeared from the hands that girpped you moments ago. Before you had time to question, you gasped, back arched like a cat as you felt tongues and teeth enclose on your nipples simultateously.

"F-Fuck..!" you hissed, throwing your head back as tears bricked your eyes. "M-Mezo!"

"I know baby," he hushed, ghosting his lips over your gaped mouth, pressing a kiss to your bottom lip. "Shhhh, just relax, baby, let me suck on these pretty tits..." He soothed as your mind began to melt fromall the new feelings you were experiencing.

Your lip quivered as he continued to pepper it with kiss as he felt you up. For a moment, you elevted to suck it between your jaws, only to be stopped by Shoji. "Ah ah, better not..." he cooed, taking it into his teeth, nipping at it softly and pulling it towards him, chuckling darkly all the while.

The action sent chills down you spine and you began to wonder if he'd down this before. "M-Mezo...h-have..." you trail off, not only unsure if it was a question you wanted answered but also if you could form the words at all.

"Hmm?" He hummed in response, paying you hardly any mond as his kisses began to trail down your throat.

"H-Have you ever..." You began, only to be interupted.

"Never, you're my first, baby." He stated with reassuring firmness. "Never wanted anyone else, you should know better than that."

"I-I thought so..." you sighed, secretly relieved.

"That a problem, princess?" he murmured from the crook of your neck before draggin his tongue from your shoulder to your earlobe, which he nibbled when he reached it, pulling a sob from you.

"N-No!" you cried in an embarrasingly obsene manner. "Y-You just seem to know- ah!" You shuddered at his teeth on your ear. "J-Just what to do..."

"Thanks, baby," he smirked, hot breath in your ear as he spoke. "Unfortunately, I'm just a big pervert," he admitted in a low grumble, making you weak. "Read too much porn, ya know?"

"S-Shoji!" you shrieked, face heating infinitely further.

"What was that, princess?" he laughed, fingers crawling up to your throat as his fist closed around it increadibly gently. "Last name basis with my mouths on your tits? Cold..."

You thought you should pinch yourself. This had to be some sort of wet dream. You'd pinch yourself and wake up in your dorm, sweating with sticky thighs. None of this could be real. Your Shoji- a perv? A porn addict? No, it couldn't be possible. He was such a gentleman! He was kind and noble...and he currently had his hand around your delicate little throat.

"M-Mezo..." you corrected yourself. "I don't believe that..." You confessed shyly. "I can't, you're not a creep like that..."

"Oh, you're so wrong there," he cooed, his hips grinding against yours as he left bruises all over your shoulder and neck. "I'm a huge creep, for you specifially..."

Your head coninued to spin at his words, curious lust bubbling inside your tummy. "W-What...kind do you like?" You asked, barely above a whisper, wanting to take an interest in his desires.

"Of porn?" He asks, chuckling lightly as he raises back up to look at you. "Tentacle stuff, mostly." He admitted with a smirk. "Kinda obvious, I'd think. Just love the idea of taking someone from all different angles..." As if to prove his point, one of his spare hands left your skin, slitherng down your body, easing up as it reached your crotch, ghosting over your heat. "You want me to touch you, baby?"

"M-Mhm..." you nodded, mind plague with the image of Shoji in his room, in the dead of night, fucking into his fist, reading hentai of things that look like him desimating girls that look like you. Once again, he brings you back to the present with the sensation of a tongue pressed against your pajama shorts. Gasping, you tense beneath him, virgin body unaccustomed to the new feeling. "A-Ah!"

"Like that, pretty girl?" he asked, voice muffled as they moved against the fabric to talk..

"Y-You don't have to use that mouth to talk..." you pout, squirming under the cage that was his body.

"I know I don't," he replied, chuckling against you, the vibration making you cry out. "But it's so fun to see you wiggle around..."

"D-Don't toy with me, Sho..." you pout, looking up at him with sugary tears in your eyes. "Take 'em off..."

Unseen fingers hook around the hips of your shorts, threatening to inch them down before they halted, pulling them back up even m,ore securely with a gentle pat. "Nah, don't think you're ready." He teassed. "I know I'm a rookie at this stuff, but from what I've read, you're supposed to be begging me to eat this pretty cunt, and you're not so..."

You wanted to smack him, punch him, scold him for talking down to you as you shrunk into yourself. Reguardless, your need for him betrayed your pride. "P-Please...?" you choke out, humiliated tears threatening to spill down your red cheeks.

"Please what?" he grinned, eyeing you mischeviously.

"P-Please...eat me..."

"Eat you? Baby, thats called cannibalism and it's illegal in Japan." He responded, chuckling at your flustered frustration. Suddenly, to his suprise and delight, you reached forward, running your fingers through his tusseled, silvery hair, collecting fistfuls of it, before shoving his face between your legs.

"M-Mezo, just eat my pussy already, please!" You wept, unable to take anymore of his teasing. The look he gave in response would have sent you into cardiate arrest as his eyes darkened with desire. You jumped at the feeling of his teeth nicking your clit as the pulled the soiled fabric away.

"Don't have to tell me twice..."

#mha #mha x reader #mezo shoji #shoji #shoji x reader #shoji smut #mezo shoji smut #shoji mezo #shoji mezo x reader #mezo x reader #shoji x reader lemon

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suzannahnatters · 4 months ago

Text

So as I've been re-reading LOTR, I got to the "Many Meetings" chapter where Arwen takes a good long look at Frodo; and I started thinking this character over.

I have always interpreted this as her summing him up for the task she knows lies ahead for him; if he can't save the known world then she doesn't get to marry the man she loves. But is Arwen's desire to marry Aragorn the only thing that is driving her? This is someone, after all, who was raised and taught by Galadriel herself, the wielder of Nenya, ruler of Lorien, and enemy of Sauron.

Arwen is very much wisdom-coded in this book, as opposed to, say, Eowyn, who is firmly warrior-coded. In the rabid days of my teen Tolkien era I used to have a lot of arguments about Arwen and about how little she appears in the book: and I always used to argue that it was a valid storytelling choice to give us only brief glimpses of her, because LOTR is simply not her story. In Letter 181 Tolkien himself confirms this, saying that the main reason Arwen isn't more prominent in the plot is that it's written from a hobbitish perspective. The tale of Aragorn and Arwen, he says:

"is part of the essential story, and is only placed so [in the Appendices], because it could not be worked into the main narrative without destroying its structure: which is planned to be 'hobbito-centric', that is, primarily a study of the ennoblement (or sanctification) of the humble."

I also used to argue that the fact that Arwen doesn't appear to have agency doesn't mean she wasn't actually involved. Tolkien says at one point in the book that she "watched over" Aragorn in thought, and fresh off my re-read of the Silmarillion, in which the Elves are said to have some kind of telepathic power, I think that this is what she's been doing this whole time. While I'm sorry her contributions aren't highlighted a bit more, she's not limited to embroidering banners for Aragorn; she has an agency that we simply cannot see because we are so firmly in the hobbitish perspective.

Bear in mind, too, that Arwen is supposed to be a kind of second Luthien. Unlike Luthien, she has far more family support from her father and brothers who do everything they can to help with the Quest, thus removing the motivation Luthien had to run away and have adventures. Presumably Arwen could have made a magic cloak and snuck into Mordor with the Ring, except that Frodo was chosen for that task. Plus, maybe she's just too powerful for Sauron to miss - Tolkien hints as much in that passage I quoted above, from Letter 181.

Still, the question remains, and it's a valid one: WHY does Tolkien choose not to bring Arwen more strongly into the story? WHY doesn't he give her a role closer to Luthien's? Why didn't he have her, and not Glorfindel, ride out to bring help during the Flight to the Ford?

You know me - I don't think it's because Tolkien didn't think a woman couldn't make this kind of contribution. He pretty demonstrably did. Rather, I think it's because he made the valid and indeed deeply thematic choice to code Arwen as a woman of peace rather than a woman of war.

Remember that at the end of LOTR, the entire world undergoes a process of renewal and healing. Those who have been warriors - Faramir, Eowyn, Samwise, Gandalf, and so on - put their swords away and become gardeners and healers. Even before the war ends, Aragorn confirms his claim to the kingship of Gondor, not by helping to win the battle of the Pelennor Fields, but by healing those who are lying at the brink of death in the Houses of Healing, under the Nazgul's influence. For Tolkien, who lived through not one but two world wars, peace was not something lesser to be assigned to women. War was not an end in itself ("I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness...") but a means to a just peace, the ultimate goal for men and women alike.

Just as, say, Fatty Bolger, or Galadriel, choose not to go on the Quest of the Ring and aren't shamed for it by the narrative, so too does Arwen choose not to go on the Quest. Yet, just like everyone else who chooses not to join, Arwen DOES make a pivotal contribution to the story. And it's one the fandom is not super aware of. Tolkien explained it like this in Letter 246, after mentioning that Frodo expected to die very soon after completing the Quest.

"But he did not, and one can observe the disquiet growing in him. Arwen was the first to observe the signs, and gave him her jewel for comfort, and thought of a way of healing him."

The footnote to this sentence reads:

"It is not made explicit how she could arrange this. She could not of course just transfer her ticket on the boat like that! For any except those of Elvish race 'sailing West' was not permitted, and any exception required 'authority,' and she was not in direct communication with the Valar, especially not since her choice to become 'mortal'. What is meant is that it was Arwen who first thought of sending Frodo into the West, and put in a plea for him to Gandalf (direct or through Galadriel, or both), and she used her own renunciation of the right to go West as an argument. Her renunciation and suffering were related to and enmeshed with Frodo's: both were parts of a plan for the regeneration of the state of Men. Her prayer might therefore be specially effective, and her plan have a certain equity of exchange. No doubt it was Gandalf who was the authority that accepted her plea."

All through my re-read I've been pointing out how very important it is to the story that Frodo gets a hope of healing at the end - far more important than the horrors that intervene. Arwen is the one who is able to get him that healing. Not only that, but in choosing mortality, she doesn't just marry Aragorn and start a new line of kings in Gondor - anyone could have done that. There's something special about Arwen, specifically - the pupil of Galadriel the pupil of Melian the Maia - that brings about a regeneration of the entire race of Men. Perhaps she helps to transmit to all of humanity the wisdom and lore of the Elves and the Maiar. Perhaps this includes much in the way of healing and craftsmanship.

Speculating on this, I'm also led to think about Arwen's relationship with Galadriel. In "The Council of Elrond", Elrond mentions that opinion is divided on what will happen with the Three elven Rings once the One Ring is destroyed. Some hope the Three will continue to be effective, healing Middle Earth and undoing the works of the Enemy. But when we get to Lorien, we find that Galadriel is not among them. Everything she says demonstrates that she expects the Ringbearer to destroy not only the One Ring, but also the works of the Three. So, Galadriel has always known that SHE will never be able to do the work of healing Middle Earth from Sauron's shadow. Was this a mission that she saw herself entrusting to Arwen?

Sure - as far as I'm aware, Tolkien never got around to writing this down in detail. It's a very subtle part of the story and maybe we would have preferred him to make his point more overtly...but it very much is there. Arwen didn't just give up her mortality; she also gave it away of her own free will, in order to help heal and regenerate the world from the Shadow, and not only did she do this for the man she loved, but for as many others as she could, notably Frodo.

The reason Arwen doesn't get a lot of agency in LOTR is because her hour hasn't yet come. As Tolkien writes in "Many Meetings," few mortals had YET seen her.

But they would.

#the lord of the rings #jrrt #jrr tolkien #middle earth #jrrtandme2025 #arwen undomiel #arwen #arwen evenstar #lotr meta #meta

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raya-hunter01 · 11 months ago

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Not My Sister's Keeper Pt. 8

Roman X OC(Kara)

Jey Uso X OC (Tia)

Rating: 18+

Warning: Smut; sex, fluff, couple arguing, Jealousy, infidelity, pregnancy

Roamn’s wife recently left medical school and returned home to save her marriage. Upon her return, she finds out things are not what they seem. Her sister is pregnant by her best friend Jey Uso, who is also Roman’s cousin, and her husband is acting suspicious.

What happens when a conversation overhead on a baby monitor blows her world apart?

Boston Medical Center

Two Weeks Later

Kara’s POV

“Kara, you gotta eat baby,” my mom pleaded as I sighed taking another bite of the soup she was feeding me.

“I just hate ya’ll gotta do all of this stuff for me,” I said feeling just discouraged and helpless.

“Don’t do that, what I told you last night?” Jey asked reaching over and wiping my tears.

“To let ya’ll help me,” I whispered as he took the food from my mom.

“Ma, gon’ check on the other one, I know you’re worried about her. I got Kara,” he said as my mom looked guilty.

“I wouldn’t make it back in time before visiting hours is over.”

“Mama, it’s ok go check on her,” I said as she sighed reaching over and giving me a hug.

“I’ll be back in the morning, they are going to transfer her from the jail to the hospital, I don’t want her to be alone,” she said as I nodded putting her mind at ease.

Even though deep down I wanted her to stay in jail not getting transferred to hospital for mental evaluation.

As soon as the door closed Jey and I shared a knowing look.

“A’ight gon’ let it out,” he said as I shook my head.

“What good would that do?”

“It may would help you feel better, you’ve been through a lot you need to talk Kara,” Jey said as I thought about how to even put into words how I felt.

“My sister almost killed me, and laughed over my body. I’ll never be ok with her Jey, and I don’t think mama can handle that.”

“Kara it ain’t for her to handle, I would be worried as fuck if you could be cool with everything that happened.”

“She’s going to try to get me to not press charges, I just know it,” I whispered as Jey sighed.

“I figured as much you’re both her daughters and she loves you both,” He said as I looked down at my chest.

“I stabbed her Jey, like I didn’t even second guess it-”

“Kara, she shot you, and was trying to kill you. I think anybody can understand that.”

“The lawyer said I would have to testify and so would Roman and Trin. I just want it to be done and over with,” I said as Jey sat down the bowl of soup.

“Trin is game if you are and even though I ain’t talked to Roman I know he will testify too. She can’t get away with this Kara. It’s gotta stop before someone gets killed. And I’ll be damned if that’s you,” he said as I burst into tears.

“I know,” I cried as Jey maneuvered himself in the bed carefully pulling me in his arms as I cried.

