#(in hindsight. very much in the '...oh no it me.../want to be them' end of the queer experience haha)

[the-effect-of-chaos]

Okay so, since you guys like the demisexual!Steve rambling I posted here, I figured I would keep the rambling going.

First of all, let's tap into Steve's not-so-sexuality-based-but-former-actions-based crisis. AGAIN this is 100% me projecting on my blorbo, but also feels very canon Steve to me, but the whole epiphany of "Oh hey I like dudes too" just doesn't really phase him. It's more like a hindsight, "so that's why" moment for him, then it is a crisis.

He had such a close relationship with Tommy that it really isn't such a stretch to think that if they fooled around any "as practice for girls no homo" he would have felt those tingly feelings he later only finds in Nanacy and then of course Eddie.

Scenario time!

Let's say they are in 8th grade wanting to test kissing, maybe they even get as far as handjobs by first year highschool. But imagine the HURT Steve would feel when Tommy and Carol finally got together and Tommy cut him off. (I know people enjoying them being a throuple and I have thoughts about how that could hurt even more when he breaks off with them but that is for a different post). Maybe he does end up having a threesome with them, and hey THE FEELINGS ARE BACK until he sleeps with a different girl hopeful that this time is gonna feel right ANNNND they're gone again.

He would be gutted, and wouldn't have a clue why. Not until five years later when he realises he is on his way to falling in love with a scrappy wet rat of a nerdy metal head. Looking back he has the "Oh" moment and rather than freak out about it, just slides on into a full blown crisis of "Oh my god I was SUCH a HYPOCRITE how can I ever show him or Jonathan my face again" etc.

Robin has soooo much fun talking him out of that one.

My reasoning for this is simple, Steve of s4 would not care about being considered queer. He is more settled into who he is and what he wants to be by then. He's broken free from the expectations of those that would have influenced him otherwise, plus his best friend is a lesbian. He knows! Knows! That being queer is not a world ending thing. So why should he worry about it? If anything it just made everything 'click' and settle something he didn't know was wrong.

So now we enter the Confident Biromantic Steve era.

Now to throw in something new, a Gay/Bisexual Eddie who is DEMIROMANTIC.

Eddie, who has a crush on Steve that never wavers. Even when he tries to redirect it. Eddie, who has had a few awkward fumbling sexual encounters with either sex and yet while the sex itself was fine, he never developed stronger feelings for. Eddie who asks he AroAce Uncle for guidance but doesn't really get exactly what he was looking for.

Eddie who when he finally gets with Steve is bowled over by how deeply he feels. Eddie who is so overcome with love, adoration and pure devotion for Steve he finally believes he has found his soulmate.

Seriously though I need y'all to @ me because I am just currently yelling all my Aspec headcanons into the void right now.

Like an BiAro Jonathan and of course AroAce Wayne my beloved.

If you want more send me asks! DM me to scream about them. Comments and screaming in the tags is so very welcome it is encouraged.

[vaguely-concerned]

I keep imagining the whole 'I'm still here sequence from treasure planet' scenario that must have gone down between rye and varric before the game starts and rye with their wide newly hopeful eyes like 'boy hope no one weaponizes this rare warm safe nurturing relationship in my life that makes me feel real and alive for the first time in so long against me in some of the cruelest and most premeditated ways imaginable somewhere down the line because that would sort of wreck me as a person maybe'. and then I don't feel so bad about where I'm headed

[prettealolilol]

i like to think about the duality of the kids about people shipping Bruce with anyone, because the guy has been elected as the most handsome man in the country for years, has this whole playboy Brucie persona and is often seen with someone at his arms (men and women)

on one side, they'll be like "ew god no, i do not want to imagine dad like-" and "oh my god some people actually ship Bantman and Joker wtf ??" and they'll do their best to filter every social media to avoid any thirsty or shipping content about Bruce

when the press ask them about it, they be like:

Tim : "Would you like it if I asked about your thoughts on your dad cheating on your mom with his secretary ? No ? Then mind your own business." when the dad was in fact cheating with his secretary and now everybody knew because Tim was live when he answered

Jason, pulling out a gun : "i swear to god i'll shoot the next person who asks me this and then i'll shoot myself. Ugh, do i look like i fucking care about the old man's sex life ?"

Dick, smiling uncomfortably : "i don't really live at the manor anymore and i barely see him with my job so you know..." when it has been in fact a week he's been sleeping at the manor after patrolling with Batman

Damian, frowning as usual, looking at the guy who asked him as if he did not have a brain : "Father is careful in not mixing his carnal activities with the family life so i do not have any hindsight on his sex life. i do not wish to know regardless." the journalist is taken aback by the explicit answer of this ten year old, while his brothers are trying not to laugh behind him (Jason was not hiding his snickering)

on the other side, you cannot tell me those guys are not the biggest shippers in the world

like Jason would want Batman to date Wonder Woman just so she could be his step mom. i strongly believe the guy has a ao3 and tumblr account and is very much active on both. he definitely reads batman x green lantern fics just to annoy Bruce (even though his dad has no idea, but still gets shivers when Jason is reading one)

Dick and Duke both ship SuperBat although for different reasons. for Dick, that's his uncle there, he was there when they met and saw them as they slowly became best friends. he strongly believes they are made for each other. Duke just think it would be super cool (no pun intended) if the Superman and the Batman were dating.

Stephanie just likes to roll with it, some days she feels like shipping superbat, others she'll be more into batcat, or batlantern. she's pretty volatile and doesn't really have a favourite, but when she gets into one she's all in. she'll be arguing and insulting people online who disagrees, sharing crazy theories...

Cass doesn't really care, she'll listen to any of her siblings ranting about their thoughts (especially Steph) and juts find it adorable (and funny how much they care)

Tim probably ships superbat because they are completely opposed, and he finds the parallels really interesting. he definitely writes fics (Jay reads his fics and they exchange about it without knowing it's each other)

Damian doesn't really see the point. but he has drawn of few fanart (Jason tried to bribe him with money once and Damian had to remind him of his inheritance) when Bruce benched Tim and him and he ended up drawing some batlantern that Tim printed and plastered all over the manor. Bruce had to restrain the access to the printer (Tim hacked into it the next day)

Barbara, although she doesn't really ship, is the one you go to if you search some content, she'll find you the most heart wrenching, 200 thousand words, slow brun, angst/comfort fics you'll ever read (the type of fic that changes you deep into your soul). she still likes debating with the batkid

Regardless, if there's one things they all agree on, it is Bruceman (love those fics were the batkids just go along with it). like it's hilarious but the fans make some pretty good points and they are in fact impressed. it's also the safest ship as it would not happen in any situations so they don't have to worry about their dad being stolen

[liberty-barnes]

to the girls made of glass

Arthur Leclerc x Female!Reader

Part 2 to you will not always want to shatter

Summary: The next day. (In hindsight, he doesn't know why he told his family anything) 

Warnings: mostly fluff but also this turned out sadder than i expected it to? but happy ending dw, lorenzo has eldest child syndrome, mentions of masculinity and its expectations in our patriarchal world, mentions of the media being dicks (specifically about a child being born out of wedlock)

Word Count: 2.5k words + however many are in the texts

Estimated Reading Time: 16 minutes

A/N: i don't know how but i ended up making a part two so. enjoy, i suppose! don't forget to add yourself to my taglist if you wanna be notified in the future <3

the purse mentioned in this fic is the Multitaker Bag in Blush by Poppy and Peonies aka my dream bag (and the essentials is indeed all of my essentials...might have a problem)

Title from Shelby Leigh's book girl made of glass

Masterlists | Formula One RI Masterlist | Taglist

Arthur took a deep breath, shaking his hands at his side, trying to shake off his nervousness as well. 

07:58.

He rang the doorbell.

There was some shuffling on the other side of the door before it opened and he was face to face with her again.

(Y/n).

“Hi, love, come on in, I’ve just gotta get my purse, which is… somewhere, surely.”

Embarrassingly, he was frozen in place. 

“Arthur?”

“You look really pretty.”

He could feel his cheeks heat up as soon as those words made it out of his mouth. That was supposed to be an inside thought. Was it too much to ask for the ground to swallow him whole?

She smiled at him, eyes going all soft and shiny and… wow. Just wow.

“You’re cute.”

She grabbed the front of his sweater and dragged him inside. He really should try to care more about her manhandling him. Surely, normal people would feel disgruntled by it, right?

Meh, who cares? Not him.

A loud skidding sound made him snap his head to the ground, right before Circe collided with his shins.

“Oh, hello there.”

She made a sound which he could only described as an impatient scream, rubbing herself all over every part of him she could reach, stretching her paws as high as they could go. He crouched down to pet her, although frankly, it felt a lot more like she was the one headbutting his hand hard enough that he feared there would be bruises.

“Yeah, fun fact, she’s actually an absolute menace and she missed you a lot. She tends to scream if we don’t immediately give her attention.”

He frowned.

“But she was so calm yesterday.”

(Y/n) only cackled loudly, clipping on her earrings. 

“Yeah, cause she was on her absolute best behaviour until she was sure you were infatuated with her. That’s gone out the window now, I’m afraid.”

She looked around her, huffing loudly.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake, where did I put that damned purse? I swear my things always decide to disappear the moment I need them.”

Arthur looked up from Circe’s very soft fur to where (Y/n) was standing right in front of him, hands on her hips.

Huh. Nice view.

Shut up, Arthur.

“What does it look like? I’ll help you find it.”

“It’s a blush pink bag from Poppy and Peonies, it’s got black edges, and creases on the sides from the amount of times I’ve managed to overload it.”

He nodded and got up, moving along with her while looking for the bag. There was a bag on her kitchen counter. Pink. black edges. Creases on the sides. “Um, is this… is this the bag?”

He pointed at it, and (Y/n) looked up from her spot near the couch in the living room.

“Yes! You found it! Thank you so much, angel, can you bring it to me?”

He lifted it up, surprised at the weight of it. She walked over and took it from him effortlessly.

“Um… Are you sure you’re gonna need all that?”

She nodded, putting on her shoes.

“Of course, it’s only the essentials.”

He blinked at her. His essentials were his phone, wallet, and keys. Those fit in his pockets.

“Essentials?”

“Yeah, you know. Phone, keys, wallet–”

Okay, so, much the same.

“A small first aid kit, small water bottle, chapstick–”

That was understandable.

“Phone charger, a bag of period essentials, pen, tiny notepad, chewing gum–”

Right, it was starting to sound like a bit much for a trip to the bakery.

“Makeup wipes, tissues, hard candies for if my sugar drops, a pill organiser with all the tablets needed in case of an emergency, headphones–”

She was still going?

“Sunglasses, mirror, portable toothbrush and paste, tiny makeup bag with my essentials, mini deodorant, mini perfume, mini hand lotion, mini sunscreen–”

Arthur didn’t even know so many miniatures existed.

“Nail file, fidget toy, and a Swiss army knife. The essentials.”

Arthur thought back to his mother and the giant purse she carried everywhere. And how Charlotte and Alexandra always had an extra ‘big’ purse that they left in the car when going out in addition to their ‘small’ purse that they took outside with them. Wisely, he decided it was best not to comment.

“Makes sense.”

The smile he got in return was definitely worth his silence.

“Alright, let’s go then.”

She grabbed his hand and dragged him out of the flat, leaving a disgruntled Circe behind.

He couldn’t find it in himself to do anything but smile about it.

—

The bakery was really nice. (Y/n) ordered a hot chocolate, despite the weather being nowhere near cold enough to warrant it. They sat outside, on a little two-person couch, facing the water.

It was nice. Peaceful. Comfortable.

He brought the cappuccino he ordered to his mouth.

“So, what did you tell your family about me?”

His guardian angel must have been watching over him because he narrowly avoided choking on his sip of coffee.

He looked at her, wide-eyed.

“How did you know I told my family about you?”

She smirked mischievously and he felt a chill go down his spine.

“I didn’t.”

He blinked at her.

“I walked right into that one, didn’t I?”

“Yeah, but I expected you to. So, what did they say?”

She ‘expected him to’? 

Maybe his mom and sisters-in-law were right when they said she knew how pathetic he was.

“Well, Lorenzo’s convinced you’re secretly an axe murderer.”

She laughed loudly, eyes crinkling shut.

“Fortunately, he’s alone in that thought. Everyone else was just happy I met someone…”

He hesitated, deciding to keep the rest to himself, but something must have shown on his face because she suddenly turned to him.

“There’s something else.”

He avoided her eyes.

“Come on then, out with it. There’s nothing you can say that I’ll take offence to.”

“Well, um… They just said that uh… They kinda… forgot? That your dad had an older daughter. Since you didn’t go to races a lot, but your siblings showed up every now and then when Kimi was still racing.”

It felt awkward to say. Uncomfortable. But she surprised him yet again by not appearing the slightest bit offended, only smiling in a bittersweet way.

“Yeah. Dad learned early on that it was safer for me to stay out of the public eye. I went to races almost all the time, actually, people just never saw me cause I stayed out of the way.”

“But your siblings–”

“Were born of a happy, loving marriage. Whenever they’re mentioned, the media just focuses on how well-raised they are, and how sweet it is to see them support their father. As for me… It didn’t quite work the same way. Whenever people were reminded of my existence, they just wanted to see how bad of a fuck-up Kimi Räikkönen’s bastard daughter would grow up to be. Dad didn’t want people talking about me that way, so he made sure they never talked about me at all.”

She stared out at the horizon, only a small hint of sadness present in her voice.

“That must have been hard.”

She pursed her lips.

“It was, at first. It took me a while to understand why I couldn’t be in the garage with everyone else, watching the race, hugging him for good luck before he went out. But the older I got, the more I came to appreciate it. Even though he couldn’t show it to the world, I never doubted that Dad loved me. I didn’t get to be my father’s daughter in the way my siblings do, but I got to be myself in a way they likely never will. I got to grow up without cameras in my face, without people gasping whenever they heard my name. I could go out with my friends and make mistakes without fear of the consequences. I got to choose what I wanted to do with my life without the general public’s opinions clouding my judgment. That’s a luxury people like me don’t often get.”

He couldn’t help but imagine a little (Y/n) in the Ferrari garage, wanting to wish her Dad good luck but being unable to because of the cameras around.

“You’re very strong, you know? I don’t know if I could be as understanding about it if I’d been in your shoes.”

She shrugged.

“It is what it is. No point in crying about it.”

She looked back at him with an easy smile on her face.

“What about now, though? Do you still have to hide?”

She tilted her head to the side.

“I mean, I don’t have to, I just don’t have a reason to change. The media would probably focus on all the wrong things in my life, only thing they’d care about is that I don’t have a job that makes money.”

“How so?”

“I got a Bachelor’s in business and comp sci, but I never wanted to just work for a greedy capitalistic company. It’s just not me. I’m lucky that my dad has more than enough money to provide for our family for generations to come, so I wanted to give back, in a way. I work as a web manager for a few charities around the globe, all non-profit, and do a ton of volunteering in my free time. But that means that my only source of income is my trust fund and the money my dad sends me.”

He looked at her with barely concealed awe in his eyes.

“(Y/n), fuck… That’s amazing, that you’re doing all this.”

She shrugged.

“I like it. And Dad supports me wholeheartedly. But if the media knew–”

“They would just paint you as another spoiled nepo baby who refuses to get a job.”

“Exactly.”

He felt–

Honestly, he couldn’t fully describe what he felt. Anger. Sadness. Righteous fury. The sudden and overwhelming urge to wrap himself around her like an octopus and shield her from the media’s eyes.

“Are you done with your drink and food?”

He blinked at her.

“Um… Yes?”

She smiled mischievously again, like the previous conversation had never happened.

“Good. Because we have reservations in thirty minutes.”

“Wait, what?”

“What is this place?”

He looked around in wonder. Everything was so colourful, so big. He could practically feel his body buzzing with energy.

“Trampoline park. Usually it’s full of people, but on a Tuesday at half nine in the morning? I’d be surprised if we weren’t the only ones here.”

She walked over to the reception desk, leaving Arthur to look around in wonder. There was a foam pit, rope ladders, and was that a climbing wall?

“Come on, pretty boy, leave your stuff in the locker and take off your shoes, time to have some fun.”

He felt his cheeks heat up at the nickname. He practically tripped over himself to get ready.

“Off we go.”

She took his hand and started to run in the direction of the trampolines.

He looked at the smile on her face and had the sudden thought that, so as long as she kept smiling at him like that, he’d follow her to hell and back.

—-—

Arthur was asleep on her couch. After two hours spent at the trampoline park and a hearty meal of lasagna and steamed broccoli, he seemed to have fallen into a coma, head pillowed on her thighs and arms hugging Circe to his chest.

She ran her fingers through his scalp absentmindedly. She’d changed the channel as soon as he’d fallen asleep, continuing her rewatch of Bones. There was no work to be done today, so she could afford to relax.

Her eyes were starting to get heavy when her phone beeped with a notification.

By the time she put the phone down and looked back at Arthur, he was awake and staring at her with sleep-filled eyes.

“Hey, baby boy. How you feeling?”

He hummed, nuzzling into her hand.

“Still tired?”

He nodded, eyes fluttering close when she hit a spot on his scalp that practically made him purr.

“Hey, (Y/n)?”

His voice sounded hoarse from sleep, but oh so adorable.

“Yeah, love?”

“Why do you do that?”

She furrowed her brows.

“Do what?”

It seemed to take an eternity for him to voice out what he was thinking.

“The nice things. You made me food, and paid for our breakfast, and you drove and opened the door for me. Why?”

She shrugged minutely.

“I don’t know. I guess I just enjoy taking care of you. Do you not like it?”

“No, I do!”

He looked like he was afraid she’d stop if he didn’t get the words out fast enough. To be honest, it was quite sweet.

“It feels nice…”

She traced the blush on his cheeks with the pads of her fingers, feeling her carefully guarded heart want to burst out of her chest and hand itself over to Arthur.

“Well, good. You deserve to be taken care of.”

He kept looking at her while she gently ran her fingers all over his face, feather-light, tracing constellations in the barely-there freckles.

“I wanna date you. But I don’t think we should.”

She fought against her every instinct to bristle and lash out. It felt awfully familiar to be told she “shouldn’t” date someone. But what was it this time? Was it the money? The fame? The media?

Or was one day enough for Arthur to realise she was simply not good enough? 

That no matter how hard she tried, she was still nothing more than a bastard child, abandoned by her mother, abandoned by the world, never deserving of anything more than she was already lucky enough to have?

“If you date me you’ll be back in the public eye. People are gonna take pictures of us everywhere. And they’ll tear you apart just for being with me. But you’ve worked too hard to create a safe life. I’m not worth you giving that up.”

She locked eyes with him.

“You should not be trusted to make decisions if you’re gonna be self-deprecating about them.”

“It’s true though, isn’t it?”

“Maybe,” she ran her thumbs under the dark circles that still stained his eyes. “But shouldn’t that be my choice to make?”

“You’re too good for me anyway.”

She laughed ruefully, heart starting to beat a bit faster.

“Many people would disagree.”

“Many people would be wrong.”

“I disagree.”

“Then you’re wrong.”

He said it with such conviction, such absolute certainty, like he was shattering years upon years of her feelings of inadequacy.

“Where did you even come from?”

He blinked innocently up at her.

“My mother’s vagina.”

She pushed him off the couch.

translations for the finnish (which i got off google so pls forgive any mistakes)

I love you, dad

I love you too, snowflake

tadaaa! hope you guys enjoyed that! before you ask, no, i do not have any plans to make a part 3 to this for two reasons: first is because idk what i would write, and second is because the quote that these fics were named after (to the girls made of glass / you will not always want to shatter) was a two-part one and i don't know what i'd name the third. so it will stay as a duology.

Don't forgot to comment and reblog, asks and DMs are always open!