“We gon’ get through this…I promise you,” Jey whispered, and I prayed he was right.

-----

One Month Later

Boston Municipal Courthouse

Jey’s POV

This has been a straight shit show. Tia is really up in here on the stand painting a picture of Kara betraying her. I am just confused as shit right now as is everyone else.

“Ms. Morris what was going through your mind as you held your sister and you boyfriend hostage?”

“Boyfriend?” Trin whispered as I felt Kara’s grip on my hand tighten as she listed to Tia serve up her lies.

“All I could think about is that I had just got suspended and I just wanted to talk to my sister. I go to her house and there is my boyfriend I couldn’t believe they were hooking up behind my back,” she said as Kara leaned on her knees.

“Is she serious right now?” Kara whispered as Tia began crying. “I saw he had sent her flowers and I just lost it. We were arguing and before I knew it, I pulled out the gun and it went off by accident.”

I put my hand on Kara’s knee as I saw the pool of tears in her eyes. “She’s lying and they’re believing her,” she whispered looking at the jury trying to not lose it.

I couldn’t believe myself when I saw a juror crying.

“Kara, it gon’ be ok,” I whispered as she shook her head in disbelief as Tia spun a new web of lies trying to save her own ass.

“No, it’s not. It’s hopeless,” Kara whispered getting up and going out of the courtroom as I got up to follow her.

“Kara, ya’ll are going to have your time up there, and it will work out, I said catching up to her. “Why are we here?” Kara asked, the look on her face breaking my heart.

“To get justice and you will get it, I promise,” I said seeing Trin coming out with Jimmy, Roman and a few other people.

“They are doing a twenty-minute recess and then I’m up,” Roman said as I rubbed Kara’s arms trying to get her to calm down.

“Did all that really just happen?” she asked as I saw her wince in pain.

“Look sit down you’re still hurt and trying to do too much,” I fussed as I saw Roman cut his eyes at me.

“Kara, we go up there, tell the truth and everything will work out,” Roman said as Kara took a deep breath and laid her head on my shoulder.

“I hope so,” she whispered rubbing her chest as Roman looked at me with worry.

“Jey, can I talk to you for a minute?” Roman asked as I reluctantly agreed as Jimmy switched places with me and sat next to Kara.

I didn’t know what he wanted but it must have been important for him to want to talk about it now at all places.

“I need to tell you what I’mma talk about up there,” he said as I stopped him.

“Kara already told me you were in the house when she got there. She told me ya’ll argued about me, the keys, her pulling a knife on you . She told me everything,” I said as Roman sighed in relief.

“I didn’t know if she had told you, so much has been going on. I just didn't want you to be blindsided,” Roman said as I nodded in understanding.

“Jey, I’m trying my hardest here to make it right,” Roman said as I sighed. “I know I got a long way to go, and things will never be the same, but I want us to at least be able to be cordial to each other if I see you at family functions.”

“I know, I just don’t think nobody will be able to move on until Tia is gone,” I said as we saw people heading back in the court room.

“Then let’s make it happen..Kara and Logan’s safety are the top priority,” Roman said as I silently agreed as we went back to join the others.

The tension in the court room was so thick as Roman was sworn in. Tia looked so calm it was almost scary.

“So, Mr. Reigns on the night in question why you at were your ex-wife’s house?”

“Objection your honor, why Mr. reigns was there has nothing to do with this case. This case is about Ms. Morris showing up there and holding them hostage and almost killing her sister along with Mr. reigns and Mrs. Fatu who was almost shot at.”

“Sustained, Ms. Morris stated she showed up and her boyfriend was there, so continue counselor." The judge said as I frowned at him.

“Oh my god,” Kara whispered as Trin slid over and put her arm around Kara as I grasped her hand.

“We got you,” she whispered as Kara sighed, looking at Roman

“I had saw my ex-wife on a video my cousin had posted. I was upset so I flew to see her, went in her home to wait for her and we argued about it when she got home,” Roman said with remorse.

“Mr. Reigns how did your wife- ….I’m sorry ex wife-”

“Council stop badgering the witness,” the judge said seeing how uncomfortable Roman was at the lawyer taunting him.

“I’m sorry your honor…Mr. Reigns how did Ms. Morris finally get you to agree to leave?” the lawyer asked as Roman looked over at Kara then back at the lawyer nervously.

“Uh, I wouldn’t leave after she continuously asked, Kara did what made her feel safe. I don’t blame her, I was kinda out of control,” Roman said as Kara wiped her tears.

“That’s not what I asked you Mr. Reigns, what did she do?” The lawyer pressed.

Kara’s POV

This man is really up here trying to say I’m the aggressor. Roman looked at me and I gave him a small smile letting him know I was ok and to tell the truth.

“I’ll ask you ag-”

“I don’t need you to ask again, I wouldn’t leave so Kara pulled out a knife and told me to leave. I apologized and went to le-”

“So, what you saying is she was already angry and willing to hurt someone, maybe even kill them in her hysterics. I mean she almost killed her own sister,” the lawyer said as I looked over at my mom who was crying.

“Objection your honor how is the victim on trial?!”

“Sustained, answer the question Mr. Reigns.”

“This motherfucker,” I heard Jimmy hiss as I felt Jey calmy caressing my hand.

“Kara, was upset and hurt. I wouldn’t leave, and even though I put her through hell, do you know what she did?

“I’m sure you will enlighten us Mr. Reigns,” the defense lawyer said smartly as I saw Tia smirk.

“I damn sure will, when she had a chance to run, she stopped and came back when Tia threatened to kill me. She asked Kara did she want to be the reason my daughter wouldn’t have a father,” Roman said as getting choked up.

“You monster, you tried to kill my baby!” Ms. Janice yelled standing up as the judge began beating his gavel.

“Order in the court! Order in the court!”

“I can’t believe ya’ll are putting people through this! She did it and needs to be in jail!” Janice screamed as Jimmy was trying to get her to calm down seeing two bailors coming towards us.

“Come on auntie, let’s go take a walk,” he whispered leading her out the courtroom as she cried against him.

The judge seemed conflicted if he should continue, or not as Roman stood up wanting to go after his mom.’

“Are you ok to continue Mr. Reigns?” the judge asked as he nodded sitting back down.

“Um, your honor it has already been a long day can we reconvene tomorrow?” the state attorney said as Roman seemed happy about the suggestion

“Yes, reconvene tomorrow at 9 a.m.,” the judge said as Roman came down and went to check on his mom.

“Ya’ll this is going to be an uphill battle, she’s spinning everything,” Mr. Reiner said as we walked out.

“It’s hopeless,” I said as my mom walked over making me look at her.

“Baby, its gonna be alright,” she said giving me a hug as I tried to hold it together.

As I saw Roman talking to his mom, he seemed relieved as she nodded, and they hugged.

“What they so happy about? That was a disaster in there,” Trin said as they walked towards us.

“Are you ok? You acting real happy all of a sudden,” I said as Roman hugged me, as I saw Jey tense up for a second before I saw his body relax.

“Uce, do you remember when I met ya’ll to sign the papers for the house and Kara was talking about getting used to being alone in the city again?” Roman asked as Jey rubbed his beard.

“Uh, yea, I remember,” Jey said still not following and neither was I. “What did you suggest she get?” Roman asked as it then clicked for Jey.

“Ring cameras,” Jey whispered as Roman nodded.

“Yes, ring cameras…Now please tell me ya’ll got them,” Roman pleaded as I nodded.

“Yea, Jey and Jimmy started doing them, but they had only got to the living room and kit-”

“Oh my god, ya’ll got everything on video,” Trin whispered as Mr. Reiner seemed to perk up at the new information.

“How do you retrieve the footage, Kara?” he asked, knowing I didn’t live in that house anymore.

“When I used It, it would automatically save to my iCloud and the ring camera app. When I was out and about, I could look at footage from inside the house,” I said opened the app and going back to the date before giving it to Mr. Reiner as he turned off the sound and began fast forwarding through the footage from that day.

“Can we use it?” Jey asked as but he didn’t say anything for a few minutes.

“Kara, Roman, and Trinity come with me please,” he said pausing the video on my phone as I looked at Jey, panicking. “I’ll be right here waiting,” he said as I nodded following behind Trin and Roman.

“Can I help you Mr. Reiner?” the clerk asked as he smiled. “Yes, I need to see Judge Kendell in his chambers this is important. I have new evidence this has come to light, and it is vital to our case,” he said as the clerk got up to see had he left yet.

“Please let him see us,” Trin prayed as I felt like this was too good to be true.

“I can’t believe I didn’t think about that. We could have avoided all this shit,” I hissed as roman grabbed my hands.

“Hey, it’s about to be over…Believe me,” he whispered as I nodded.

“I’m just glad you remembered, because I didn’t even think about it,” I said as he sighed. “It just popped in my head when I was talking to mom and I’m glad it did too,” he said giving me a hug that I actually welcomed this time.

“The judge will see you all now,” the clerk said taking us to his chamber. I felt like I was walking the green mile.

The poor judge looked ill watching the footage, thankfully he didn’t have the sound on, and we didn’t have to see it. I don’t think I would have been able to keep it together.

“I will inform the prosecution of the new developments. You do know this will be played in court tomorrow. Do you all think you can handle that judge Kendall asked as Roman and Trin nodded.

“Ms. Morris what about you?”

“If it gets to be too much, I’ll leave…They have to see it, she can’t get away with this.”

“Ms. Morris, you fought for your life in there that night, and I don’t want you to feel guilty. You had no choice in the matter, and the jury needs to see this,” he said as I nodded in understanding and feeling better knowing he knew the truth.

“Mrs. Fatu, I’ve watched your face throughout this trial, and I’ve seen a lot of this weighing heavy on you. I want you to know that you did the right thing, you ran and got your family help.”

Reaching over I grabbed her hand in mine as she wiped her tears.

“Told you so,” I whispered, clearing my throat trying not to cry myself as Roman put his arm around us both.

“I’m sorry we’ve had to put you all through this.” Jude Kendall said sincerely remorseful.

“I’m just glad Roman thought about it and we can set the record straight,” I said he looked at Roamn.

“You didn’t hesitate to risk your life for these young ladies, its commendable.”

“They’re my family I wasn’t a hard decision,” Roman said as the Judge cracked a smile.

“Mr. Reigns the circus that took place in there today will not happen tomorrow; I promise you.”

“I hope not sir, but I’m just thankful this will be over soon so I can get back to my daughter.”

“I will see you all at 9 am and let’s finish this,” he said standing up shaking all of our hands.

I walked out feeling happy but at the same time unable to really feel it was over until I heard a guilty verdict.

----

Later on that night

Kara’s new house

Jey’s POV

“So, ya’ll didn’t see the footage?” Jimmy asked as Trin shook her head.

“Nah, he said watching it tomorrow was going to be hard enough. He watched and apologized. How’s Kara?”

“I just checked on her..She’s finally asleep. It was hard on her today,” I said not even wanting to think about the train wreck that was court today.

“I know it was, I couldn’t believe that asshole was trying to paint her as the problem,” Jimmy said as I nodded taking a swig of my beer.

“I wanted to reach over and kill him, like do you know what she been through. What we all been through dealing with that crazy fool?”

“He gets paid to get his clients off, but he ain’t gon’ be able to do shit tomorrow, it’s game over,” Trin said with full of confidence.

“Your right let’s just focus on tomorrow. I don’t even know how Kara is going to react seeing that footage tomorrow. Hell, how are any of us going to react?” I asked, truly not looking forward to watching the video tomorrow.

The lawyer called earlier and told us they had lifted the footage from the app and put it together splicing the view from the living room and kitchen together.

Tomorrow people were going to see everything up until they carried Roman out of the house on a gurney.

The worst moment of our lives was about to be displayed for everyone to see but if that was what needed to be done for Tia to pay then so be it.

-----

The next day

Boston Municipal Courthouse

Kara’s POV

I smiled watching that smile fall from Tia’s face as the judge allowed the evidence to logged in and tagged. They are currently moving the big screen TV to the middle of the courtroom.

“I have to warn you all this is graphic, and does have sound.,” the Judge said as Tia’s lawyer all but jumped out of his chair.

“Your honor, I object this is a witch hunt,” Tia’s lawyer said as the footage was being loaded.

“Sustained…. Counselor your client got on this stand and said her side of the story, now the prosecution is about to present their side of the story and evidence.” He said as Tia’s lawyer sat down placing his hand over the microphone as Tia leaned over talking to him.

She was shaken, that smile was gone now, and I loved it.

“Ms. Morris, Mr. Reigns, and Mrs. Fatu if at any time this gets to be too much you can leave,” the judge said looking at me as I gave him a small smile.

The video started with me walking across the living room with Roman in tow.

I felt the Jey tense as he saw Roman following me into the kitchen.

I felt embarrassed watching myself pulling out a knife on Roman. “God, I look crazy, maybe she was right,” I whispered as Jey shook his head.

“No, you were defending yourself, he wouldn’t leave,” Jey said looking over at Roman who had his head down, refusing to look.

“Kara, we need to talk about Je-”

“I don’t want to talk to you…I want you out!”

Hearing my voice, Iclosed my eyes almost transporting back to that moment as I tried to tune everyone out. But hearing a collective gasp, I looked up to see Tia urging Roman back inside the house and shutting the door with the gun pointed directly at him.

Lie number one exposed…..

“My god, Tia,” my mother whispered in disbelief as the scene played out like a movie in front of us.

“Get back here or I’ll shoot him.. Do you want to be the reason Logan has no father?”

I felt helpless once again, seeing myself this way was fucking with me. My hands in the air begging and pleading for her to calm down as she seemed to love the fear she had instilled in us.

Roman jumping in front of me to protect me.

“You didn’t give us a chance because you wanted her, Roman! You wanted her!..... Jey wanted her!”

I looked at Jey as he frowned looking the footage, but he never let go of my hand. His eyes full of tears.

“Kara, I got your food, twins ran up the street to the store for your ginger ale, and some snacks.”

“Trin Run!!”

“Help! Help us! She has a gun!” Trin hysterical screams fill the courtroom as she leans, over putting her head on my shoulder.