-Love, Miah <3

For the people that wanted part 2:

@aykxz98 @camelliaflow3r @sarah-thatstings-ann @sinofwriting @mountainshuman

[mabaki]

The Rooftop Date

The first time Mabaki reacted on instinct, not realizing that he may be developing feelings for Caira (lmao) (Full text of Caira's bubbles below)

Caira belongs to @floral-necromaniac

The text: "Did you know that stars are used to navigate over the ocean? Look there! Do you see this group of stars? This constellation in particular is connected to one of the navigational stars. The most well known of all them. The Polaris." "I found a book about celestial navigation in the archives of the Priory and it describes how you can use it to determine where you are on all of Tyria. Yes, I said it was over the sea but you can use this method literally anywhere. And not just with stars, but any celestial body you see. For example, the sun and also the moon." "The book describes several specific stars you can se as a tool to determine your current position. First you look at the horizon and then it’s a matter of simple mathematics to calculate the zenith of the celestial body. Of course there’s tools for all that, but just think about it. Isn't it amazing? Wherever you are... You just need to look up and-" Of course, Mabaki had been observant this entire time, taking in the moment to just sit still and listen to her ramble. And as her petals started to change color from excitement, he feels an urge inside him to lean in and kiss her. And he asks her to "Keep talking." And Caira looks away bashfully, "W-well, uh... I- ...." Mabaki never teases her about it and just pulls her into a side-hug.

~~~

Something that happened very early on in their timeline, as Caira here is depicted with her old hair.

Mabaki doesn't really like the talkative/rambling type, and Caira is exactly that, hah. He used to get annoyed with her when she kept rambling on and on when they first met. Well, at this point he's starting to get used to it and is actually enjoying listening to her and finds her... even cuter... So on instinct he just does this...

And no, their relationship isn't clearly defined at all in this stage, and it doesn't really happen for a while....

Oh Mbk... how much of a wife-guy you'll turn out to be.... LMAO

~~~

There's a few things I only started catching on in hindsight while making this piece. I did a basic plan for it, yes, but as I started to clean it, I added and changed some things as it went. Unfortunately, I ended up drawing the same face angle for Caira 5 times and it only really clicked with me once I started adding flats (talk about taking long to realize)

Next time I try something like this, I want to try and do different angles to make it more interesting... bah, unfortunate, but for next time!

And if only Mbk wasn't fighting me on that 1 face panel yeah man i redrew that shit 8 times i think he is so alkjsdfkljjskdjfslLKJSDF I HATE HIM i love him fuck you Mabaki LMAO

Also I'm hella shy about posting this but- but I still wanted to share. Surely in a few years time I'll look back and want to redo this... LOL

[scoutswritingcorner]

Their Favorite Distraction

Overlord!HuskerDust x Male Reader

Headcanons

TW:KINDA SPICY- SO 18+ PLEASE AND THANK YOU

A/N: Listen I saw Overlord Husk and Overlord Angeldust and thought why not put them together???? Listen, I am a simple man..who simps way too much.

Let me set the scene real quickly, maybe you were a sinner or demon down on your luck and wanted to try your hand at gambling or you simply walked in at the wrong time. But once you got your hand into the gambling ring that’s when Husk had set his sight on you, whilst you were soaring with money lining your pockets. Going table to table, lady luck surprisingly on your side as you had started to get hopeful and maybe you’d be able to pay off your necessities for a few weeks with this type of cash. But you didn’t notice how both Husk and Angel Dust were watching, in hindsight you should’ve just stopped there and left with the prize but god the adrenaline felt so good and what could another game hurt?

A lot apparently, now you were sitting at Husk’s table, Angel Dust standing behind him watching you with a devious little smirk. You should’ve taken your winnings and left. But then..you wouldn’t have ended up with two very overprotective Overlord Boyfriends who adore you so.

-🎰 Like I said- both are very overprotective of you! But in a good way, not in the gross toxic way.

-🕷️ Oh they love to spoil your ass all the time, you look at something on your phone for too long or when your out and about with them? Expect it on your bed or at your door in a couple hours.

-🎰 Sit on their laps while they work? Yes please. Try sitting anywhere else they get pouty and grumpy, your seat is on their lap. 

-🕷️ Want a new suit? Done, lean more feminine cause clothes have no gender? Also done. They praise you all the time.

-🎰 Most people think that these men are your sugar daddies, which in some way and how they spend money on you all the time..they wouldn’t be wrong. But no they are your very powerful and loving boyfriends.

-🕷️ They both own a lot of souls and know that they do but they don’t own your soul. They’d tear each other apart if they found that out and Satan forbid if another Overlord tried to get their disgusting hands on you and tried to own your soul..that Overlord is triple dead.

-🕷️ Husk? Loves when you and Angel blow on his dice before anything, you both are his good luck charms. You decide to play a game? Angel is beside you the whole time making sure no one cheats or gets too rowdy around you, someone pulls a gun? Husk is already on them, fangs and claws out. While Angel keeps you close. You get to decide the fool's fate.

-🎰 In Private? These two are the most cuddliest people ever. Laying on the couch watching your favorite show? Now you have two overlords cuddling you. Or maybe you're making a snack alone, not anymore, Husk is hugging you from behind and grumbling about something.

-🕷️ Oh boy the kisses? There is an endless supply of them anywhere you are. In Husk’s casino with him? Give him a goodluck kiss. With Angel in his office as he looks over papers? Sit in his lap and kiss his cheek, the stress immediately evaporates.

-🎰 Add little accessories that represent them? Maybe have spades embroidered on your suit jacket or have custom made jewelry that looks like a spider? Oh boy, their hands won’t leave you alone. Constantly touching your suit jacket or jewelry as they do their business. 

-🕷️ Date nights are so fun with these two, they take you to clubs or very expensive restaurants or maybe you want to stay home or go out to the closest bar? Whatever you want, babycakes. 

-🎰 If you get a little too drunk? They’ll pull you into their lap and kiss at your reddened face whilst they take your drink away. They don’t need you feeling like shit in the mornin’ especially if your busy the next day.

NSFW GET OUT OF HERE MINORS

-🕷️ Both dominate men, so good luck. Especially if you’ve teased them too much.

-🎰 Husk? Is shameless and will take you anywhere he can get you. In his casino? In his office or in the closest bathroom. He’ll have you bent over and screaming his name for everyone in his Casino to hear. To know who you belong too.

-🕷️ Angel Dust? He’s more of the one to fuck you somewhere private. Not because he doesn’t want to show how good he pleases you but that’s his sight to see and he wants to ruin you (in a good way). He’s also the kinkiest out of the two still.

-🎰When they both get together? Oh you’re done for my good man. They won’t let you go until the morning and your passed out from being fucked all night long. 

-🕷️ Aftercare Kings, doesn’t matter what kind of aftercare you want to them. Just want to lay down and cuddle? One of them is holding you close while the other is getting water and some snacks. Want a nice bath? They got a big tub for a reason, Handsome~

-🎰 When you eventually can’t walk or get out of bed? Both men are smug as hell as you glare at them. 

[babywriter]

Janine liked to go to school diapered. It turned her on. It also took quite a bit of courage to do so as she was terrified anybody would find out her little secret. There had been a few close calls, but by now Janine had grown comfortable with her choice of underwear. She had also grown complacent and less worried about hiding it. So what if someone she didn’t know would see the waistband of a medical diaper? This was college and she was free. It did become more problematic when someone she did know ended up seeing it.

While Janine was picking her books up, she carelessly showed the tip of her padded underwear to Brenda. Brenda was not a friend. In High School, she had been a mean girl who had gleefully spread rumors about Janine. Of course, Brenda bursted out laughing when she saw the diaper.

“Oh my god. This is-WOW. You are such a baby, Janine.” A little too loud perhaps as people wondered what was going on. Janine looked troubled when she stood up.

“What?” she asked.

“Oh I think we need to talk.” said Brenda. She grabbed Janine’s hand and led her out of the class.

“What are you doing? Let me go.” Janine remained steadfastly calm as she didn’t want to provoke the other girl.

“I know what I saw.” said Brenda. “You didn’t need diapers before.”

“So what if I didn’t?”

“I’m just saying. It would be a shame if others found out…”

“Please don’t.” asked Janine. In hindsight, this was a terrible reaction as Brenda now held all the cards.

“Oh I shouldn’t, should I? Why not, huh? There’s nothing to be ashamed of by being a little miss pottypants. You know, what I’d love to do? Change your little diaper butt!”

“You won’t.”

“Yes, I will. I should probably check if you’re dry right now…”

“No, stop! Get away from me!”

“My, my. Baby has wet herself. We are definitely going to your place.”

Obviously, this wasn’t really optional, and Janine only begrudginly accepted so that Brenda would go away afterwards. Janine had an apartment to herself, which meant that she could openly indulge. A baby bottle in the kitchen, a few toys scattered here and there, a ridiculous amount of stuffies. Subtle signs that gave it away. Brenda looked at her victim with glee.

“Oh this is much better than my dorm. You must love it here. No mommy to tell you to clean up after yourself.”

The worst part was when Brenda went through Janine’s closet. Onesies, footie pyjamas, loads of diaper packs with adorable prints, little dresses and skirts.

“This is all so cute! I didn’t know you were such a cute little baby! We should tell everyone, don’t you think?”

“Brenda, please. You’ve done enough. Can’t you act like an adult and start minding your own business?”

“I need to start acting like an adult? I’m not the one pissing myself, baby. In fact, I think I should inform everyone.”

“NO!” Janine stomped her foot and laid down the law. This was not going to happen.

“No? YOU don’t get to say no, baby girl.” Brenda wrestled Janine’s pants away from her and put the girl on her lap, spanking her well-padded bottom until she started to cry. Pain was only a small part, there was also the humiliation and a surprising amount of excitement. This strange and contradictory mixture of emotions is what made her cry.

“If you act like a good little girl.” said Brenda. “You will be a very happy baby, but if you make mommy mad, you will NEVER live it down. Is that understood?”

Janine nodded while sobbing.

Brenda immediately moved in to become Janine’s around-the-clock caregiver. And just as quickly, Janine was forced into the 24/7 lifestyle she had fantasized about. Everything was done for her and an extreme set of rules was also put in place. Like wearing diapers and baby clothes at all times or only being able to “make cummies” if mommy deemed her diaper sufficiently dirty. And she had to beg for them while showing off how used her diaper was. The cummies were mommy’s business too. Only mommy could use the vibrator on Janine’s diaper. While Janine was forced into this lifestyle, she still went about her daily activities. Brenda had wanted them to go on. Thus, Janine went to school diapered and wearing a short girlish dress that barely covered the padding. In the front and in the back, there was a noticeable bulge, revealing that Janine perhaps wasn’t wearing normal underwear.

In the hallways, Janine was forced to hold Brenda’s hand. Not only that, she was constantly flushed from the looks she was getting. She did not relax until she was seated in the massive auditorium, where she could have some privacy by sitting in the back. Yet, when she felt she needed to go, she did not hesitate for one second as Mommy had trained her well. It is unfortunate that after the class, a friend of Janine came to see her. The diaper, well-used, now sagged just under the dress.

“Hi! How...are you?” said the friend.

“I-” Janine began.

“Baby, put your thumb in your mouth. She’s doing super well!” answered Brenda in her place.

The friend nodded and went away immediately after. Whatever this was, she wanted no part of it.

Naturally, Janine began to cry, thumb in her mouth. 

“Do you need your diaper changed?” asked Brenda, loud enough for any passerby to hear. The woman put her hand on Janine’s butt and squished it. “Yes, you do!”

Whispers of “what’s wrong with her” could be heard. For some reason, this broke Janine. It was all in the open so why resist?

“Mommy, I wanna go home.” she said. Teary, her whole thumb in her mouth, raising her dress with the other hand so everyone could see her diaper.

Janine’s reaction was marvelous as far as Brenda was concerned. Now, the girl was all hers.

“We can’t leave yet, baby. You haven’t done your cummies.”

“Please mommy, no…” Janine was absolutely desperate to avoid at least that.

“No, perhaps it’d be better in front of your parents…”

Under this thinly veiled threat, Janine began to rub the front of her diaper with great vigor. The first and only time she had been allowed to touch herself, even if through her underwear. The thick padding made it especially challenging. So did the crowd of onlookers. Perverts in their own rights for watching, and filming, Janine. Finally, she moaned loudly.

“I made cummies mommy!” she nearly screamed in a high pitch lisp.

“Good job, baby! I won’t bring you here again, I promise” Brenda said with a grin.

Indeed, Janine never went to college again. Instead, she was kept at home. Forced to use her diapers, she grew dependent on them. Forced to ask permission to make cummies, always while wearing a used diaper and often in public. Truly, a baby that was shown off at every opportunity. And all that humiliation just kept making Janine hornier.

[capseycartwright]

oh what a terrible honor it's been (to learn that my blessings are things you call sins)

Hey God, it's me, Eddie. I hope you don’t mind that I’m sitting in your house thinking gay thoughts.

Eddie couldn’t help but giggle to himself as he thought the words. If he couldn’t be a bit silly while having a sexuality crisis in a Catholic church – when could he? 

Christopher leaves for Texas, Eddie goes back to therapy, unearths an emotional lockbox he had been fourteen years old when he buried, and has a lot of thoughts about how Buck is sunshine incarnate. In hindsight, it probably should have been obvious he wasn't straight.

ao3 link

t’s been a long time since Eddie Diaz had set foot in a church – of his own accord, at least. He’d been to the christenings and communions and confirmations of all of his various nieces, nephews, and cousins, he’d sat stiff in the pew as he’d watched friends, and family get married, trying his best not to remember how own wedding day, the way Shannon’s hands had shaken in his grip as they promised to love each other until death do them part, both of them young, too young to understand the covenant they were signing up to. Eddie had been there, for all those occasions, but he hadn’t gone to mass, or even sat in a church, just because he wanted to in a very long time. 

He wasn’t even really sure if he wanted to be there today, but it was a Thursday, and Christopher was in Texas, and Eddie wasn’t working, and he’d been having an extended mental breakdown for the last few weeks, and before he knew it, he was sitting in the pew of St Brendan’s Catholic Church, listening to a softly spoken priest with an Irish lilt to his accent – faded, after years in America, Eddie presumed, but still there, noticeable in the inflection of certain words – recite the Our Father. 

Eddie had never been to St Brendan’s before, but it felt like every other church he’d been to in his life. They didn’t all look the same, necessarily, though they followed the same format, rows of uncomfortable wooden pews and an altar decorated in gold, as opulent as it was suffocating. Eddie had thought it beautiful, before, the way Catholic churches were decorated in gold and jewels, believing for so much of his life that the wealth honoured God – but living life had made him learn the grandeur and displays of wealth were nothing more than indicative of the wealth the Catholic church had hoarded while their devout followers starved, all in the name of faith and of God. True faith didn’t need to be gilded in gold to be sincere, he’d decided.

Eddie had never been to St Brendan’s before, but mass was the same. It didn’t change – though the wording of some of the prayers did. He’d sort of been checked out of being a regular churchgoer by time they had changed some of the prayers, only discovering the difference when he confidently started to recite it wrong at his youngest niece’s communion, his mother fixing him with a glare so icy hell might have frozen over under the power of Helena Diaz’s gaze alone. He’d never learned the new ones, not really, and so Eddie just recited the one’s he’d learned for his own confirmation, the words falling from his lips, muscle memory more than it was faith now. 

Our father, who art in heaven – hallowed be thy name . 

Eddie couldn’t help but laugh, a little, as he murmured the prayer. Hallowed be thy name. He knew the prayer talked about God, their holy father, but the prayer had always made him think of his own father, of the way Ramon Diaz was a hallowed man in his own right, how he parented with an iron fist and expected to be obeyed. 

Things were getting better now, with his dad. Maybe – maybe that was part of the fear. Eddie had always been afraid of letting people down, but more than anyone, he was afraid of letting his father down – of seeing that look of disappointment set into every crease of his father’s face, an expression he’d been on the receiving end of for more of his childhood than he’d like to admit. Eddie had tried so hard to make sure he was never on the receiving end of that look again, but nothing he had ever done was good enough – not marrying Shannon, not the way he had tried to take responsibility for his young family, not the army, not the man he had been when he’d come home from Afghanistan. 

Distance had lessened the number of disappointed looks, but Eddie knew that was because he was simply not seeing them anymore; he was sure his father sometimes frowned at the phone when they’d finally call, silted conversation about Christopher and life at the firehouse the best either of them could muster. 

It wasn’t perfect, but it was getting better. 

At least it had been, until his parents had taken Christopher with them to Texas. It hadn’t helped their relationship – but it hadn’t hindered it as much as Eddie had expected either. He was never going to thank them, for the way they had swooped in, ready to take Christopher at a moment’s notice, but he could thank them for giving his son the space that he needed to process. Eddie couldn’t give him that space, right now, but he was grateful someone could. Still – he would be ready to drive to Texas at the drop of a hat when Christopher decided he was ready to come home.

Things were getting better, that was the thing. His dad called, every night, to update Eddie on Christopher’s day. Eddie could hear the familiar sounds of the Diaz backyard as his dad softly spoke, telling Eddie about how Christopher had been to the lake, with his cousins, and how he’d finished another book, and how he was helping Helena to make dinner, right then. It had filled the gap until Christopher had started to call Eddie himself, his voice tinny as he mumbled over the phone, things not quite back to normal, Christopher not willing to talk to him about anything except Marvel and Minecraft and how abuela’s tamales were better than Eddie’s, but better than they were, at least. 

Every time they were on the phone, Eddie reassured his parents that he was working on himself. He was back seeing Frank, every week, and at Frank’s encouragement, he’d joined a veteran’s support group. Eddie wasn’t exactly the picture-perfect military veteran he assumed he needed to be, to join a veteran support group, but the rag-tag group that met at his community hall every month weren’t exactly the flag-wearing, gun-toting veterans he’d expected them to be. James was a 63-year-old man from Massachusetts who ran the group – he had moved out to LA to live with his daughter after he retired and referred to himself delightedly as a stay-at-home grandfather. Luisa was a vet around Eddie’s own age, and she’d gone back to university after she got out of the army and got a fine arts degree. She liked to paint, and talked about her wife with a reverence and openness that Eddie could only admire. 

He hadn’t said a word the first time he went, and Buck had sat in the Jeep in the carpark, a ready-made escape plan for Eddie in case he decided it was all too much. Eddie had sat quietly as the group had chatted, drinking tea and coffee out of flimsy paper cups, and eating homemade biscuits – made by James, who, as it turned out, was quite the prolific baker – and he’d watched. He’d watched as the group had talked about their bad days, and their good days, and how they were coping with life after the military, and not a single glorious war-story was exchanged. 

That was when Eddie knew it was safe to keep going. He was never going to be a man who was proud of his service, and he didn’t want to have to attend a support group of people who’d talk about their time in the military like it was the good old days. He had spoken a little more, the second time he went – Buck doing his groceries, two streets away, rather than sitting in the carpark – and he’d introduced himself, his voice gruff as he tried to figure out what version of Eddie he wanted to present to the world. 

Eddie was still figuring that part out – the version of himself he wanted to be, that is. 

He was figuring himself out. That was the point. He was trying, he was really trying – and people could see that, Eddie was sure. His parents said they could, at least.