“I can’t do this,” my mother cried getting up, but my dad pulled her back down into her seat. “No, you need to see this, we all do.”

“Run Kara!”

I glanced up at the screen, hearing the first gunshot, my stomach becoming queasy as I looked over and saw Roman getting up to follow his mom, who was unable to stand it anymore.

She had just saw her son head hit his head on the table as he struggled to get a gun away from a lunatic. His neck snapping back as he collapsed on the ground, unconscious and bleeding profusely from his head.

Who could blame her for wanting to leave?

I was finding people to look at instead of watching the video. I glanced at the jury as soon as I saw the video switch to the view in the kitchen.

I didn’t want to see it…I couldn’t see it.

As another gunshot rang out, I closed my eyes heard my body hit the floor with a thud. I shifted in my seat trying move, but Jey stopped me, pulling me closer as I looked up at him.

The ushed tears spilling from his eyes breaking my heart. I felt the walls closing in on me.

My heart dropping to my stomach as a blood curling scream escaped from my mother’s lips as I stabbed my sister, the swift sound of the blade entering her flesh made me nauseous.

The silent sobs of the jurors making my heart race. I saw many people in the room focused on me, trying to see if I was actually watching the video…They wanted a show, but I wasn’t going to give it to them.

What they didn’t know was that I didn’t have to look at the TV screen to know what was happening.

It was a horrible nightmare etched in my memory, consuming me as I laid in that hospital bed thinking and wondering what I could have done differently.

The way you could hear a pin drop in the courtroom when the Paramedic screamed, I wasn’t breathing and asking for backup sent chills down my spine.

Hearing Jey’s voice I looked at the screen. There was Jey seemingly in a daze helping the paramedic any way he could.

“She’s dead, Jey,” the joy in Tia voice shocking everyone in the court room. She truly wanted me dead and it ain’t no coming back from that.

Seeing the relief in Jey’s face as I began breathing again as he kissed me on the temple, I couldn’t stop my tears.

“Kara, its Josh…I love you so much…You hear me I’m here and I ain’t goin’ nowhere,” I couldn’t take it anymore and as calmy as I could, I got up and left, as Jey followed me.

“Kara, stop for a second,” he pleaded as I tried to find a quiet place, finally going into an empty stairwell away from prying eyes.

“I’m so sorry I did that to you,” I whimpered as Jey made me stop walking and wrapped me up in his arms, burying his head in my neck.

“You ain’t got nothin’ to be sorry for,” his voice breaking as we silently cried together, the reality of what could have happened and did happen hitting us hard.

“I almost lost you and it’s fuckin’ wit me but I can’t even imagine what you feeling after having to see all that. It’s ok to not be ok.”

“I know, it just seemed to hit me all at once,” I whispered pulling away slightly, to look at him.

“We gon’ be ok though Kara, we are almost there,” Jey said as I gave him a tired smile.

“Thanks for being here,” I said as he smiled at me. “I wouldn’t be anywhere else, I got you and we can go back when you ready,” he whispered as I nodded.

After about an hour, we went back in the courtroom sat back down next to Trin and Jimmy.

“You ok? We had gone out to look for you but couldn’t find y’all.”

“Yea, I just had a moment sis, and needed a break. What did we miss?” I asked as she chuckled.

“Girl, the defense was so shook.. They waived calling any of us back up to the stand to be questioned. They know it’s a wrap, they rested and gave a weak ass closing argument and now want to take the original plea deal,” Trin said as rubbing my knee trying to calm my nerves.

“I’m so glad this is about over,” I said as Mr. Reiner stood up.

“Yesterday we heard this sad sob story from Tia Morris on how her sister hurt her by going with her boyfriend. When in actuality, Tia did that betrayal to her sister Kara Morris,” he said talking to the jury, briefly turning around to point at Tara.

Watching their faces, it seemed they were invested in what he was telling them.

“Your honor is this necessary?” Tara’s Lawyer asked as Mr. Reiner smiled.

“Your honor, they brought up this yesterday, so I feel the jury has a right to know how all this started.”

“Sustained…Keep it brief,” Judge Kendall said as Mr. Reiner nodded in understanding.

“Tara Morris isn’t as innocent as she claims to be.. She sought out her sister’s husband, seduced him, had a child with him and them tried to extort money from him. The child hasn’t had anything to do with its mother really since birth.” He said walking back and forth down the jury box, making sure to look at everyone.

“When Ms. Morris realized Mr. Reigns still loved his wife, and wasn’t going to be with her, she abandoned the child and agreed to sign over her rights to her daughter if Mr. Reigns would give her 50 million dollars.”

“Dirty bitch,” Trin muttered as I sighed shifting in my seat.

“Her sister Kara Morris then moves away to get away from the chaos that is her relationship with her sister, and husband. Gets a divorce, is trying to piece her life back together to only have her home invaded and almost shot and killed by that same sister she left Florida to get away from.”

“Gon’ break dat shit down for’em,” Jimmy said engrossed in what the lawyer was saying. Everyone was and I actually felt a little more at ease.

“Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, who taunts another human being as someone they love lays dying on the cold hard floor?” The dramatic pause in his voice captivating the room.

I’ll tell you who… An animal that’s who, an animal shows no remorse. The tricky part though is when Ms. Morris realized she had to face the consequences of her actions, she cried mental breakdown, and I don’t think that’s the case her at all.”

I felt Jey caressing my leg as I looked at him and he winked. “She’s going down,” he mouthed as I nodded, looking back at my mother who seemed just defeated.

“The video we all saw today clearly shows malice intent and while at times unhinged, Ms. Morris knew what she was doing. Now, I would never say deny someone mental help, but I do believe in actions have consequences and Tia Morris has been terrorizing people with no consequences for her actions.”

I nodded agreeing with him as I saw a few jurors looking at me with a sad smile.

I didn’t want pity. I wanted this to be over. Sensing my discomfort Jey draped his arm around my shoulder pulling me closer, kissing me gently on the temple as I melted into his touch.

“It’s time we do right by Ms. Morris and make sure her attacker takes responsibility for her actions and her disregard for human life. It’s time for Kara to heal so she can move on with her life.”

He was working the room, and everyone was hanging on to his every word.

“It’s time we do right by Mr. Reigns so he can move on a focus on being a father to his beautiful little girl who needs him so he can move on with his life.”

“Oh, he’s going in for the kill,” Trin whispered as I smiled. “Yea, he is.”

“Ladies and gentlemen, it’s time we do right by Mrs. Fatu so she’s not afraid to walk into her best friend’s home. Give her the comfort of knowing there won’t be a psycho lying in wait trying to kill the people she loves or even kill her.” Mr. Reiner said, his voice trembling as I saw an older lady juror nodding, wiping her tears.

“Damn, man,” Jimmy whispered trying to keep his emotions in check as he looked at Trin. “Hey, I’m ok,” she assured him leaning over giving him a chaste kiss on the lips.

“Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, you have the power to give them all peace of mind so they can finally move forward with their lives… Please make the right decision and thank you all for your time.”

I wanted to jump up and give him a standing ovation, but I had to force myself to sit quietly. Looking over I saw Tia arguing with her lawyer, that cool facade long gone. She was scared.

“Oh, he did that,” Trin said with a small smile.

“Yes, he did.. Now let’s see if the jury can take it on home,” I said as the judge gave them instructions.

As they filed out the room to deliberate, I went and sat by my mom and dad. I had been somewhat avoiding them knowing they were struggling with being there for Tia and me.

They didn’t want either of their children in trouble or hurt.

“Honey, I’m so sorry,” my mom cried as I shook my head at her words.

“Mama, it’s ok…I’m good,” I said as my father gave me a hug. “You did what you had to do,” he whispered as my mom began sobbing.

“What was she thinking?” my mom cried as my dad sighed.

“Rebecca, she wasn’t thinking. She’s so used to getting away with stuff or shifting the blame she thought she was invincible. Now she’s going to have to deal with the consequences,” he said as my mother continued to cry.

“Maybe the time away will do her good and she can get some help she needs,” she said as I tried to share her positive outlook, but I wanted her ass in jail for the rest of her life.

Nothing would never ever be the same again.

As we went to lunch at a local eatery down the street, I tried not to worry but I was so use to Tia finding some way to get out of things I had to be prepared.

“So, when are you going to Mike’s?” Jimmy asked as I chuckled. “I don’t know yet, but he has been sending me ideas of what he could do to cover this,” I said pointing at my chest.

“It’s not that big, so you could easily get like a tiny tattoo,” Jey said knowing I was never really big on tattoos on my body, but I loved them on him.

“Doctor said it would be a few months before I could get a tattoo, I’m still healing. I think I want a little one, but the idea of the pain scares me. I remember your choice words as he did your back tattoo,” I said as he chuckled.

“Man, dat shit hurt, I was questioning my choices,” he said as we laughed.

“Good choice though, it looks amazing, and I love it. It was really cool to see the process up close,” I said as he blushed.

“Damn, she got twin out her blushin’ n shit,” Jimmy said as Trin slapped him on the shoulder.

“Get out they business, Jurdy.” Trin warned as Jey rolled his eyes at his brother. Hearing my phone buzz on the table, I quickly picked it up.

“Hello, Mr. Reiner,” I said as the table got quiet in anticipation.

“I was just calling to let you know, they’ve reached a verdict. I’ll meet you all back at the courthouse.”

“Um, thank you, we’ll see you there,” I said hanging up, feeling anxious. Damn that was quick as hell.

“What did he say?” Jey asked as I looked at him in disbelief. “They already have reached a verdict, we need to head back to the courthouse,” I said as he smiled at me.

“What we still sittin’ here for then,” he said getting up to go pay the bill.

“Damn, in under an hour! “Jimmy said as Trin smiled at him.

“It’s guilty, I know it is,” she said as I silently prayed it was.

---

Boston Municipal Courthouse

Jey’s POV

“Will the defendant please rise,” the judge said as Tia stood up with her lawyer.

The appointed juror that was nominated to speak began to read the verdict.

“We the jury on the charge of attempted murder in the 1st degree we find the defendant, Tia Morris not guilty.” The collective gasp of disbelief spread throughout the courtroom as Tia smiled.

I wanted to bolt but Jey held me in place. “Just listen,” he pleaded.

“On count two, attempted murder in the second degree, we find the defendant Tia Morris guilty,” the juror said as I collapsed against Jey in relief.

“I got you..I’m right here,” Jey whispered as I tried to keep my tears at bay.

“On the charge of reckless endangerment in the second degree, we find the defendant Tia Morris guilty.” Satisfied murmurs filled the courtroom as I finally felt free, she had been found guilty.

“Was the verdict unanimously reached?” the judge asked as all the jurors answered yes.

“Good, we can begin to talk about the terms of the plea deal.”

Looking at Tia, I knew the theatrics was about to begin. She all of a sudden cried out, and collapsed on the floor as my mother screamed, running over to her with a bailiff.

“Oh, get up, ain’t nobody buying that shit,” Trin said as I shook my head.

“There she goes, always two steps ahead,” I whispered as Jey made me look at him.

“Aye, she can fall out all she wants, it’s a done deal…You hear me, they found her guilty,” he said as I nodded trying not to look over at her.

“Bitch, get yo’ fakin’ ass up off dat floor,” Trin whispered with a hiss as Jimmy shook his head in confusion.

“She really done fell her crazy ass out on these folks’ floor,” he said as Roman looked over at us in just as much shock.

“Leave her alone, she alright..Get up ,Tia,” my father said standing up as my mother scoffed at him.

“She’s hurt Bill.”

“Hurt my ass, more like caught. Tia get up before I come over there,” he ordered as she began to sit up, wiping her tears.

“Yea, that’s what I thought,” my dad said irritated, sitting back down shaking his head.

“Lord have mercy,” Ms. Janice said as Roman shook his head.

“They got her Rebecca, come back over here,” my dad said as my mom looked Tia over quickly and came back to her seat.

“Well, that was rather eventful,” Judge Kendall said looking at Tia as she wept standing next to her lawyer.

“Ms. Morris, your guilty verdict of second degree means some feel you acted in a moment of passion. That tails a 5-to-15-year sentence. Your reckless endangerment charge warrants three to seven years. Now your attorney wants your clean record to be taken into account and I tend to somewhat agree.”

“Thank god," my mother said as I rolled my eyes. I was getting irritated as fuck, as Jey reeled me in with his touch.

“Tia Morris, in taking all that into consideration, and you opting for the original plea deal. Ms. Morris, I hereby sentence you to eight years at the Boston State Women’s prison. Probation eligibility after three years served. Counseling will be provided on a weekly basis,” he said as Tia nodded, wiping her tears.

“Thank you so much your honor,” she whimpered making my skin crawl.

“You’ve been given a second chance Ms. Morris don’t make the court regret it. Also, I’m issuing a no contact order with your sister Kara Morris. When released if you violate the order, you will go back to finish your original 15-year sentence. Do you understand?”

“Yes, your honor I do,” Tia whispered as I nodded taking in the verdict.

“She could be out in three years.”

“Hey, let’s not think about it now,” Jey said as I looked at Tia as she hugged her lawyer.

Justice had been served, but I still felt like things between Tia, and I were a long time from being over.

Could we all really move on with this cloud hanging over our heads?

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writingpandagoth · 12 days ago

Note

Are we having an angst fest with Sev? (Lol) can i request Severus x reader in their students era. (Reader can be any gender) but she one day found him cheating on Lily, because he definitely still have feeling for her and would jump the moment Lily show him affection.

Hey!

So quick word before we go into this:

I do love a good angst fest but I do not support cheating at all. After I had to experience that myself I do not fully feel comfortable to write about it even when it’s purely fictional.

But this prompt reminded me a lot of the song Wrong Direction by Hailee Steinfeld so it kind of turned into a song fic.

I hope this will still be up to your liking❤️

Falling in the Wrong Direction

I don't hate you No, I couldn't if I wanted to I just hate all the hurt that you put me through And that I blame myself for letting you Did you know I already knew?

You didn’t fall for him like in the stories. There was no grand confession, no midnight chase down castle corridors. It was quiet. Subtle. Slow.

It started with shared silences in the library. The weight of glances across a Potions bench. The way his voice dropped when he said your name—like it might crack if he wasn’t careful.