Which was why he was here – in a church not dissimilar to the one he’d attended every Sunday in El Paso growing up – on his knees, praying to a God he wasn’t sure he actually believed in for guidance. 

read the rest on ao3

[causeimcrayzeebee]

MAJOR TETRO PINK SPOILERS (for the whole thing basically)!!

wow. this was such a heartbreaking ending. i can’t help but be overwhelmed and emotional about everything that happened today,,,, i have so much to talk about but i just really can’t cover it all so I’m just gonna talk about my main takeaways from today!

i was so convinced it was gonna be tamba and was in hysterics cause i didn’t want it to be her… i am actually shocked hasegawa was the culprit— well, for the most part, save for during the camera discussion where i was yelling at my phone that hasegawa knew they were there (and somehow i was still not convinced he was the killer till the actual reveal), but in all honestly, this was a perfect end for his character. 

it really highlighted the decay of hasegawa ken. pre killing game, hasegawa lived a somewhat simple but comfortable life, with a loving family and a successful career. but of course, it seems he was without friends, coming home from school every day to continue studying in his room. then he entered the killing game, surrounded with 15 of his peers, and only 1 of them really became his friend. kamimura kazutoshi. hasegawa became attached to him, connected with him; he felt a love he hadn’t before. and then kamimura was taken away. the remaining students he was surrounded by were who he believed to be terrible people. now, hasegawa was truly alone. 

in hindsight it’s obvious it had to be him…. he couldn’t escape being suspicious for every damn trial n still survive lmaoo,,, of course he would come up with a convoluted, difficult plan that would’ve gone through just fine if it weren’t for monomoko intercepting.

speaking of monomoko, i was thinking about how tetro is so interesting in the aspect that it has supernatural elements like monomoko. she’s not a real bunny and is some kind of dimensional extraterrestrial being (im not caught up with staffside yet bear with me), but somehow, she’s far from the the scariest and most horrifying part about tetro. the things that are the most realistic and plausible to happen are the most fucked up, horrifying parts. in the words of hasegawa ken, real horror is knowing. knowing that it’s possible, knowing the evils of real people.

endings are difficult. even the best stories can have mediocre or horrible endings. but i have to shout out pink because while this technically isn’t the fully ending, it was such a fantastic end to a long journey. red had me tearing up. i did not expect a whole ass animation at all but it was so very moving. the colors and the shots were just amazing! but mostly what hit was the writing. the prose for that took my breath away, the little red riding hood theme was perfect. hearing sasaki one more time, narrating what could only be something from her journal, was a perfect way to wrap up sasaki’s life, and tetro pink as a whole. 

maybe hasegawa is right— maybe the pink cast are all terrible people. but maybe they’re also just human. maybe that’s the human response to their circumstances. and maybe humans just make human mistakes when pushed to the edge. 

looking at the remaining people was a knife to the chest, realizing it was only 5. and those exit interviews. oh my GOD the exit interviews. they’re both so similar yet so different to who the were before. wada…. oh my goodness wada…. “I’d have killed myself so sasaki could go to sleep” was so raw and filled with pain, i don’t think I’ll stop thinking about that answer. ojima and yanagi were both pissed at the people who took away what little childhood they had left, at the loved ones they took. i also found seki commenting on ojima not losing anyone particularly close interesting, because i think many of us acknowledge the absolute devastation of people like hasegawa losing kamimura or wada losing Isono and Tsuno, but we often forget how this would be for everyone else. ojima was close with everyone; everyone was closer than the average group of people because they were put into hell together. even if a student wasn’t super close to someone who died, that was someone they knew who was murdered. EVERYONE lost the deceased 11 people. tamba and hiroaki are both so much more shaken up, more quiet and more defeated. they went into the game as people who took every opportunity to get the upper hand and be better, but now they’ve been beaten to a shell of who they once were.

so with this, our surviving cast is going home. but did they really even survive? yeah, we have survivors technically, but really we’ve witnessed the brutal killing of 16 students; 16 people; 16 KIDS. and there will be more.

thank you von, the vas, and the editors for working so hard on such a beautiful project. im beyond excited (and terrified) for blue!

[aellesira]

— OUR ENEMY, MY LOVER. (PART 2)

pairings, sethos x princess reader, royal au.

summary, "and now that we can finally be together, i promise to love you today, tomorrow, and forever." 5.2k words.

content, angst, hurt/comfort, happy ending, reader has brothers and a father for plot (no dialogue just mentions), heart-broken characters.

notes, finally bro!! this was so long to do... finally finally

The night air was cool against your skin, the only warmth offered by Sethos' body next to yours. You were both hiding behind a large tree among many others surrounding a small pavilion a little farther out from the palace. Away from everyone. Your eyes were straining to see anything in the dark at this time of night. “Sethos, I don’t see anything—” 

“Shh.” You looked over to see what Sethos was looking at. Oh, and just a little over an hour earlier…

“You… you did? You found evidence for his cheating? Then, show it to me. Show me the proof.” Sethos shook his head.

“In the dead of night, you’ll have to wait. Thing is, Cyno doesn’t have a mission until the day after tomorrow. He doesn’t need to prepare tonight. [Name], he lied to you so he could see Nilou.” Your heart twisted. There was no way, right? “Don’t look at me like that. I’ll come back in an hour. Be ready.” Oh, he just couldn’t see the hurt on your face.

And now the pain on your face was much more than he could bear. You could hear quiet whispers of secrecy, because when your eyes adjusted to the darkness, you saw it. The last evidence, the final piece to the puzzle you'd been trying to solve for so long. Your face then morphed into a hollow expression, devoid of any hint of what was going on in your head.

“Mm, Cyno? When do you have to leave again? I miss you…” Nilou whispered as Cyno held her close. A romantic moment, one that you hadn’t shared with him yourself in quite a while. How could someone as sweet and innocent as her do something so selfish to you? Who knows?

“Two days. I told [Name] that I was leaving tonight, but I’m going to stay at your palace for a while, alright?” Cyno showed Nilou a softness that he never showed anyone, not even you. He smiled a little when Nilou hid her face at the sound of your name, seemingly perturbed. “Don’t worry about her, please. You are all I think about, I promise.” But Nilou shook her head.

“It’s not that…” She bit her lip. “But… Cyno, don’t you feel guilty for all this? She’s my friend, and your lover — and yet I can't keep away from you…” Cyno seemed to consider this for a second, but brushed the topic off, sensing Nilou’s worry. He continued to hold her, kissing her.

You couldn’t believe it.

The man you loved so dearly, cheating on you with your best friend. Guilt, although ever present in their hearts, even if only a little, did not seem to sway them to keep their desires to themselves. Sethos had to cover your mouth and get you out of there before you broke down, right then, right there.

—

Okay, Sethos absolutely adored you and everything you ever did. Even now. But, crying for the past hour over someone who, in hindsight, made it so painfully obvious didn’t love you anymore was the thing about you that Sethos… didn’t quite adore. Especially now that he’d confirmed it for you.

“[Name]? Hey, look here… [name]...[name]! Princess, I know this is tearing you apart… it hurts. I get it.” he murmured, snapping you out of your breakdown. He moved closer to you. “But why do you still bother with him?” You didn’t take it very well, when he told you to deal with Cyno. 

“S-Sethos.”

“I know you don’t want to create drama in the palace. Believe me, me neither. I hate that stuff. Or… but… maybe…” he looked you dead in the eye. “Maybe you’re just too loyal?”

“...Sethos, that’s not—”

“Because if that’s not it, what is it?” Sethos tried his absolute best to keep calm. Not one for arguments, he always tried his best to keep all his relations positive, and especially you, who he loved so much, but this was really starting to get to him. “You know what they’re doing behind your back, and yet you just do nothing about it!” He let out an annoyed sigh.

“I love you, you’re my best friend. But I can’t keep watching Cyno hurting you,” His gaze hardened at your silence. “I just want him to stop hurting you; you don’t deserve this happening to you, princess.” He mumbled.

Even so, you weren’t so sure. You loved Cyno immensely, so much that a part of you was simply denying that Cyno didn’t love you anymore. And Cyno did love you. Just not as much as he loved Nilou. 

“Sethos, I don’t know… you know that I still—” 

“Still love Cyno?” he chuckled wryly, a pained edge to his words. “You hesitate. You always hesitate. Do you—” He swallowed. “Do you love him so much that you’ve become completely blind? Blind to others around you? To me? I love you so much. I love you. And you? You can’t see it.”

He bit down on his tongue, trying to stop himself from beginning an argument with you, but it was no use. His emotions were pouring out now, and as much as he did his best to suppress them, he couldn’t.

“Why don’t you ever notice what I do for you?” Sethos, a usually talkative and confident person, now seemed to you so small, and vulnerable, his good-natured attitude replaced with one of melancholy. He looked defeated. Hurt.

“I’m always the one you go to when you need someone’s shoulder to cry on. Will I ever be more than that to you, in your eyes?” His words were more directed towards himself, you noted. He looked back up at you, his intense green eyes now dull. There was a moment of prolonged silence. “But if I’m not worth it, I definitely understand how you view me now.” He stood up, his gaze not meeting yours.

“Sethos, don’t misunderstand.” You were both feeling a flurry of emotion. Him, vulnerability and anger. And you… your mind was playing something he said earlier on constant repeat. I love you. Not a platonic love, he made that clear with the way he looked at you; for only a second, soft. His words. You had to admit, you had at the very least considered it. Being with him.

“Don’t misunderstand what? That you would rather stay with a man who won't even look at you, than with the enemy, your best friend, who would do absolutely anything for you? Who’s so madly in love with you it hurts? You’re one of a kind, princess. A lovely, kind, beautiful princess. But I suppose the enemy of the kingdom should’ve known better than to dream of earning the princess’s affections, am I wrong?” he turned to the window, his back facing towards you. 

“Don’t go, Sethos, please; let’s talk—” You got up to try and follow him to block the way from your window. He roughly pushed you to the side. A respectful man, Sethos was, he had never once raised his hand on a woman. Not that the shove hurt or anything, or was particularly harsh on you, but the action was just so careless. He seemed almost sorry for shoving you only a second later, so he stopped.

“I’m tired, you know? I just… wish that you would see me the way I see you. I’ll say it again. I love you. Really.” A dark shadow cast over his face, and he turned his head over to look at you over his shoulder. “Come find me when you stop holding onto your toxic relationship and open your eyes.”

A stinging, searing pain bloomed in your chest, and you winced, holding your heart in distress. You couldn’t stop crying for the rest of that night.