You never asked him to be soft. He simply was, with you. Until he wasn’t.

The beginning was warm. Fragile, yes, but tender.

You learned his rhythms: the exact shade of tension in his shoulders when he was lying, the rare curve of his smile when he forgot to guard it. He let you in, piece by jagged piece.

He made you feel chosen. For a while.

But even then, even in that sweetness, there was always a shadow behind his eyes. A ghost with green eyes and a laugh that wasn’t yours.

You knew Lily Evans haunted him. You just didn’t know you’d be asked to live in the spaces she left behind.

Couldn't even see you through the smoke Looking back I probably should have known But I just wanted to believe that you were out sleeping alone

The common room was empty, save for the dying fire and the ghosts of what used to be.

You sat in the corner chair—his chair—the one where he used to tuck himself beside you, legs tangled under shared blankets, his head heavy on your shoulder when the weight of the world became too much.

It had been hours since he said he’d be back. A simple sentence, tossed over his shoulder like it meant nothing. “She just needs to talk.”

You waited anyway.

The fire had burned low by the time you let your head fall into your hands. The room smelled like smoke and worn parchment and everything that once felt safe.

You didn’t cry. Not yet.

Instead, you let yourself remember the lies you’d wrapped yourself in.

That he was just being kind. That Lily didn’t mean anything. That he would never let her come between you—not really. That he was just talking to her. Just helping. That he’d come back.

You told yourself he was alone. Every time. And every time, it hurt a little more to believe it.

Because you weren’t stupid. You saw the way he looked at her.

You just didn’t want to admit that he never stopped.

And now? It was too late to lie to yourself anymore.

You stared at the dying fire, the last embers glowing like the tail end of a false hope. And in that stillness, it hit you:

You didn’t lose him tonight. You’d been losing him piece by piece for weeks.

You just hadn’t wanted to see it through the smoke.

Loved me with your worst intentions Didn't even stop to question Everytime you burned me down Don't know how for a moment it felt like heaven

It wasn’t anger that kept you up that night.

You’d tried that—burned through fury like parchment in fire, paced the room with clenched fists and cursed his name into the walls. But it didn’t stick. It never did.

Now, there was only the cold.

Not outside—inside. That deep, sinking sort that starts in your ribs and spreads like ink in water. You sat at the edge of your bed, eyes fixed on the floor, fingers digging into your knees to keep from shaking.

You’d seen it coming. Every time he made excuses. Every time Lily’s name was said with just a little too much softness. Every time he looked past you—through you—at someone he hadn’t let go of.

And still, you stayed. Smiled. Said it was fine. Let yourself be whittled down into someone who waited for crumbs and called it love.

The truth was, you'd known long before the end. Known what he was doing. Known what it meant. But you wanted so badly to be wrong.

And somehow, even when you were right, it still hurt more than you thought it would.

It wasn’t just about him choosing someone else.

It was about you letting him.

Loved me with your worst intentions Painted us a happy ending Everytime you burned me down Don't know how for a moment it felt like heaven And it's so gut wrenching Falling in the wrong direction

You were in the library, again.

Not because you were studying. Not because you were waiting.

But because this was the one place in the castle where the silence felt familiar. Where the ghosts didn’t talk back. Where you could remember how it used to be—when he’d sit beside you, shoulder to shoulder, and ask about your notes with that low voice like you were the only one he could hear.

And then you’d look up and find his eyes already somewhere else.

You didn’t understand it. How someone could make you feel so full and so empty at the same time.

He had this way of pulling you in when he needed comfort. When the world outside turned cruel and he needed something soft to bleed into. And you gave it. Every time.

You let him rest his weight on your chest like a sigh. Let him hold your hand when he wasn’t looking. Let him kiss you when he couldn’t bear his own thoughts.

He never gave you love.

Just fragments of need dressed up like affection.

And the worst part?

You craved it.

You let him burn you—again and again—because the flame felt warm, and you mistook it for light. Every time he came back to you, it felt like heaven. Just for a moment. Just long enough to forget the ash in your lungs.

You had known. Somewhere deep down, you'd always known.

But you wanted so badly for his broken affection to mean something that you never stopped to ask:

Why does his love hurt like this?

On my tiptoes But I still couldn't reach your ego Guess I was crazy to give you my body, my mind Don't know what I was thinking till now Everyone thinks that you're somebody else You even convinced yourself

You found it in his bag.

A note. Torn at the edges. Lily’s handwriting—curved, precise, familiar. You’d seen it before, scrawled across shared textbooks and folded class schedules.

But this wasn’t schoolwork. It wasn’t polite. It was personal.

“Thank you for always being there when I need you. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

There was a heart drawn next to her name.

Not a signature. Just a symbol.

You stared at it like it might catch fire. Like if you looked hard enough, maybe the words would twist into something innocent.

But they didn’t.

And suddenly, every soft thing he’d ever said to you snapped under its own weight.

You remembered how he used to speak about the future. “We’ll get out of here. We’ll find somewhere quiet. Just us.” He’d painted you a life in half-whispers, in tired midnight murmurs.

He said he loved you like it was fact. Like it was the only truth left in the world.

But that wasn’t love.

He loved you with desperation, not devotion. Because you were safe. Because you were close. Because she wasn’t fully his to have—and you were too willing to hand yourself over to someone who never really saw you.

You had been the refuge. The backup plan. The balm for a wound he never stopped picking at.

And somehow, when he held you in the dark, when he kissed you like he needed it like air, it had felt like everything you wanted.

Like heaven.

But it wasn’t.

It was a beautiful lie painted over rot.

And now? Now it was all peeling away.

You stood in the corridor outside the Potions classroom, fingers trembling, the note crumpled in your fist. The world didn’t shift. It didn’t explode.

It just kept turning without you.

Your stomach twisted—not with grief anymore, but with the slow, sinking realization that you had spent all this time running toward someone walking the other way.

And it was so, so gut-wrenching to know you’d fallen for it all.

Couldn't even see you through the smoke Looking back I probably should have known But I just wanted to believe that you were out sleeping alone

It was something small that brought it back.

A smell in the hallway—ash and pine. The exact scent that used to cling to him after long nights in the Potions lab. For a second, you stopped. Froze, like prey. Because for a second, your body remembered before your brain did.

You closed your eyes.

And there he was.

His hands on your waist. His voice against your neck. The way he'd say your name when he was half-asleep, soft like it might shatter if he wasn’t careful. The heat of him. The ache of him.

It felt good. It felt like love.

But it wasn’t.

It was comfort. Control. A warm place for him to rest until she was ready to look his way again.

He never paused to think of what it did to you. Never asked, never checked, never questioned if you were okay holding his sorrow like it was a gift.

You were his distraction. His reassurance. He called it love, but it was a convenience.

And you? You let it happen. Because every time he held you, it felt like being chosen—even if it was only for another night.

You had confused desperation with devotion. Mistook his need for affection as proof you were wanted. And in those brief moments?

It felt perfect.

Until it didn’t.

Until it burned.

Until the touch you longed for became the scar you couldn’t look at without remembering how used you felt.

He didn’t mean to destroy you. That was the worst part.

He just never cared enough to stop.

Loved me with your worst intentions Didn't even stop to question Everytime you burned me down Don't know how for a moment it felt like heaven

You stood in front of the mirror in the empty dormitory. Your reflection looked older. Harder. Like someone who’d learned too much in too short a time.

You stood on tiptoe for months—emotionally, mentally, physically—trying to be tall enough, quiet enough, smart enough, enough enough.

And still, he looked right over you.

You gave him your time. Your trust. Your body. You let him kiss you while thinking of her, hold you like you were second-best and still made him feel like he was everything. You let him strip you bare and convinced yourself it meant something more.

You had thought: If I love him hard enough, maybe I can fix the parts of him that are still bleeding.

But he didn’t want to be fixed.

He lied to you. But worse, he lied to himself. He built a world where he could be the broken hero, where you were just a side character who didn’t suffer when he left.

But you did suffer.

And he’ll never know the way it hollowed you out.

He’ll never know, because he never bothered to look away from Lily.

Loved me with your worst intentions Painted us a happy ending Everytime you burned me down Don't know how for a moment it felt like heaven And it's so gut wrenching Falling in the wrong direction

It was the little things that haunted you.

The way he promised “someday” like it was already carved in stone. He made it sound so easy—so certain. A flat in some quiet part of the world, books stacked high, you in his arms with no one else around to pull him away.

You clung to that vision like it was oxygen.

It wasn’t real.

None of it had been.

He spoke about the future because he needed to believe he could love you long enough to get there. And you believed it because you needed to think someone like him could.

But it was never about you. Not really.

You were the warm space he filled when he couldn’t bear being alone. You were the safe hands he turned to when hers were too far out of reach.

He never built you a future. He painted one.

Beautiful on the outside. Empty on the inside. Nothing underneath but cracked promises and half-truths.

And still, God, you wanted it.

Even when he left you waiting in the dark. Even when he looked through you like a ghost. Even when he whispered to her what you’d begged to hear for months.

Because when he held you—when he touched you, kissed you, said your name like it meant something—it felt like coming home.

It felt like the kind of love you’d always hoped was possible.

Until the moment you realized it wasn’t.

It was convenience. It was projection. It was a lie.

And you had fallen. Fully. Completely.

But you’d been falling in the wrong direction the entire time.

Now all you could do was crawl out of the wreckage of her name on his lips.

How did you sweep me right off my feet? Baby I can't keep falling in the wrong direction How did you sweep me right off my feet? Right off my feet

It’s late. The castle sleeps.

You’re standing by the window again, watching the moonlight spill over the courtyard where it all started.

That tree. That bench. That girl. That boy.

You close your eyes and remember the way the cold bit your skin the night you found them. How her crying wasn’t quiet. How his arms didn’t hesitate. How your feet didn’t move fast enough to carry you away from the sound.

You’d known then. Not in words, but in the way your stomach dropped.

But still, you went back. Still, you waited. Still, you whispered, He didn’t mean it. Still, you told yourself: He was just helping. Just talking. Just... sleeping.

Alone.

And now, standing in the dark, hands curled tight around your own elbows, you breathe in the quiet like it’s the only thing you have left.

It was never just one moment that broke you. It was all of them. Layered and buried and set alight by your own denial.

You wanted to believe in him so badly, you let yourself believe in anything.

Even the silence.

Even the smoke.

And now that it’s cleared?

You see it all.

And finally, you stop pretending.

Couldn't even see you through the smoke Looking back I probably should have known But I just wanted to believe that you were out sleeping alone

It was snowing the first time he touched you like you mattered.

The castle was near silent, the world wrapped in winter’s hush. You’d been walking together, talking about something stupid—book lists, probably. He wasn’t looking at you when he reached out, fingers brushing yours, then holding. A little too tightly. A little too long.

You looked over.

And for once, he didn’t look away.

There was no smirk. No cruelty. Just softness. A rare thing on him. A dangerous thing.

Your heart had stuttered, stupid and starry-eyed. In that one breathless second, it felt like everything around you paused—like the universe leaned in and whispered, this is it.

It was terrifying.

It was beautiful.

It was the beginning of everything you didn’t know would hurt.

He pulled you close under the courtyard arch, snow catching in your hair, and kissed you like he meant it. Like there was no one else in the world. Like he’d been waiting, breath held, just for you.

You had never felt so chosen.

And that was it.

That was the moment. The memory. The lie you kept chasing through every burned promise and every broken night. The moment that made you stay long past the point of pain.

Because if he could make you feel that way once… surely he could do it again.

But he never did.

He never would.

And now, long after it’s over, long after he’s gone and the snow has melted into spring, you still feel it sometimes—

That ghost of a touch. That lift in your chest. That stupid, perfect hope.

You don’t hate him. Not really.

You just hate that he swept you off your feet only to let you fall alone.

Loved me with your worst intentions Didn't even stop to question Everytime you burned me down Don't know how for a moment it felt like heaven

You sat by the window, watching fog roll in over the Forbidden Forest like smoke curling off a dying fire.

He hadn’t come to find you.

You’d left a letter. You’d spoken the truth. You’d walked away with every inch of dignity you had left clutched tight in your chest—and still, some small, stubborn part of you thought… maybe.

Maybe he’d show up. Maybe he’d say I’m sorry. That it was all a mistake. That he loves you, not her. That he chose you. That he always had.

But the days passed.

And the door never opened.

You used to lie awake wondering where he was when he disappeared. You never asked—just told yourself the lies were easier. He’s just walking. He needed air. He’s in the library. He’s sleeping.

Alone.

That was the lie you clung to most.

Because if he was alone, then it didn’t mean anything.

Because if he was alone, he hadn’t chosen her over you. Not really.

But now, sitting here in the gray light of morning, the ache in your chest softened—not because it hurt less, but because it hurt differently.

The worst part wasn’t that he loved her.

It was that he let you believe he didn’t.

And you had known. Deep down, through every excuse and broken promise, you knew. But you wanted to believe he wasn’t like the rest. That he wouldn’t be cruel—not to you.

You should have known better.

And you did.

But still, you told yourself he was out there…

Sleeping alone.

Loved me with your worst intentions Painted us a happy ending Everytime you burned me down Don't know how for a moment it felt like heaven And it's so gut wrenching Falling in the wrong direction

#fanfic #severus snape x reader #severus snape #harry potter

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snakeunderyourboot · 3 months ago

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thinking about how Arthur(pre-John) chooses to use words as his weapon VS John who uses words as his weapon because he doesn't have anything else

okay stay with me, this may become too convoluted

we don't know much about Arthur's detective days with Parker. We do know, that in his duo, Parker would use intimidation as his main tactic, while Arthur would rather talk and figure out the rest from the response he is given. We don't know why Arthur liked this variant better: was it because he wasn't as intimidating as Parker, was it because he didn't want to hurt anyone, was it his personal belief or something else entirely. He did say that he would fight someone before (amazing lift conversation in s4 as proof) BUT I would guess that it was a rare occurrence. They were private detectives, so it's expected for them to get into fights. In any case, Arthur uses words and communication to either get the information, outsmart his opponents or to get something else entirely. Whatever the reasoning, he CHOOSES to use words as his weapon.

It is something that we can see multiple times in malevolent: i would say that now in s5 he uses the intimidation tactic because he has the ability to do so (he needs to process the trauma SOMEHOW). But even than, in s4 he talks to Oscar, in s5 he communicates with Horig, in the castle he talks with the guests. His first instinct is to talk to people rather than to fight them and he chooses this variant every time.

John, on the other hand, doesn't have the luxury of this choice. The words are the only weapon he has.

Coming back from DarkWorld, he is stuck in someone else's body with nothing but his eyes and voice. It may seem, that Arthur is in a worse position than John, but I would argue it's the other way around and the only reason why it doesn't seem this way is BECAUSE John is good with using the words as his weapon. He manipulates Arthur, he lies and deflects and purposefully hides information because that is the only thing he can do. He doesn't have a say in where they go, but he can guide Arthur into what he deems a better choice. He is a prisoner in Arthur's body and the only thing he has to defend himself with are the words.

But then, he uses words as a way to help Arthur. It is now not only about manipulation and lying, it's about calming Arthur down when he is scared, encouraging him to do something, and cheering for him. At first, it's another tactic, another clever lie, a little bit more leverage from Arthur, but later it becomes something more genuine. He is sincerely happy for Arthur when he succeeds, and he tries to find the right words to help Arthur. "I can save you the details of this horrible place" - John says to Arthur when they are in the Dreamlands.

The words are his weapon but later he starts using them as a shield not only for himself but for Arthur.

Anyway. The fact that Arthur and John are pretty similar in this regard, they are both clever with words, they know what to say and how to say it to make their opponent do what they want. Something about how they use the words against each other and to help each other. Because this is something they have in common and something that stays with them despite everything

#i am so ill about them #LOOK AT THEM #it probably doesn't even make sense but it does make sense in my head SO #I have many thoughts about them #malevolent #malevolent podcast #arthur lester #john doe malevolent #arthur lester malevolent #jarthur #private eyes #snakey rambles about malevolent

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whatshehassaid · 11 months ago

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“I LOVED HER.” “BUT SHE DIDN’T LOVE YOU. Not like he did. Not like I have”

That isn’t Armand saying Claudia didn’t love Louis. She did. What he’s saying is that Louis was so fucking focused on PINING for Lestats love, superimposing Lestat on Claudia AND Armand that Louis refused to accept love from them. Because he didn’t want Claudia. He didn’t want Armand. He wanted Lestat and he couldn’t have him (whether it be because Louis convinced himself Lestat was bad, or dead, or because Louis is in denial). He tries to make villains out of Armand and Claudia.

“Speaking of mistakes…”

“Vintage Lioncourt.” “I’m not Lestat, Louis.” “Okay….”

“Picked ANOTHER ONE over ME”

“It was NEVER ABOUT ME. Another chapter in the FUCKED UP ROMANCE OF YOU TWO”

“If you want to escape this cage of empathy I’ve trapped you in all you had to do was ask, Louis.”

“Imagine me without the burden of her”

Louis can’t face the fact that he was IMPLICIT in what happened to Claudia in Paris. She wants a companion in Madeline cause she’s not getting in from Louis.

I feel like we may be going the route of Armand and Claudia (probably immediately after the trial and before her death) bonding over their experiences. Not just to do with Louis and Lestat… but their childhoods… being raped… being used… being turned so young…

I’m not 100% on this but if they do include the head swap thing (which is still fucked up, I’m still upset at Armand for that) I feel like Armand will frame it or believe that he can save her if he can just give her a woman’s body to match her mind. And I feel like Claudia will jump at the chance. Again, not 100% with that and it’s STILL super fucked up.. but I think if that happens Armand (AT THE TIME) would believe he was helping her. Like how he “helps” his victims. How he was never helped as a human child and as a vampire. They relate to each other because they’ve never been someone’s first choice… and I think the moment Armand hears her say those words (“it was never about me. Another chapter in the fucked up story/romance of you two”) he’s gonna realize how much they really have in common and feel empathy for her.

It makes a lot of sense with how Armand’s character (especially in the books) is. He has a thing about consent (it’s a bit twisted because you could argue he assumes he knows what’s best for people… and acts accordingly thinking that he’s helping them) But he needs people to consent at least somehow. Even if it’s coerced.

That’s also why I believe after Paris… Louis initially agreed to have the memories of his role in Claudia’s death suppressed. He couldn’t handle the guilt that he didn’t care enough to save her. Armand just took it to the point of constantly suppressing the triggering memories. Plus on TOP of that I’m 100% sure Louis is schizophrenic and it’s causing blackouts.

Armand wasn’t really lying when he said that “I protect Louis from himself.” He WAS being honest. It’s in a fucked up way, but I believe it’s true.

And then with Daniel, that’s a whole other can of worms because I don’t think Armand wiped his memories right after San Fran. I’m starting to believe it wasn’t just Louis telling him to keep Daniel alive. The minute Daniel admits he finds Armand fascinating… and tells him “you can read minds right?” Alluding to the fact that he ISN’T LYING. Daniel is intrigued by Armand… and that immediately catches Armand’s attention. We’ve only seen up to Louis attacking Daniel from an unbiased POV (the tape recording). The rest is MOSTLY FROM LOUIS. Who had had memories taken whether by Armand or by the blackouts… and remember he has a habit of trying to make himself look good in Daniel’s eyes. He tries to convince himself constantly that he’s not a bad guy - but in reality…. He’s done some shitty things too. So it wouldn’t surprise me if some of that was also lies to Daniel. “You’re a liar Louis. Whether you know it or not.”

Something happened in those 4 days with Armand and Daniel that I’m not sure Louis realizes. He may come in and out of actual remembrance where he KNOWS Armand and Daniel fell in love… and he uses it against them both… and then goes back into not knowing what’s happening.

I have a feeling we’re getting the trial/claudia’s death/a reveal about the blackouts etc/the fire from ARMAND. Hence the “imagine me without the burden of her” line that Louis says. He would NEVER in a million years admit to saying that. Definitely not to Daniel.

The Merrick storyline plays into this here. Finding Claudia’s diaries… realizing that Louis really treated her badly and that she hates him for it. And Louis not being able to take it.

I also feel like Lestat and Armand have teamed up in Dubai without Louis or Daniel realizing it. They may be trying to help cure him with the help of Dr. Bhansali.

(Also, devils minion definitely happened in the past… you can just see it in the way Armand sometimes looks at Daniel - and in the books even though he was a stickler for rules… his only exception has ALWAYS been Daniel. He loves Louis, he wouldn’t have put up with any of this if he didn’t… but Daniel? Daniel is really the love of Armand’s life. And Lestat is Louis’. I need them boys to figure this shit out - and with the fact that Daniel wasn’t listed in the Talamasca victims folder? Even though he was attacked, held hostage and tormented… means he is probably in ANOTHER folder - *cough* ARMANDSPARAMOURS *cough* I hope they have Daniel find his name in there cause THAT is gonna be J U I C Y.)

#iwtv #loustat #devils minion #Claudia #Armand #lestat de lioncourt #louis de pointe du lac #iwtv spoilers #theories

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frickingnerd · 2 months ago

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something to believe in

pairing: miles edgeworth x gn!reader

summary: you get arrested for a crime you didn't commit, refusing to talk to any of the defense attorneys sent to you. but a certain prosecutor refuses to give up on you!

tags: platonic relationship (strangers), angst with an open/happy ending, supportive/caring!miles, framed!reader

“you're the fourth defense attorney they sent to me today. but before you even sit down, let me tell you this; i'm not talking to you either.”

the moment edgeworth entered the room, he was kindly greeted by you. yet he just huffed amused, shrugging it off and taking a seat on the other side of the glass plate.

“lucky for you, i'm not a defense attorney.” he stated, before introducing himself. “i'm prosecutor miles edgeworth.”

“what's a prosecutor doing here then? aren't you the ones trying to frame me for this murder?” you huffed, leaning forward a little, as you held eye contact with the man in front of you.

“believe it or not, i care more about the truth than winning this case. if you're innocent, then i want to know it.”

there was a moment of silence, where miles and you clearly observed one another, before you leaned back again and shook your head.

“like i'm saying, i'm not talking.”

“pushing me away will not help you.” miles sighed, now mirroring your former pose and leaning forward. “nor will it help you to refuse any of the attorneys sent to you. they're all good people, willing to take on your case and help you.”

“i don't want their help.” you stated. “some people just don't want to be saved.”

miles’ eyes narrowed as he stared at you, watching your face grow more serious. he had met enough liars in his career as a prosecutor to know that you didn't mean what you were saying. you were lying not just to him, but to yourself as well!

“how are you just okay with this?” miles sighed quietly, shaking his head. “you're taking the blame for a crime you clearly didn't commit. yet i don't think you're trying to protect anyone…”

“maybe i did. it'd be easier if you gave up on me, alright? make me the villain in this story. everyone else is already on board with it…”

the moment you said those words, miles noticed you averting your gaze for a moment, swallowing hard. you were trying to act tougher than you were, but he could see that you were just scared, yet too prideful to admit it.

“you believe that no matter what you say or do, you'll be convicted for this crime. is that it?” miles rose from his chair, hands slamming on the table, as he raised his voice. “so you'd rather take the easy way out, play along with everyone's lies and ruin your life, instead of doing what's hard and fighting for your innocence! you're a coward. perhaps you truly aren't worth saving.”

“HEY–!” you yelled back, jumping up from your chair as well and glaring at the prosecutor through the glass front. if it wasn’t there, you likely would've punched him by now…

“what? are you angry?” miles huffed amused, before turning serious again. “i'm not the one you should be angry at. instead, you should direct that anger towards the person who framed you for this! use that anger as your motivation to reveal the truth and take them down, while proving your innocence!”

there was another moment of silence, the tension between the two of you almost unbearable, until you quietly sighed and sat down again. miles waited for a moment, before seating himself as well and continuing the conversation in a more civilized manner.

“i know that you're scared to fight, as it still might be in vain. but i know a good defense attorney, who can help you win this case. you just have to let him help you…”

you lowered your head, still quietly weighing your options. but ultimately, edgeworth was right. you shouldn't just go down without a fight!

“what's that attorney's name?” you eventually gave in, leading to a small smile hushing over miles’ lips.

“phoenix wright.” he stated, as he got up from his chair again. “i can assure you, he's the best in his field. and if he dares to lose this case, i'll make sure to reprimand him for that myself.”

#miles edgeworth x reader #miles edgeworth #miles x reader #edgeworth x reader #edgeworth #ace attorney x reader #ace attorney #ace attorney investigations #gyakuten saiban #x reader #x you #x y/n #x gn reader #angst #oneshot #aa x reader #aa

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thekatea · 3 months ago

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The White Olive Tree - finished 16.02.2025

In hell we’ll meet, tortured by the past. I have such conflicting feelings about this drama. I loved and hated exactly the same aspects of the writing.

This is not a fun romance with excitement and angst delivered by the war context. This is not “Descendants of the Sun” with no real stakes. People die here, painful and tragic deaths. There are real consequences the characters need to face, the traumas are not magically healed. It’s heavy, it's painful. It’s real.

As much as it is a love story, I think the central part of it is the trauma. From a psychological point of view, they did a lot of this right, starting from the diagnosis and ending on the conclusion. Traumatic experiences do not always only lead to PTSD. Sometimes you might end up with anxiety, depression, OCD. So not labeling every character with PTSD was great. Different people will react to situations differently.

Song Ran became depressed, Li Zan who was by all means no cut for the job in the military, ended up with severe PTSD. Benjamin who from a young age led a rather hard life was able to require a lot of emotional resilience and handled the emotional pain in the most healthy way. Sa Xin who lost his mother spiraled into anger and need for justice and revenge.

What's more, I do appreciate how with Li Zan case, they show psychological issues can heavily impact your recovery from physical injuries too. How scary the process of recovery is. How, while taking the first step is the key, it's not the end of it all. Even after seeing the psychiatrist he was still hesitant. He did not follow up. He claims to be better. He kept lying to himself and to others. So sometimes it's easier to convince yourself you are getting better and you can push through it by yourself. Fooling yourself you are stronger than you truly are.

Then we had Song Ran - what a great portrayal of depression and anxiety. How from the outside she might have seemed fine, but we as viewers saw how she was not, how she was honestly barely holding up at times. I love how they didn’t show depression as this 1:0 idea - you are either completely dysfunctional, or fine. With depression you can also have good days, you can be happy, smile.

What’s so tragic for me is - this is a love story that should have not happened for Song Ran’s sake. She could have healed from her depression, she could have gotten better, if it was not for Li Zan constantly re-traumatizing her with his actions. Li Zan was such a great and complex character.

I could write a whole essay just about him. A man that had skill that could save many people, but also no psychological advantages and strengths required to do the job. I love how this drama shows good intentions do not mean good results. How traits we see as good: empathy, selflessness, compassion, in extreme situations can be a person's biggest flaws. Li Zan has a savior complex and there was no good way out of the situation he was in. Not going to Easter Country would eat him alive from the grief and guilt of not helping when he can. Going back to Easter Country means getting more traumas on top of the ones he did not heal from. He hurt himself, he hurt people he loved, but he also saved so many lives. But no matter the choice, he would be feeling guilty and that feeling would slowly kill him. It’s a tragic story that could not have a happy ending.

I know there are different opinions about the ending, but for me it’s rather clear him and Song committed suicide. He understood she would never leave him alone. She understood he will never get better. They decided to be together till the end. And they decided when the end will happen. From the scene of them talking about reincarnation, to the narrated goodbye letter to the parents, not once showing them interact with anyone after it was written. Even the oversaturated editing that made them glow in the last scene - that’s the tragic ending I think the majority of us knew will happen, even if we wanted to live in denial till the end.

At the same time at some point I was getting tired with how "realistic" the drama was. Yes, the recovery from any psychological issue is a whole journey, but this is a show... it has to be presented in a way that reflects reality WHILE keeping the viewers engaged and not exhausted. We are running in circles with little to no development. The message was clear, but they still hammered it over and over again.

The repetitiveness at some point crossed the line from - that's how life works, to - well now I don;’t feel as emotionally impacted by what I’m seeing, because I saw more or less the exact same scene in this show five times already.