When the pools of tears cascading down your cheeks eventually dried, you felt empty and hollow. Guilty. Without Sethos’ presence, you felt just as lonely as you did before Sethos had made it a habit to come to see you.

His words weighed on your mind. It was true, wasn’t it? He cared about you, more than Cyno did. And not just as your dear friend, he loved you, romantically. How didn’t you see it before? You’d only ever thought of his care as friendly, but now…

The moon grew higher, painting the marble floor in beautiful streaks of light.You were still awake, and the only thing on your mind was him. Sethos. The enemy. Your friend. Was he still your friend now? Why did he suddenly confess his feelings like that? 

It was like this for a few days, and those days became weeks. Sethos did not grace you with his presence, the growing bouquet of flowers starting to wither. You did think he was tired of his unreciprocated feelings — which, you realized, your longing for him and excitement to see him was actually because you returned his feelings — and he wished to move on. It was as though he’d vanished, and for a moment you considered if something bad had happened to him. You were also terribly lonely.

You often spent the night thinking. One night was particularly horrible. Guilt gnawed at you, and slowly you realized that you gave Cyno too much importance. You had to do something. Restless, you sat up. Your head hurt, and sleep was not coming to you anytime soon. Bleary-eyed, you continued your musings in silence, and suddenly…

An arrow pierced through your room, through the open window that you kept so Sethos could come back, perhaps as an attempt to entice him.. The arrow struck the wall, and stuck to it was a piece of parchment. In the dark it was hard to make out, but when you approached it carefully, you managed to identify the all-too-familiar handwriting. 

The last remnants of sleep wore off, and now you were wide awake. Suddenly energetic.

My princess, I wish to speak with you.  Come to the window if you want to see me. I’m sorry. <3  - Signed, S.

The little heart made your own heart flutter. Attached to the paper were some flowers, and now a little excitement filled you. Perhaps Sethos wanted to fix things up with you? You were curious. Intrigued! But… after five weeks of pain that you felt, why should you even consider it? You glanced at the window, bit your lip, and spent a few moments deciding… but ultimately you determined that your friendship with Sethos was too important to toss aside. 

You pulled on a robe over your nightgown, and ran a hairbrush that lay on your dresser through the tangles of your hair hoping that Sethos would excuse your hasty attempt to look somewhat presentable. You clutched the parchment in your hand. Peered down the window to see him. Although it was dark outside, it was unquestionably your best friend. Sethos. He looked up after a second, but he didn’t smile at you. But his face unquestionably seemed softer. Softer than the cold expression he wore the last time you’d seen him. In fact, he looked rather sheepish, so you wore an indifferent expression to hide the fact that you genuinely missed him to the point that your heart ached. Cyno was something of the past now, even his constant absence didn’t affect you as much as Sethos did.

“Princess.” Relieved, he gestured for you to come outside. At this time? You’d never tried something like this before. You sneaking out. Usually, you snuck Sethos in. How would you get down, though? He seemed to have the exact same thought at the same time you did.

“How should I get down? Come get me, Sethos.” you whisper-shouted at him.

A contemplative look passed on his face, as if considering your request. “I suppose. You princesses are unable to do anything for yourself.” he rolled his eyes half-heartedly, before he climbed up the distance between the ground and your bedroom window within a few silent minutes with skilful ease. 

He flashed his signature friendly smirk at you, a glint of playfulness in his eyes, and as much as you tried not to, you reflected his smile right back. He was back, and he was teasing you, just like he used to. Assuming your indifferent facade — although it was obvious you couldn’t keep up a front when it came to Sethos — you gave him a cold glare. Not as icy as you’d have liked, however.

“Why did you come back to see me after leaving me alone for so many weeks?” He paused, and then winced inwardly, and his face turned serious. 

“You hurt me, [Name]. I don’t know if you think I'd cave in and come back so easily.” That hurt. He didn’t mean it like that.

“You left me alone for five weeks.” 

Sethos hadn’t meant that either; he missed you just as much as you missed him, maybe even more. He’d needed time to think. And, right now, he needed to make it up to you. He placed a hand on your shoulder, and then he tried to forget the way you nearly recoiled— nearly. 

“I don’t think I want to talk to the enemy anyway.” Just as you turned away from him, he snatched your wrist, effectively stopping you from leaving him. He looked determined — guilty, too — but he knew what he needed to do. 

He let out a long, exasperated sigh. “Can you stop being the princess for one second? Can’t you put away that royal attitude? Because you and I both know you’re not refusing to talk to me just because I'm the enemy. Stop acting and let’s just talk. Besides, I wanted to take you somewhere. So come on. Please.” He glanced down the window.

After yet another moment’s hesitance, he decided to take matters into his own hands. He wrapped an arm around your waist, holding you next to him, and the next few moments were a bit of blur. He picked you up with ease, climbed out of the window, jumped out of the window, a few stumbles and tumbles… and then — your feet were back on the ground, the night sky hanging above you.

“There.” He cleared his throat, avoiding eye contact. 

The biting cold wind blew violently, the chill of the wind in the night seeping slowly into your bones.  “Where are we going, Sethos?” Sethos seemed to notice that you were cold. He smiled, draping his shawl over your shoulders before taking your hand. Telling you to wait patiently as he started to lead you somewhere. Taking you a little away from the kingdom.

The walk was long but comfortable, and your mind was occupied with your surroundings. You’d never seen this place before. Not like you had seen much besides your own villages, and even then it wasn’t much.

This part of the Hiravia Kingdom was truly mesmerizing, you had to admit. The forest. 

It seemed to hum with life all around you, even at this time of night. The moon provided some light for you to look around, but even then it was dark and dim. You gazed up at the canopies, searching for sweet hummingbirds and robins that sang harmoniously. The path ahead of you was decorated in overgrown roots. Wildflowers sprung beneath your feet in vibrant hues. It was so different from the palace.

Sethos seemed as though he’d noticed your amazement, but he himself had been through here so many times. He knew the path he was taking. “What, have you never seen a forest before?” He asked you incredulously.

You shook your head. “I have, just not here. This place. Father doesn’t let us go into the forest… especially on our own. And even then, when I have my guards with me, it’s dangerous, Father says. This part of our kingdom… It's delightful! I can’t believe I've never seen it.” Accustomed to the grand and elaborate architecture of your kingdom, your palace, finished with veneers of gold and other lavish items, it was a stark contrast to the natural beauty of the world you’d never seen before. The starry night sky above glistened and twinkled as the two of you made your way.

At last, Sethos slowed down as you both arrived. Thick trees surrounded a small clearing, a small opening mostly covered by tall grass inviting you in. The clearing was hidden away, you thought. Like a private meeting place, and no one could find you there.

“You wanted to take me… here?” He nodded slightly at your question, never once letting go of your hand.

“I thought you’d like to see a sight in this world that I know you royals never see. Especially you princesses. You like it.” He looked down at you with a lopsided smirk, and sat down on the grass. He patted the space next to him. “Sit down with me, will you?” 

Your nose wrinkled. “On the grass?”

“You're not that prissy, are you? Come on.” 

“Fine.” You picked up your skirt, trying not to get it dirty, but the grass seemed relatively clean. You weren’t used to this, but Sethos urged you to sit down. You sat with your legs kept to the side awkwardly. Sethos found it funny how hesitant you were, but he supposed that he could understand. Not being used to this. But he got used to it, right? So why couldn’t you?

It was silent for a little while, only the sound of the wind howling and cutting through the air. Even with Sethos’ shawl over your shoulders, it was still chilly, but oh well. “Look up, [Name].”

Hanging above you was the night sky, clear of clouds. In the palace, the windows were closed before around nine, so you never really saw the sky at night, and when you did in wintertime, the clouds obscured the sky. Today, it seemed Sethos knew the full moon would be out, and looked so beautiful at that. To him, it was a pretty sight he saw often, but to you, it was absolutely breathtaking.

The stars looked so much brighter, as did the moon. Everything glittered, everything twinkled… Next to you, Sethos had also raised his head to look up, absorbing the sights, almost as entranced as you were.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it? Just like you.” 

“Just like me?” You were used to Sethos’ affectionate teasing, he always had a habit of calling you pretty and would find any and every excuse to compliment you, but you were just that amazing! But now, after his proclamation of his love to you a few weeks prior, his compliments now had new meaning. He nodded, his eyes never straying away from the moon.

Silence passed. It was only him and you at that moment, hidden away in the clearing. It was peaceful. Comforting. Finally, after a little more silence he spoke. Uttering words you’d never expected him to say.

“I am the crown prince of the Solara Kingdom.”

He was quiet, but loud enough for you to hear him. You snapped out of your stupor. He didn’t look at you first, keeping his gaze trained on the stars above, his eyes half-lidded. You only stared at him.

And then he glanced down at you, his eyes pierced yours. “Not that I was supposed to tell you that.” Smiling at you as if he’d told a joke, he turned to you. The silence held for a moment longer, but the truth he’d always told you bit by bit every evening was slowly coming into place now.

“They never teach you about us in school, do they? They only tell you that our monarchy perished a long time ago during the beginning of our kingdom’s mutual grudges. What they don’t tell you, is that my grandmother remained. And then she had my father. And then my mother had me. None of my family is left, [Name]. Your books don’t tell you that the enemy of the kingdom is royalty, and has had to flee from Solara.”

Because Father and my brothers are set on destroying your Kingdom, Sethos. Your kingdom, and you. And my brother has taken the role of the King, as a start. You felt horrible.

And suddenly everything made sense to you. Why Sethos knew the forest like the back of his hand, why your family loathed him as much as they did… but he still came to you every evening without fail. At least when things were normal.

His voice dropped down to a quiet whisper.. “Do you remember what I said to you that night, [Name]?” I love you. And you did remember what he’d said to you. You’d kept it close to your heart. Nodding, you waited for him to continue.

“What do you think?”

What did you think? After the time he left you, you were heartbroken, yes — but a lot of your free time was spent contemplating your feelings, those feelings that you desperately had to sort out. It led you to think about Sethos in a way that you as a usually honest and guiltless princess, or so you were perceived to be, had never thought about someone, not even your husband-to-be. 

Suddenly the late evening meetings, or even late night meetings, didn’t seem as innocent as you’d convinced yourself they were. Heat rises up in your cheeks just by thinking about it from an outside perspective, even to this day.

“What do I think…?” Maybe today you could repair your relationship with Sethos, and even he seemed to want the same thing. His eyes sparkled in the darkness. Loving Sethos… it didn’t seem like such a horrible thing. Quite the opposite, really — a two-sided romance between the two of you was just the thing you needed, and you were already healing from your heartbreak with Cyno. Oh, Cyno—

He took a deep breath. “Yeah. You never gave me an answer. Eh, not like it makes a difference, you’re Cyno’s—”

“I don’t love Cyno anymore.”

Sethos’ eyes widened at your admission. “You don’t?” He paused. He’d never say it, but… Sethos hadn’t expected that answer. A part of him felt that, maybe… you’d…

“You don’t love Cyno anymore?” He repeated when you stayed quiet, almost as if he was trying to process your words. Shock was apparent on his face, you loved Cyno so much it hurt you, but now you were saying something else completely. Shock was apparent on his face, but there was also a hint of something else.

Hope.

He looked a little lost for words, before he eventually spoke up, sitting up straighter and staring at you with his intense emerald eyes. Expecting an explanation. “Wait, really? You don't love Cyno anymore??” He faced you, a little smirk gracing his lips. He took your hands in his, pressing the side of his cheek against yours. Cute. “You really don’t? That’s… not what I was expecting! Y’know, considering how much you would say you loved him. Like, you really loved him…” 

“Yes, because I realized I love someone else.”

He backtracked. His own name never registered in his head. He only stared at you dumbfoundedly as you said that. “Huh?” Someone else. It didn’t occur to you either that you weren’t as clear with your words as you’d intended, assuming he’d already understood what you meant.

You took his face in your hands, going through with your confession. Sethos did say he liked you… five weeks ago. What if his feelings for you diminished “I was thinking about what you said, Sethos.” Taking a deep breath, you continued. “The person I like now…”

“It’s you.” It’s always been you. 

Shock registered on his face, and that shock contorted to disbelief, before his face finally decided to paint itself in utter joy. He said nothing for a few seconds, and then his arms found themselves wrapped around you. You hesitated, before relenting and embracing him back with even more delight. 

And suddenly the doubt, the hurt you both felt, for you because of his absence and for him because of your insistence to stay with Cyno, vanished. Sethos truly loved you, and you realized you did too, your eyes unblinded, as well as your heart. 

Your hug lasted a good while after that, Sethos feeling the smile on your lips against his shoulder. He nuzzled against the crook of your neck too, not wanting to let go of you so soon, not when this was the closest he’d ever been to you. Relishing it. 

“So,” He began, clearing his throat. Reluctant to let you go, he stayed glued to you, wanting to hear your pretty voice again. “What do you think of all this? Are we…” He trailed off, but his question was clear.

“Together now?” You chuckled, warmth rushing up on your face. To be with Sethos… What a lovely thought. Perhaps now, it would be a dream come true? You looked up at him with those pretty and sparkly eyes, and it made Sethos’ heart jump in his chest, just as it used to. He smiled softly, before capturing your lips in a fond kiss, taking you by surprise, but you quickly got used to it. 

“Yeah.” Together.

—

Now, you would've felt extremely guilty about cheating on Cyno with Sethos if it hadn’t been for his own cheating. So, no remorse there. Still, you knew it was better to end things with Cyno. Sethos jokingly encouraged you to expose him, but you wanted to sit down and talk.

Cyno must’ve felt the change in atmosphere when one day you told him that you wanted to speak with him, because as soon as he stepped inside your room you fixed him with the most accusing glare you’d ever given him, but he supposed it was probably that — he hadn’t been so subtle, he knew that. Just… you were so naive and loving that he couldn’t imagine you finding out, or maybe you did, but loved him all the same, but you didn’t.

You were not some helpless damsel that needed him; Sethos taught you that.

“Cyno. Sit. Down.” It would be a pain to keep the anger out of your voice, so you never tried. All the pent-up emotion seemed to affect you — mostly heartbreak, but these days the sadness had transformed into burning-hot anger, now you realized you weren’t going to cry over a man — and taking a deep breath, you sat across from him.

“Cyno, I know what’s been going on, so please don’t lie to me.” Instantly, he knows you’ve clocked him. “You and Nilou look great together, honestly. But if you’d fallen out of love with me, you should’ve said something.”

“I didn’t want to hurt you—”

“But you did.” He looked down in admission, he wouldn’t try to deny it now and make things worse. Still you didn’t seem too upset, just perhaps… a little livid from getting cheated on. The princess.

“I won’t tell anyone about this; it’s not like many people know about us… and those who do, we’ll tell them it was a mutual break up. After a while, you could show your interest in Nilou, not too quick though, or people will suspect. Tell her everything alright.”

He didn’t understand why you would want to protect them after how they’d hurt you, and voiced this immediately. “Why are you helping us out? I hurt you and then—”

“It’s nothing, honestly. I’ve… found someone else.” You looked away for a moment. Jeez, you sure seemed to like cutting him off today… but he didn’t focus on that. He noticed, specifically, your last words. Someone else.

He opened his mouth to ask you about it, but his voice didn’t let him. A pang of jealousy hit him, but he supposed it wasn’t fair to feel like that now. He respected your willingness to not embarrass them in front of the whole kingdom, although you definitely could if you just wanted to. He nodded, and left your room… and he’d probably never come here now.

—

Things have been getting better. Sethos’ secret relations with you only ever improved, and you could swear you were falling more and more in love with him every day that passed, and he could say the same thing! 

“You’re amazing, and I love you, and I want to show you how much I love you.” One night Sethos came and told you, kissing the back of your hand as a chivalrous gesture. That night, he revealed to you that your brothers and father had made the decision to leave to another kingdom and free theirs, placing the responsibility of the Kingdom to him. Things would not be so tense anymore.

The cause of your sudden happiness was surprising to your family members, the ones that were still here with you, but they simply thought nothing of it. Cyno’s departure didn’t seem to sway you at all, but in truth… 

In truth, one of the kingdom’s most notorious enemies, namely Sethos, had been coming at night to visit his lover; you, the honourable and lovely princess of the palace, now no longer engaged to the General. If anyone ever found out about your secret rendezvous with him, you could only imagine how people would talk… 

…But as of late, the tense relationships between the Hiravia Kingdom and the Solara Kingdom were getting noticeably better ever since your Father and your brothers left. A deal might’ve been struck? Sethos seemed to be hiding something from you… a secret, perhaps? One that made him happy, no doubt. He smiled a lot more, he teased you a lot more. You wondered, often, what he was so happy about now that he was ready to become King.

And today, you’d found out why. 

The atmosphere was certainly different… but not tense at all! There was a certain excitement flowing through the air, through the servants, your family members, you, and most importantly, through Sethos.

You were told that special guests would arrive tonight, and a banquet would be held as it was a special occasion. You dressed in your finest gown, ruffling it and picking up the skirt to twirl around in it in front of your mirror. You felt pretty. You were pretty. Still, the idea that ‘looking pretty would bring a better impression’ baffled you. When you arrived into the hall, everyone was utterly breath-taken, and you could hear the awestruck whispers of your beauty.

In front, there you saw it.

Sethos, sitting across the hall, looking utterly handsome in his luxurious clothes, and he’d noticed your appearance, looking as mesmerized by the mere sight of you as everyone else did. His reaction was a lot more special to you, though.

A representative from Solara, possibly a family figure of Sethos', spoke as soon as the murmurs died down. “Ah, Princess [Name]. It is absolutely an honour to meet you.” He turned to your family. Everyone around you grinned, including Sethos himself… just what was going on??

“We have requested for this royal banquet to be held by us in your residence to formally propose your hand in marriage to the next King of Solara, Sethos, to your daughter, the princess. What do you think, my lady?”

[woso-dreamzzz]

Hangover

Ellie Carpenter x Reader

Summary: A holiday with your teammates

You sighed softly, relaxing in the afternoon sun.

You could hear your teammates splashing around in the water but you were happy sunbathing on the boat. They were all like children anyway and you definitely didn't want to get caught up in a game between them.

Kyra, particularly, seemed to be out for blood earlier when she'd hit you across the face with a pool noodle (you had no idea where she had even gotten one from) and then scampered off like a little gremlin to attack Charli.

Mini had run after her yelling about playing nice and you were happy to leave them to their carnage.

Vaguely, you could hear Sam shouting and you groaned. You wished you'd stayed in bed.

"Don't you look grumpy," A very familiar (and perhaps the only welcome) voice said.

You cracked open an eye to look at your girlfriend. "Tell them to shut up. My head hurts."

"You shouldn't have drank so much then," Ellie said with a laugh.

She was right but you didn't want to give her the satisfaction of knowing that. Hindsight was twenty-twenty and all but Alanna, Macca, Caitlin and you all ended up partying pretty hard last night and you had spent most of this morning hunched over the toilet as Ellie joined some of your other teammates for a morning run.

The sun was helping and the nap you had just woken up from was amazing but the lingering effects of your hangover made everything you did a little bit worse.

You look at her through squinted eyes underneath your sunglasses. "Alanna shouldn't have bet she could drink me under the table."

You were a competitive person and Alanna knew it. She also knew that you wouldn't get absolutely smashed unless she somehow goaded you into it.

You won but at a price.

"You didn't have to accept," Ellie laughed.

You ignored her then shrieked when she shook her wet hair out all over you.

Your scrambled away. "Ellie! I was trying to stay dry!"

"You were trying to be unsociable," She said, reaching out and pressing her cold, wet hand to your hip," Can't I tempt you to get in the water?"

You looked out across the bay with a scrutinising eye. Most of your teammates were already in the water having fun and you're pretty sure that you saw Kyra and Charli trying to drown each other.

"I'm fine here, babe."