It kind of starts to feel like a trauma porn... no balance of anything. There are no ups and downs. It's just down, down.... and a bit more down until we are in a fucking hell of traumas and mental disorders and bad news and no happiness and no rays of hope. Especially on Zan’s part. Song at least vented her sadness to him, and he just took it all in, when he couldn’t even handle his own feelings, not to mention help others dealing with theirs. He was emotionally overworked and it's exhausting to watch.

I am aware that the drama truly showed just glimpses of how bad a real war is. This is nothing compared to reality. But this is not reality. This is not a documentary. I do think that it’s a valid criticism of how far they tried to make the audience feel sad and bad. A Perfect example was Ben’s death which was extremely unnecessary. What was the point of killing Ben? What did it bring to the story? To the message? Other than dumping more trauma onto the viewers? Especially with how they set it up with Ben’s talks about how he found a new family in his friends, how he felt more grounded and alive than ever before. Scenes of his plans to start over and get a degree in journalism. They did everything they could to make Ben’s death feel as tragic and painful as it could get, and I do not understand why. It’s just dumping trauma for the sake of trauma alone.

Moving on from the sadness into more happy/good aspects: I cannot ignore the bromance between Ben and Sa Xin. I honestly went crazy for these two. By all means they followed so many dynamics of a typical straight secondary couple. They shared such a profound connection and care for each other, it was hard not to want something more from them. The writing team did all they could to include as much of them as possible, by passing the censorship by giving Ben a “romantic interest” that got barely any screen time or depth. I will die on this hill - Dr. Pei existed just to pass the censorship.

Now, I need to talk about the performances. I want to be clear - the whole main cast did a stellar job with their portrayal, but Chen Zhe Yuan delivered probaby the best performance of his life and everyone else just faded into background. I am speechless. I knew he was good, I did not know he was this good. I don’t even know how to express how impressed I am by each and every scene he delivered. How much Li Zan changed as the character, how well Zhe Yuan was able to transition from this confident man to a shell of his past self. How you could feel the silent pain when he was trying to hold it all in, and the raging despair when he was breaking down thinking Song was hurt and dead. Be it subtle representation of extreme emotions, or completely uncontrolled misery - he did not waste one second of his screen time.

On the other hand… the way the poor dubbing and acting of the majority of foreigners often completely took me out of the scene I was watching was simply disappointing. such a high quality of drama and production, with such a low quality of casting for guest and bits parts.

Then we have the soundtrack. I am not a person that pays that much attention to the music in dramas and music unless it’s extremely good, or extremely bad. Here the extremely good fits perfectly. Some of my favorite songs were: Ignite Me On Fire, Into the Pieces, Find My Way Back to Life, Home. As a whole the OST is an easy 10/10 (except for that do re mi fa sol la song, I cannot with that chorus, it should not exist).

For the production - impressive. The fighting scenes were well choreographed and it made sense there were not that many of them - no one has hand to hand combat during wars, they use guns. The explosions were surprisingly well produced too. We know how off Chinese dramas can get with their CGI and special effects, so I’m glad they put quite a lot of effort to make it good here. What’s more? Really well done prosthetic make up for Zan’s fingers. I was curious if they would just cleverly use angles or make him hide in hand all the time, and I was surprised they actually made the effort to show us how it looks, and also make it look realistic.

Overall, this was for sure a journey. Emotional and tragic one. Maybe a bit too tragic on the delivery. At some point I felt like the tragic scenes were not even said, because they did not make much sense plot wise. Maybe if the show was a little bit shorter - 30 episodes would probably be enough to present the same story with the same impact, but less repetitiveness. As human beings we get desensitized after being exposed to the same thing over and over again, and the writers did not take that into consideration when planning how to present the plot.

#the white olive tree #cdrama #chinese drama #chinese drama review #i had more thoughts but i was too exhausted to write them down...

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curapicas · 1 year ago

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Oh look, the donghua is doing the heavy lifting for me and juxtaposing them on its own volition. (kind of a continuation of this)

Plot-wise, Li Tianchen's relationship with Lu Guang hinges basically on trying to manipulate and hurt Cheng Xiaoshi to do his bidding through hurting LG (worth noting this implies an understanding of such attachments, and the viciousness stems from a certain resentment of it + his twisted personality). I don't even remember if he's aware LG also has powers.

but tbh the funniest thing coming out of LTC vs CXS&LG is that, in a weird way, he was actually letting off his anger on the "right target", kinda? Technically? Of course I'm not saying LG deserves it nor that LTC was being anything but unhinged. But I do believe there's more than meets the eye (and probably informs the ways Lu Guang can be confronted on the narrative, more on that by the end)

Bc this show is competent, many characters have parallels with each protagonist, and LTC-LG are no different. There's a post I couldn't find that went on their reactions to their most precious people dying in front of them: whereas LTC loses all hope, LG has the means to go back, and thus doesn't even try to let go. Alas, they're both tacticians who, despiste meaning well for LTX and CXS, end up manipulating them into inaction/ignorance;

And they do so bc both feel adrift and out of options - but the show focus a lot on how powerless LTC feels about his life for it to not be a big factor. LTC fights so hard for a modicum of control that I don't even think it registers how he impacts LTX, meanwhile LG has so many variables stacked against him and his empathetic partner that he ends up prioritizing CXS' survival, even above their connection (he keeps to himself Emma's death, for example)

In the twins past, LG was the one that guided CXS into staying on task. And before that, he hid the photo even from the police. Tbh he'd never see it that way, but isn't this accidentally the best revenge for his stabbing? lol

Either way, LTC loses his hope, blames CXS and believes him to be what LTC hates the most, a nice guy who's secretly a jerk. Except. Who is actually closer to this description? A guy who can be polite but will stay passive if that affects CXS too much, to the point of lying about saving Chen Xiao's mom?

Curious to me he was also pretty straight forward in calling LG a jerk, and maybe it's just because LG botched his kidnapping attempt. But maybe he has pretty good instincts bc I don't think he even knows why he hates the man so much, lol. After all, for all Li Tianchen knows, everyone is a jerk who stands by and watch.

And maybe it makes him even angrier because he finally met someone who also has powers and is willing to call him "friend" and "play" with him. Considering his one friendship was with Liu Xiao, someone he's aware has plans, he might've even considered to have his own pet project on CXS. But the thing is, this person already seems to have a way more genuine friendship, and it's with LG.

Summary: LTC, if only he knew, would hate LG for not changing his past + being a guy who's very much capable of standing by and watch + having an actual friendship with CXS

DISCLAIMER: I think on his own right, Lu Guang values kindness in general. But LTC's vision is too black and white to even account for that.

While I'm on the topic of LG: while his passivity keeps him from being of any effective help to the twins, he's also keenly aware of the butterfly effect and that he could possibly make things worse instead, something CXS has been confronting throughought the story.

And yet. His objective is what ultimately makes us see this approach as instead of wise, more akin to the desperation of a grieving man - not unlike LTC who by the end of s2, gives up altogether of hope and follows the Big Bad. Besides, it somewhat clashes with the fact CXS actually does make a difference for the clients, be it by making the past more tender (Chen Bin's wife has sweeter memories, Dou Dou's life was actively made less worse) or the present better (lesbian noodles make up, Dou Dou's father and Qiao Ling reconcile), which is also something LG is aware of, since he agreed to deliver Chen Xiao's messages. So far I don't personally see a clean, objectively correct approach, thus I'm willing to bet it'll be whatever is diametrically opposite of Liu Xiao's, lmao

-kinda unrelated, but I've seen people mentioning an interview where Li Haoling-laoshi (aka the director) said he tweaked a little with Li Tianchen before s2, and he was meant to be (even more) obsessed with Cheng Xiaoshi, making this whole post even more hilarious

#link click #shiguang daili ren #li tianchen #lu guang #it's not easy to be the Yearner of a duo but someone's gotta do it (in ltc's case I'm talking about hatman)#the way ltc jumped in front of his family as a kid vs the way lg comes to cxs' rescue with a kick both remind me of lx jumping in water #but this comparison leads me nowhere except 'heroic rescue' so I'll leave it be #and now I've accidentally opened up a parallel between LG and LX too. oh boy #I've been /rotating/ these characters in my brain and the amount of words shows this #lc thoughts

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ryllen · 2 years ago

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Please read this by putting it through google translate image translation feature on phone and cry with me,

or i can summarize it to you

"Why does human help the weak?" [ You just do it automatically, don't u think? ] - Kalim [ I was taught to do so. ] - Deuce [ Helping others is a beautiful thing. ] - Rook [ It's a natural for the strong to help the weak. ] - Riddle

[ It's just human's instinct of wanting to survive together, is it not? ] - Trey Jade finds it weird, because in the sea, no thought will be given to the weak. The strongest will survive. Call it an ego on land if you want, but that is how it has always been in that big pool of deep never ending water.

Jade is a mermaid type who is rather sensitive when turned into human. Walking with legs feel like walking on knives for him. To counter that problem, he always had his transforming potion mixed with a lot amount of pain killers.

One time he started to feel pain on his feet, he refused to be helped as he is fixated of being a strong creature & not wanting to be positioned as something weak. When he finally let trey helped him, he kept asking if there's any compensation he had to pay for having Trey helped him. "It is just pure kindness for underclassman", Trey said. Having it not sitting right on him, Jade told Trey his secret about his human legs' sensitivity problem as a form of payment. "That's too much information for that price." "Such critical thing! I never tell anyone that information as it would endanger my life!" "So.., are you telling me because you trust me?"

"No. I am telling you because I want (to keep receiving) that pure goodwill from you, my senior."

"That's an unnatural & greedy remark from a benevolent Octavinelle's student. Such a bad boy, Jade." Trey touched Jade's face in soft scolding manner & it made the mermaid quietly flustered with feeling he never knew he could felt before. Finding Trey's affection dear to him, at some other time later, he pretended that his feet hurts. And he lied about not bringing any pain killers with him. Trey who was wary about lying Jade, used his magic to overwrite the pain on Jade's feet, so he could walk by himself. But Jade sulked. Because, rly, he just wants to be carried by Trey again. Sensing this, Trey gave in, and carried Jade on his back, pleasing him.

Previously seeing Trey danced with Cater & Rook at other events, Jade invited Trey to go to an abandoned castle. He asked him to dance with him.

"I want to look good in front of you. But I'm not good at dancing," Trey said.

"Good." Jade replied with a smile, happy with his awkwardness. "I am not familiar with human's dance either."

They started to dance. And flirted a little. "Your eye is like olive." (Typical TREY) And when they were about to kiss, 3 overblot ghosts broke in.

"'ll take responsibility" Jade said, instantly feeling responsible as he was the one who brought them there. He managed to defeat one of the ghost. But in the middle of battle, the usual pain started to seep in to Jade's feet. For real, this time. His legs gave out.

With 2 overblot ghosts left still, Trey put himself into the middle of the fight. "I don't have enough magic to both overwrite your pain & defeat these overblot ghosts at the same time. So, run away while I try to hold them back."

Jade started to think how unacceptable it is that he is protected by someone who is supposed to be weaker than him. He should have been the one protecting Trey as mermaid is a stronger being, however he is nothing but a hindrance right now. Trey would even win the fight if it was not because of him.

So Jade found a way. He made noise to get the overblot attention's. He directed them to him so he could take them out by letting the chandelier fall over all of them together, including him. He was so ready to be crushed & took all those responsibility with him.

But, of course, Trey can't have that! Trey saved Jade at the last minute. He pushed Jade away, so the chandelier missed him. But in consequence, Trey had his legs broken as they were the ones that got crushed by the chandelier, instead -- together with the remaining overblot ghosts.

Jade who still didn't realize the situation, said "... Oh. That's too unreasonable to suddenly jump in, under the chandelier and come..." "I can't help it."

Jade slowly turned his head.

"It's too easy to want to help the person you love." "...So let me help you out." The horror of the current situation finally creeped to Jade's face.

"T-TREY-SAN! TREY-SAN!!!!!!!"

[ What do i do now?? What do i do??? ]

"Go, return by yourself even without me..."

Jade started to think of all his options. Phone? out of range. Magic? Out of the question, he just realized that his magic gem is now broken. The only mirror to come back to the school was at the foot of the mountain, while the castle they were in was at the very top of it.

[ Carry this person on your back. ] The voice in his head said...

"Carry this person on my back--?" he turned his head, and suddenly imagined the path of 'knives' he had to step on to go back. Not alone even.., but together with this person. ...The additional weight surely would pressed his feet harder to the ground, causing even more pain.

Trembling from the thought of the pain, Jade thought... "This is bad..., I only have one more painkiller...."

He took out that single pain killer in his pocket, and put into his mouth, seemingly ready and prepared to walk; at least a few steps back without pain. But no, he refused to do so. Trey is wounded. He must experience pain too right now. Lips-to-lips, he gave the wounded Trey the painkiller & let him swallow it.

"I'll help you now..." Jade said, repaying on Trey's deed & now walking back without painkiller, with his dear senior on his back.

His feet hurts. So badly that he started to bit his lips & let them bleed. The sudden thought of wild animals attacking them in this situation, made him shuddered.

Near them, he spotted a good running river.

...

[ I can just abandoned this person... and jump into the river. ...With that I can easily reach the foot of the mountain. ... With that, I can become a strong creature again, not the helpless one like what I am right now. ]

...

For a second Jade lost in thought of abandoning the weak like what the sea always taught him to do. But then, reminiscing how Trey carried him at that crucial time when he needed him to, he said to himself...

"No. That doesn't matter... "

"Because right now ..., I am helping him out of pure love."

And so, he kept enduring, until Idia who wandered at night to get his late night snack from the school's vending machine, found them who successfully came back, fainted at the hallway.

Time passed.

...

"Jade refuses to walk for awhile now." Floyd said, guiding Trey further inside to the longue. It might be because that event; so traumatic & painful, that Jade just wanted to forget entirely about walking all together. Or maybe it was out of guilt, for him being the reason that Trey had to be confined in the hospital room to recover & not being able to go anywhere. That's why, Jade isolated himself in the glass wall as a way to punish himself & share the same feeling with Trey.

"Sorry for the trouble." Trey replied, pushing his wheelchair with his hands.

"It's okay. It's Jade's own fault." Floyd replied, nonchalantly. Just like he always been. Oddly comforting, at the current situation. "Jade, sea turtle is here~~"

There he is. Jade, swimming in his mermaid form. Their eyes met. Seeing Trey sitting on a wheel chair, his eyes, glistened.

"So will your legs heal?" Jade was still in his mermaid form. He perched on surface of the longue's glass wall he was in, to talk to Trey.

"Yes."

"It's not just the bone fractures, right? It's also the ability to walk, right?"

"Of course."

...

Jade was relief. But he was still burdened with other feelings from the incident.

" --- IF I NEVER MET you, after graduating, I would have returned to the sea and keep being a strong creature forever....." "I am so scared and feeling so pathetic......."

...

Trey reminiscing the moment Jade carried him on his back, while enduring the tremendous pain on his feet, said, "You are...? At that time though, you looked like the strongest person in the world to me..." He patted Jade's head, consoling him.

Jade was relieved once again. " ... Trey-san ... " But it seems that this mermaid still has something in his mind...

"...When you risked your life, and let yourself be crushed under the chandelier..., was it all just because of the natural instinct inhabits in your body, OR-"

He didn't finish his question, and yet Trey answered. "It's because, I like you."

...

Jade proceeded to come out of the water, having his tail transformed to legs, once again after a long while. He approached Trey who sat there still with his immobilized legs.

"...I never thought I would ever need my legs again... He gazed Trey in the eyes. "But it is necessary...." "...There are a lot of things I want to do with you, with these legs..."

"...Many..."

And they both shared a kiss, which became the start of everything else.

#treyjade #twisted wonderland #twst #jade leech #trey clover #they gave me peace they gave me laughter they gave me pain #the recipe of ultimate shipping #pls don't s t ab me if i did not get the precise translation correct #and please excuse me for writing in elementary school level #i have english test next week and i am so doomed like this #but i hope the feeling transfers if u did choose to read my writing instead of translating the doujin pages directly #i am so happy that i actually manage to drag people to treyjade ocean *weeping*#i hope you guys manage to keep that endearment live for a long time in the corner of your heart #some fanartists keep picking up the mermaid having the knives walking painful sensation for angst #it works everytime #i am no big brain #these fanartists are doing all the GOD's works for treyjade with actual depth #the true servers of servers

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rapha-reads · 9 months ago

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IWTV rewatch

Season 1 episode 7 [The Thing Lay Still] - part 3/3

- Okay, the triple confrontation Daniel/Louis, Daniel/Armand and Louis/Louis is long but there's so much to say, I have to quote it entirely:

[Daniel] "Well, isn't that neat and tidy?" - THANK YOU DANIEL, I know I can always count on you to point out the flaws and holes in the fabric of Louis' recollection.

[Louis] "'There was a ship. We did get on it.'

[Daniel] 'Yeah, I read that, the first 50 pages. Not exactly the, uh, adventure-of-our-lives feeling I'm feeling.'

[Louis] 'It was a traumatic escape.'

[Daniel] 'Yeah, but she didn't say that explicitly. […] But, um… there's a feeling that she hated your guts there for a while. Why is that?'"

Trust Daniel to always see the little thing that would be inconsequential to anyone else.

[Louis] "'I was haunted by my brother's death, by the abandonment of my sister, by the murder of Lestat, I…'

[Daniel] 'Murder? What murder? It was an act of mercy. You didn't kill Lestat. You spared him out of some fucked-up idea you had about love.'

[Louis] 'Love? I bled him like a pig and waited for the death rattle.'"

Oh, Louis. You are so good at lying to yourself. Good thing Daniel's too much of an excellent investigative reporter to let you fool him like you're fooling yourself. Notice how Louis looks as Daniel undoes all his lies and smoke mirrors? Like he's still trying to cling so hard to the story he's told himself for the past 80 years, like the lie is the only thing that keeps him upright, like if he admits the love, admits he wanted to save Lestat, that would completely undo him and there would be no going back?

[Daniel] "You were shot point-blank by an alderman. You were dropped a thousand feet and survived. You torched Antoinette just to make sure. Where does the trash go, Louis? You take the trash down to the street, some guys show up in a truck and they throw it in the back, and then, they drive it out to the middle of nowhere, right? No. They take the trash to the dump. And having lived two blocks away from the dump just outside of Fishkill, New York, with my first wife, I can state, with authority, what else you'll find there. Rats. Big fucking rats, the size of Kevin Durant's sneakers. Enough blood in them to bring back the dead. Especially one in a trunk with locks on the inside. You knew it, Louis. You had to. The biggest rat eater of them all."

Thank you for bringing back Moonlight Sonata! Haven't figured out yet if it's intra or extradiegetic tho. I love its presence in this episode. It's my favourite piece of classical music (I know, very original) and it's so gothic par excellence.

Mention of the first wife, Alice/Armand, no, I will not get down from this hill.

I love how Daniel's theory posit Louis as having done some planning for himself outside of Claudia's and even Lestat's, with the trunks locking on the inside and the rats needed to revive.

[Rashid/Armand] "'This session is over.'

[Daniel] 'How many days in the Islamic year? How many names are there for Allah?'

[Rashid/Armand] '355 and 99.'

[Daniel] 'Why does a 200-pound bouncer pass out after he sucks him off, and you, a wet T-shirt away from 130, doesn't even blink?'"

Ha, Daniel said 'okay who the eff are you and why am I smelling bullshit'. Meanwhile Armand said 'oh shit we're getting too close to dangerous waters and Louis is about to lose it, better reassert control'. But also, Muslim!Armand. Definitely. Not a throwaway line, not just pretence. Rolin Jones I'm counting on you to not fuck this up.

[Louis] "'I couldn't burn him.'

[Daniel] 'But Claudia could.'

[Louis] 'No', she couldn't.'

[Daniel] 'She stuck a pen in his neck. She recorded his last words in his own blood. The girl did not have a fuckin' problem tossing him on the grill, okay?'"

And Louis' wall of lies is breaking and shattering… And the pebbles of the zen garden, his other big trauma, don't help either…

[Daniel] "You cursed her into the darkness. You chose Lestat over her time and time again. You don't need a memoir, Louis. You need a hundred sessions of EMDR. You know the shit they put soldiers through when they see one of their platoon buddies get blown up in front of them?"

Say it, Daniel! These messy vamps need therapy.

Making jokes to avoid the sheer anguish in Louis' face, voice and body language, both in the 1940 flashback (the image of Louis holding Lestat's body and yelling is tattooed on my eyelids) and in 2022 (Louis sitting in his zen garden hugging and rocking himself, eyes screwed shut, trying to block Daniel and Armand's voices and the memories lives rent free in my mind).

[Daniel] "'144 years and you're still Louis the Pimp, paying a whore to sit in a room and talk with you. 'Cause why? You got some story you wanna tell the whole world about yourself?'

[Rashid/Armand] 'When you hear it you'll be ashamed, ashamed of what you say to him now!'"

Please don't hold back, Danny, do tell us what you think exactly. But hey, Louis needs to hear it.

The fuck are you talking about, Armand… Also notice how agitated he is? Feeling protective of Louis, or feeling like he's losing control of the interview, the interviewee and the interviewer all at once?

Love Armand taking off is gloves in the background. So subtle, so crucial. And then the lenses.

[Daniel] "'This is the same shit that happened in San Francisco.'

[Louis] 'Not exactly.'

[Daniel] 'How is it any different, Louis?'

[Armand] 'This time I won't save your life. Louis can sometimes act out. I protect him from himself, always have. Stopped him that night in San Francisco.'"

Oh, hello, Armand's decided to play Superman. Aaaaah, Armand's orange eyes, I love them!!!

Can we talk about Armand's infantilisation of Louis? "He acts out, I protect him from himself"… Like a child that can't regulate his feelings and needs to be put on time's out. The manipulation is deep and multi-layered, it's not just the memory alteration. Notice how Louis is pretty much dissociating, staring at the grey wall, face slowly becoming inexpressive and voice returning to flat and empty, from the moment Armand started telling off Daniel?

[Daniel] "'You were there.'

[Louis] 'You don't remember.'

[Daniel] 'No, I don't remember.'

[Louis] 'What was that you said about memory? 'A monster', was it?'

[Daniel] 'But I saw you standing in the sun.'

[Armand] 'As we age, the sun loses its power over us. What's a mediocre star to a 514-year-old vampire?'

[Louis] 'Daniel Molloy, I'd like you to meet the vampire Armand, the love of my life.'"

One, don't be too cocky, Louis, there's plenty you don't remember about that night too yourself.

Two, and we've come full circle again, the monster memory making itself fully known after lurking all season long.

Three, shut up Armand, the Sun is not a mediocre star, it's part of the entire reason there's life on this planet, show some respect. Sun deities are some of the most frequent deities around the globe. You need to come back down to earth.

Four, all the books being out of reach to Louis, another way Armand's exerting subtle control.

Five, "love of my life", BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAGA *deep breath* HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HAAAAAA, that line kills me every time I hear time. Why you lying Louis, stop fucking lying all the time. Sorry, Armand.

Daniel seeing them side by side and hearing that stupid line after listening to Louis ramble and compose poetry on the spot about Lestat for the past week or so: "hm. I sense bullshit of the highest degree. Time to destroy that whole tower of lies one by one.".

Aaaaaaaaaah, that was such a rich and intense episode!!!! What a grandiose season 1 final!!! So many different elements that have got to be revisited by other perspectives to get the full painting. So many seeds planted for season 2 and even season 3!! The writing is flawless, the acting is exquisite, the music is gorgeous, the costume, set design and stage direction are masterful. I am in love with this show.

ep1 | ep2 | ep3 | ep4 | ep5 | ep6 | part 1 | part 2

#and we're done with s1! i'll do s2 soon #interview with the vampire #iwtv #iwtv amc #amc iwtv #iwtv s1 #iwtv rewatch #the thing lay still #episode reaction #louis de pointe du lac #daniel molloy #armand de romanus #the vampire armand #lestat de lioncourt #claudia de pointe du lac #the vampire claudia #rapha talks #rapha watches shows

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locke-esque-monster · 9 months ago

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Have we considered that Mystery Spot actually gives credence to Dean's lie in early Season 4 that he doesn't remember hell?

Because at this point, Sam doesn't know that the Trickster is an archangel, that he's already met an angel, or that angels can create pocket universes. And considering how everyone in that universe reacts (think the minimal concern by either the old man or anyone around by a hit-and-run) they're almost certainly creations of Gabriel. And with how Sam survives a whole 6 months without Dean - this is an angel pocket-verse, not Gabriel changing things. So we can assume Dean didn't actually go to Hell during those 6 months vs Dean going and having forgotten like he did all the Tuesdays/previous Wednesday. And so Dean didn't lie when he said he didn't recall much. He essentially was an actor exiting the stage of the play, in limbo until its time to return.

But Sam doesn't know that. He knows Dean is being made to forget things. He knows the Trickster can change reality (If he can throw someone in a wormhole, how hard is it to grab someone out of hell?). He knows the Trickster refers to Dean as doing the "hellfire rumba" right now. He knows if Dean dies early he should still go to hell.

But Dean doesn't know this. It's pretty clear that while Dean knows a little about the Mystery Spot incident, he doesn't have the full picture. So he probably doesn't know he died for 6 months in this pocket universe. (With how they struggle to express themselves normally and Dean's upcoming death being traumatic for them both, neither of them likely want to dig into this.) In Mystery Spot Dean has no visible tics he's lying (unlike later), this time he just looks confused.

So from Dean's perspective, when he lies about not remembering hell in 4x1, it isn't something he's trying to slide by Sam, say for continuity because he's told this lie before. Instead, this is a first-time reaction/lie you'd expect from Dean, whose trying to avoid talking about his feelings and trauma, and to hopefully to will the memories away.

Sam however is expecting Dean to say this. He thinks forgetting hell upon resurrection is normal, it happened to Dean before. Sure he wants to believe that Dean forgot, but having a precedent helps (he was pre-law after all). It's only when Uriel questions it does Sam start doubting the lie.

So it's crazy to me that Gabriel's experiment when he's trying to stop Sam letting Lucifer out, actually helped solidify Dean's lie to being even more effective, by drawing out the full reveal to Dean's hell experience until mid-season (for good or ill to how the season played out with Sam finding out later rather than sooner - and how that impacted Sam's actions in season 4 is a much more in-depth conversation).

[As an aside to a point above, Gabriel would be too much on the angels' radar to send Dean to hell early, and to get him back all by himself - unless saving him is far easier than the angels implied. Under his "witness protection" Gabriel probably had to do one a heck of basically an obfuscation spell to get off the angels radar during Mystery Spot, since it's likely they were keeping basic tabs on Dean this close to his trip to hell and this would have caused some attention he didn't want. Cas easily caught Gabriel was too powerful to be a trickster during Changing Channels, and he's doing a whole town as a set versus a building and (at least to Sam) goes on for about 9+ months (3+ of Tuesdays and 6 more afterwards - funnily enough that's also how long into Dean's deal we are at this point based on airdate) - which is hardly a subtle use of his powers.]

#dean winchester #sam winchester #spn #spn meta #spn stuff #supernatural #gabriel #the trickster #spn 3x11 #mystery spot #spn season 4 #edited later because I was literally falling asleep writing this #I definitely left it on an unfinished sentence #and some other thoughts make as much sense as you'd expect from someone blinking in and out of consciousness #spn discourse

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thewisewill80sbyers · 20 days ago

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I would like to talk to you about the parallels between Mike and Will from *Stranger Things* and Peeta and Katniss from *The Hunger Games*. I don’t know if the Duffer brothers watched *The Hunger Games* or drew inspiration from it, but I’ve found way too many similarities and several overlapping plot tropes. Let me list them. In *The Hunger Games*, there’s a scene where Peeta recalls his first meeting with Katniss. He says he fell in love with her then. It was their first day at school, and the teacher asked Katniss to sing a song—she did, and it touched his heart. Mike remembers his first meeting with Will, which happened in kindergarten. He saw Will on the swings, approached him, and asked to be friends. According to Mike, the best moment of his life was when Will said "yes." Peeta Mellark loved to draw in the books. Will also draws a lot and gives his artwork to Mike. In the fourth season, he even paints a special picture for Mike, depicting him as a hero with a sword, and says that Mike inspires others and leads them. Peeta painted a picture of dead Rue covered in flowers—the moment Katniss inspired District 11 to rebel. These were the first sparks of revolution. Both Will and Peeta give gifts to Mike and Katniss. Peeta gave Katniss a pearl, and Will gave Mike his painting. Katniss kissed Gale, but when he asked her to say she loved him, she couldn’t and replied, *"You know how I feel about you."* The exact same line happens with Mike and El. After the first Hunger Games, Peeta and Katniss grew distant for a while because Peeta hoped her feelings were real, not just for the cameras. But later, he decides to rebuild their relationship, becoming her ally and friend so they can support each other. Similarly, Will and Mike grew apart after Mike started dating Eleven. They had arguments in the third and fourth seasons because Mike wasn’t giving Will the same attention as before. But then Mike apologizes and suggests they become a team again, returning to their old friendship. When Gale is whipped in the square, his back torn open, they bring him to Katniss’s house and lay him on the table, where he writhes in pain. In *Stranger Things*, when Eleven fights Vecna, she starts convulsing, and they also lay her on a table to help her. Mike holds her hand and confesses his love to give her strength. Likewise, Katniss holds Gale’s hand, kisses him, and says she’ll stay by his side. Peeta suffers from unrequited love but stays in the background, hiding it. Will does the same. When Peeta is taken by the Capitol, the tracker jacker venom distorts his memories of Katniss. He becomes aggressive, tries to kill her, and is strapped to a hospital bed—even killing allied soldiers in his altered state. He claims the Capitol *created* Katniss and that she can’t be trusted. When the Mind Flayer possesses Will, it erases his memories and forces him to kill soldiers and lab workers. When Mike realizes what’s happening, Will thrashes violently on the bed, yelling *"He’s lying!"* before being sedated to prevent further harm. When Katniss thinks the Capitol took and killed Peeta, she lashes out at Haymitch, screaming, *"You promised to save him! You gave your word. You lied to me!"* In the first season of *Stranger Things*, when the police find a fake version of Will’s body, Mike, believing he’s dead, snaps at El, shouting, *"You were supposed to find him alive! You promised he was alive. You lied to me!"* During the second Hunger Games, Peeta gives Katniss a locket with photos of her family and Gale inside—hinting that she *must* have a future, that her family needs her. Meaning she has to survive, and he’ll sacrifice himself for her. Will sacrifices his own feelings when he claims El asked him to paint Mike’s heroic portrait. He says *she* needs Mike, adding, *"She’ll always need you."* A veiled confession. Katniss tells Peeta, *"I need you."* What do you think about all this? Are these just coincidences?

Oh yeah good catch!! ♥️

People have pointed out the parallels before in the tag and I'll have to make an actual gifset one of these days but the hunger games was one of the movies that inspired season 4 - one of those written in the whiteboard, so they know the source material pretty well 😉

Also even if it wasn't completely intentional it just shows that both narratives are using similar tropes because the situation between Mike and Will is indeed romantic and they are in a love triangle like Katniss was with Peeta and Gale - it's just how love stories are written sometimes! 🌈🌈🌈🌈

#byler #mike wheeler #will byers #ask

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destinygoldenstar · 1 year ago

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My Evil Arin AU Prediction (Fully Expecting To Be Wrong)

So Arin, caught up in Sora’s lie, believes in the false hope that he has his abilities starting to be figured out. That with Lloyds, Sora’s, and his own minds support, he can be a valuable ninja and be a great asset to the mission to get Kai and Bonzle back.

My prediction of this is that Ras and the gang come up with a plan to revive the blood moon to get the other elemental masters freed. So the ninja after realizing this plan have to return to the dragons to come up with a way to save Kai and Bonzle.

But oh no, Egalt (sorry I still can’t spell his name) still things Arin isn’t good enough.

Arin is by no means arrogant of his own abilities after his success, (that’d be very OOC in my opinion), but he is more trusting in himself and blindly optimistic that he has more of this figured out than he actually does.

He tries to prove this, but no matter what he does, he just can’t get it right.

Even Lloyd starts to get confused. But, you know, Arin could do it, so he has faith in the kid that practice will make perfect.

There could even be a scene where Lloyd tells Arin about his experience of getting possessed by Morro (maybe Euphrasia is also in this scene to give her character development), and how his own master, Master Wu, set him up for something so impossible that Morro became twisted jaded and arrogant in himself to achieve something he couldn’t.

Lloyd is saying this as a warning for Arin. While he by no means thinks Arin is acting the same way Morro was, he had the paranoia that he could. And Lloyd totally knows he isn’t setting Arin up for something impossible. He saw Arin get better and be able to do his tricks. So it’s not an impossible standard. Totally not.

Then there’s Sora, who is trying to keep her distance from Arin, who doesn’t know why. The guilt of what she’s done is killing her, and it’s cost her some sleep knowing that either route she could take could potentially end her friendship with Arin. Keep the lie and watch Arin meet his downfall, or tell him the truth and crush his spirits for good.

After all, she was the one person who since the very beginning believed in Arin. Even when no one else did.

And then she didn’t.

She can’t ever take that betrayal back.

Then, you know, she’s learning Spinjitsu. But Arin isn’t completely bothered by it so long as he’s got his own thing going too.

Arin is obviously hurt by her distance, unsure if there was something he did wrong. But maybe there’s a scene where he pours his heart out to her about their friendship, how their belief in each other is something nothing can undo, and how no matter what is bothering her, she should know very well how forgiving he is.

So she’s ready to be honest and tell him-

And then one of the generals of the villain faction attacks them (and whoever else you want to say is here). For now I’m gonna say Jordana, but anyone can take this slot.

And in this fight, Sora gets knocked down, and Arin is ready to defend her using his object Spinjitsu…

But he fails.

And Jordana reveals to Arin, against Sora’s consent, that Sora lied to him and used her own tech to move that object in that fight. She really taunts it in that his best friend and companion never believed in him and was lying to him the whole time.

How does Jordana know this? Idk maybe she found out in a scene before this.

Arin is obviously so devastated that he’s zoned out and unable to defend himself.

Sora, enraged from Jordana having zero respect, protects Arin and does Spinjitsu for the first time.

Jordana is forced to retreat at Sora’s power, part of that has to do with her anger. And once she’s gone, Sora cools off and tries to help Arin. She doesn’t even care or process that she did Spinjitsu, she’s more concerned about her friend.

But Arin is just… blank. Spaced out. He should be furious at Sora, yell at her and express how absolutely betrayed he feels…

But instead, nothing comes out of him. His feelings towards Sora, or the fight, or everything else is replaced by… nothing. And Sora now being able to do what he can while he’s still him is just icing on the cake that Arin is basically nothing now.

Blah blah, in some other points of the season they can learn more about the elemental masters and the wolf masks and the reveal of Ras’s master.

But Arin is mostly just a spaced out person in the way of all of this, it seems.

Lloyd obviously chews out Sora for her stunt and lying about it, but it’s clear she’s very much aware of the damage she’s done and wants to figure out how to apologize and make it right. She doesn’t know how though with Arin’s condition. Lloyd is quick to forgive her so long as she’s willing to try this apology towards Arin.

Lloyd is also trying to help Arin the best he can. It doesn’t matter to him that Arin doesn’t have anything figured out yet. Lloyd himself didn’t, even when his destiny was written in stone. Arin is just… a late bloomer, shall we say.

This doesn’t help Arin, and even tries to get Lloyd to tell him the ‘truth’. That he is a failure of a ninja. He can’t even help with beating Ras. He can’t even find his own parents…

But Lloyd still refuses to call Arin a failure.

That’s a shred of hope that Arin has that maybe the voices in his head, and Ras, are wrong. As long as his idol believes in him.

Maybe he even expressed how much he misses his birth parents. He misses the life he had before the merge. Even everything made sense. Maybe then he could be a kid DREAMING about these big things and not having to think those dreams would ever come true. That was the simple life.

Then there’s the mission to save Kai and Bonzle. And stop Ras and the others. A plan that’s so tight on the ninjas end that they NEED this to go PERFECTLY. Otherwise, a lot could go wrong.

As such, Lloyd makes the call to leave Arin out of the field part of the mission. Instead he’s gonna be working in the back on comms or something.

Arin tries to convince the others that he wants to be out there and help save Kai, but there’s no convincing the others. They all have agreed to leaving Arin behind for his own good. Especially Lloyd. He lost Kai to this and Kai was a professional. He can’t drag Arin into this and lose him too, if a vision of his is correct. (Maybe he sees Ras grabbing Arin’s hand or something, and he’s come to the conclusion that Ras would use Arin as a sacrifice too)

So they leave, and Arin is stuck on comms.

But eventually, seeing one of them get knocked down hard, Arin decides to refuse the order to stay in place. He goes on the field anyway, ready to prove himself and help the ninja as a ninja.

So far, the plan on the ninjas end is going very smoothly. They got Bonzle out and are ready to get Kai out too, and they’re fending off the villains pretty good…

But then Arin interferes, trying to help. You can decide exactly what he does, Im not sure.

Point is, that because of Arin’s actions, and specifically that, everything goes wrong.

More of the elemental masters get out, (probably using Euphrasia as one of the sacrifices), and not only that, but they are unable to get Kai out of there.

They try hard, very hard, but ultimately… they fail.

Four of the elemental masters get out, and they’re ready for the last one when Lloyd realizes Arin is here and Arin is the cause of this disaster.

Not only were they not able to save Kai, Lloyds beloved surrogate brother, but they also now lost others too (whoever you want to imagine got sacrificed. Pick two more characters you think did alongside Kai and Euphrasia). And it’s all Arin’s fault.

So in a bit of rage and unable to think straight (also from his own mental health issues making him irrational), Lloyd lashes out at Arin.

Arin ruined everything.

Arin didn’t listen to him.

Arin should’ve stayed behind.

Arin doesn’t know what he’s doing out here.

Arin is a failure.

And as soon as that last one gets said out loud, Lloyd snaps out of his rage and realizes what he’s done.

He just confirmed all of Arin’s insecurities. That everyone who said Arin was a failure and a terrible ninja were correct. That absolutely nobody believes in him to do the right thing.

Lloyd IMMEDIATELY regrets it. He immediately tries to take it back! He didn’t mean it! He’s sorry! They’re gonna figure something out! He’s so sorry-

And then Ras gets behind them and knocks away Lloyd. After a short fight, Lloyd becomes the last sacrifice for the spell, all while Lloyd is begging and screaming for Arin.

Arin is obviously devastated by what he’s heard and can’t even process the situation. All the elemental masters are freed and it’s his fault. His idol is gone and it’s his fault.

The very idol that said to his face that he was not good enough.

…was he even an idol anymore?

Arin kneels down to Ras in surrender, ready to be defeated. But he becomes surprised when Ras instead shows pity towards the kid.

Instead, Ras offers Arin a way to find his parents. To go back to his old life and not worry about any of these people who never believed in him.

All he has to do is join Ras and help him out. In exchange, he would spare him and his parents. He even offers the wolf mask to help Arin reach his full potential and become the powerful fighter he saw in him.

And with nothing else left, Arin accepts this deal, allowing himself to be corrupted by the mask.

Almost immediately, his insecurities vanished and are replaced with a sense of purpose, of belonging, of power. With nothing holding him back.

He decides to commit to going rogue and finding his parents with this power. He doesn’t care if Ras wins or loses so long as Arin gets what he wants.

With Arin leaving and now on the dark side, Sora, who I guess was knocked out during the fight or something, realizes what has happened.

It’s not hard to imagine her bawling her eyes out and realizing she just lost her best friend. Maybe she even blames herself.

For the remainder of the season, Arin is just kinda along for the ride with Ras’s forces and the master taking a liking to him and helping him control his new abilities. Maybe he’s able to do the object Spinjitsu without much issue thanks to the mask power. But like I said, Arin doesn’t really care about these villains and their plans, so he’s not concerned which side wins, so long as he gets what he wants.

I’m going to say that Sora, making an army with whoever is remaining, sets up one last fight to rescue the sacrificed ninja.

And TLDR, they win and they’re all fine.

I mean, it’s Ninjago, what do you expect?

The only notable thing is that at some point of this fight, Sora is cornered and most certainly going to get a killing blow by someone, but Arin stops them to ‘focus priority on something more important’.

Even evil, Arin can’t bring anyone, especially not himself, to kill his best friend.

It’s short, but it’s enough that after the fight, Sora says that she knows Arin is still in there and there may be a way to save him in the future.

She doesn’t know how yet, but with her power is a strong responsibility to use it properly this time, and she’s making it her own personal mission to get Arin back. No matter how hard the road of struggle and training is, and no matter how long it takes.

Then of course she has to explain to the others, especially Lloyd, that Arin has turned to the dark side.

Lloyd is the most hurt by this, for obvious reasons.

He failed his student.

He can imagine Wu’s ghost shaking his head in disappointment in Lloyd.

From here on, (season three), Lloyd kinda changes as a mentor. He’s still caring towards the kids, but he’s much stricter on them and very cryptic and demanding of them. Kinda like how Wu was in the first couple of seasons of the main show. It’s obviously taxing on the others. But they also kinda understand how paranoid Lloyd is that he’ll fail another person.

With Ras’s forces defeated and the main members scattered, (whoever you want to say is alive or dead), Arin is alone with a bind of his own to Ras’s master guiding him.

Arin becomes a rogue wanderer searching for answers on where his parents are. And while he doesn’t resort to killing, he still will not let anyone get in his way or let him feel that despair of failure ever again. Not even the ninja.

I expect this to be totally wrong. As I said, I don’t think this theory will come true at all. At most I expect Arin to be turned good again and fixed after like one episode. Whereas this AU theory has Arin’s villainy be expanded further into Dragons Rising where Arin becomes a reoccurring antagonist. But while a villain and having seen a villain origin story unfold, we the audience are still routing for Arin anyway in a pretty twisted kind of way. I don’t know, I thought that’d be an interesting angle instead of ‘And then he became a heartless monster’

#ninjago #ninjago dragons rising #dragons rising #ninjago arin #lloyd garmadon #ninjago lloyd #ninjago sora

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