You reached into the cooler and cracked open the bottom of a beer. It wouldn't be enough to get you drunk but it would be enough to take the edge off.

"Not even if I said please?" Ellie teased and you threw a towel at her.

"Not even then."

She groaned, plopping down next to you with a huff. She towel-dried her hair. "You're no fun."

"I'm plenty fun," You replied, taking another long drink before lying down again," We just have different definitions."

She laid down next to you. Her body was still cold and slightly wet but you didn't move away like you would have done earlier. Her finger drew patterns on your stomach as you snacked on the chocolates next to you.

You plucked some into your fingers and lifted it up to her mouth. She took it.

"Can I have some of your drink too?"

You grinned at her and moved it further out of her reach.

"Oh, come on!"

You stuck your tongue out. "Sorry, babe, I don't let girlfriends who mock me for my drinking habits have my alcohol."

"I wasn't mocking you!" Ellie reached over your body to grab the bottle but you just moved it further away again.

The water from her hair dripped onto your stomach and you rolled away. "Ellie!" You shrieked," Stop it! You're making me cold!"

"Oh, so I can't make you cold but I'm not allowed to drink your beer? You're so mean!"

You raised your drink mockingly at her before draining the rest. "I'm hungover, babe. Come back when I'm over it and maybe I'll be nicer."

"But I missed you!" She whined, going back to laying next to you, as close as she could without you complaining she was cold.

You turned your head to look at her, a small smile appearing on your face. "Yeah," You said begrudgingly," I guess I missed you too."

"But not enough to let me have a beer?"

"You're welcome to grab your own beer, babe, just not the one I drink from." You smirked, lowering your sunglasses to wink. "I don't want your cooties."

Ellie rolled her eyes. "You certainly wanted my cooties last night."

"And like a reliable girlfriend, you didn't take advantage of me. Thank you, babe." You leaned over to press a chaste kiss to her lips.

"I thought you said I was too cold and wet to touch."

"You can just say that you don't want me to kiss you, babe."

She scoffed. "I always want to kiss you. But, you know, what I really want?"

"What do you really want?"

"A beer."

You pulled away with a pretend disappointed sigh. "You've ruined the moment."

"I just want a beer!" Ellie laughed.

"I'm using them," You replied," If you've forgotten I'm hungover. They're helping."

"And you can't share?" She batted her eyelashes as you and you rolled over, reaching for the cooler.

You cracked the lid and flicked it to the side. "Here, babe," You said," You can't say that I don't treat you well."

She grinned. "A whole beer to myself. I feel like royalty."

You flicked your sunglasses back over your eyes and shrugged. "Good. Glad I could help."

[clairegregoryau]

Through the Looking Glass

From fairytale in Season 1 to stark reality in Season 2 of Our Flag Means Death- meta ported across from this Twitter thread by popular demand!

This thread contains spoilers for the entirety of OFMD Season 2

First OFMD S1 rewatch since S2, and holy shit, if you haven't done that yet... do that. A thing that it made instantly clear: they told us *all along* where this was going, but there was a reason we didn't see it. Because we were living in Stede's world then. Now it's Ed's.

I know that a lot of us have felt that the tone shift at the end of S2 was... jarring, compared to what's come before. This felt like a show that wouldn't go there. One where being run through was a temporary hiccup. We've travelled all the way from this to this.

But we haven't jumped there without a journey in between. And from the minute we started hearing about Blackbeard, the show never tried to hide what Ed's world and his specific life was like. Not once. In fact they told us over and over and over.

But Season 1 told us a lot of those things through song and story and fuckery. It blended reality with fiction.

Stede met the Blackbeard he knew through books and tall tales, and the real man was even more wonderful than he'd imagined.

We, along with Stede, were comfortable thinking that all those other tales were exaggerations and misrepresentations, and a lot of them very likely were.

The Ed Stede got to know was a person who was capable of whimsy and silliness and loved soft things and doing something weird. Yep, he was also capable of violence and rage, but when he was with Stede, he didn't feel it so much.

This was a vacation from that life.

To Stede he was absolutely lovely... oh, and also a bloodthirsty killer. And Stede loved (and loves) everything about him, and both of those things can be true. This is a perfect example of a spot where (in watching Season 1 without the benefit of hindsight) I assumed that everyone else in that pub was wrong, and Stede was simply trying to protect Ed's fearsome reputation by agreeing on the bloodthirsty bits. And I think from Stede's perspective that was largely true. I think that's how they wanted us to see Ed, through his eyes. Now, after watching both seasons, I think it wasn't the whole picture.

They told us, we heard it, we saw glimpses of it. But we (and Ed) were in Stede's run-away-to-sea fairytale the whole time. It wasn't until Stede left that we saw the reality- the Ed we knew had been, to a degree, a fictional character all along. I always saw this scene as Ed putting a bit of distance between himself and reality; it always felt like the Blackbeard of Stede's storybooks was the fictional one. But now it feels like the softer Ed that Stede knew was much the same- neither of them the whole story of who Ed was and is.

The one person who refused to live in Stede's fairytale was Izzy. I've seen people say it before, but he always gave off that vibe of the only human in the Muppets movie, or the guy who was in Black Sails while everyone else was in Pirates of the Caribbean. He saw the real risks clearly.

And in that light, the end of S1 has shifted an inch to the left for me, and I'm seeing it at a slightly different angle.

Izzy ripped away the healing Ed was doing, but in some respects he did it by tearing away the fairytale we'd all been living in, shoving Ed back into the Blackbeard story.

And that's where we pick up again in Season 2.

The fairytale reference came back in S2 in two notable places, those being Jim carrying that legacy forward in the darkest times, and in Izzy invoking the wooden boy against Ricky's efforts. Stede's made himself into a real boy. Ricky, nope.

Now that I've watched both seasons together, the tone shift doesn't feel so jarring at all, actually.

It feels like sliding through the looking glass, out of Stede's world, and into Ed's- a world that existed all along; we were just seeing it, la vie en rose, through Stede's eyes.

At the beginning of S2, Stede's gone, and we're seeing it unfiltered through Ed's reality.

But Stede wasn't lying when he said he loved everything about Ed. He made a promise to come back and find him- he went down into Ed's darkest place and reminded him that no matter how bad things got, there WAS someone waiting for him, ready to love him.

The contrast between S1's fantasy and S2's reality (excluding mermaids and actual bird guys and cursed coats) is stark, but it really is that.

We have the same settings, the same people, and very different ideas and outcomes at different times.

But it was always there.

Things do come back to a state of (precarious) balance once they're all together. Apologies are made, whether they're spoken out loud or through actions. Things go right, things go wrong. Healing happens. Izzy continues to have the steadiest, most real through-line in the story as he tracks toward redemption, finds acceptance, and to an extent finds himself.

Once again, I hate that they went here with the ending and I wish they hadn't. But it got a fraction easier for me looking at it not as a continuation of Stede's fairytale, but of the grounded-in-pirate-reality arc Izzy was always on, even while we lived in Stede's world.

Where does that leave us? We're not going back to the fairytale, but we're not going to be living in Black Sails for S3, either. We've hit a fusion point where S1 ended with each of them going to separate, miserable homes, but S2 ended with them in the same place, ready and willing to make a go of it.

Season 3 is going to give us their world, together.

I LOVED the moments in this season where the deep emotions were in balance with the silliness I've always adored about this show. Eps4-6 were wonderful like that. Clearly we're not done with drama, either, but like Ed and Stede, I think we'll find a middle ground.

Anyway in conclusion, a rewatch of S1 after S2 somehow made me love the first season even more, which felt impossible? It's now gained /even more/ layers of depth than it had before. No matter how you feel about S2 I think it's worth that rewatch.

Adding one more bit of clarity for myself: I think we got a bit (intentionally) seduced in S1 by the idea that the Ed of the storybooks, the Vampire Viking Clown with the nine guns, was a version of him that others saw, when Stede saw the REAL person who 'worked' for Blackbeard.

In hindsight I think it's clear the Ed Stede go to know was also not the complete version of himself- the reality is, there's a whole spectrum between the two, and they've landed in the middle of it now. Ed intentionally leaned into the unlovable Kraken image to protect himself.

It very much didn't work, just like being just... Edward hadn't worked to protect himself, either. This season has been very much about pulling those two extremes together and finding all the parts that make up Ed overall (another thread on that here on Twitter, which I'll also shift across to Tumblr soon!)

And I think one of my favourite things in S2 has been seeing the way Stede SEES that- he knows what Ed's done, everyone's told him, but he still loves Ed. sees his trauma and how it affects him, and believes he's a good man regardless. He IS lovable; he's not forever broken.

And together, they can heal.

[hwnglx]

hm i tried my best to explain, he has a lot of different facets to him, so reading for him can get a little overwhelming.. hope it's still a nice read 🤍

jake's ideal type

based on tarot. i do not know these idols personally. energies are always changing. what i say is NOT straight fact. pls take it with a grain of salt!

shuffled songs: bored by billie eilish young and beautiful by lana del rey “will you still love me, when i got nothing but my aching soul?”

physical traits

natural and classic beauty. harmonious features. deep and intense eyes. color more on the darker side. (like dark eyes you can lose yourself in) fierce gaze. something strong about their features that makes them stand out, it just catches your eye. face that lights up once they smile. (looks colder in a resting position but transform once they break into a smile) keep hearing “부담스러워” meaning burdenful. in this context, used more in an “intimidating” manner. in korean this can be used for people who have intensity to their look, people you can't hold eye contact with for long. he doesn't have an extremely specific type, just needs to feel intrigued.

personality traits

so, jake likes his partners to have a powerful effect on him. what seems to intrigue him in a person, is “reverse charm” where they might look sweet and innocent, but are much more fierce and savage inside. or look intense and cold, but end up being very soft and sweet inside. someone with a captivating aura, who carries themselves with a sense of mystery. a person he looks at and makes him wonder, awakens his interest like.. “oh this person must have such a different side to them deep down.”

jake also likes it when his lovers can boldly challenge him and his beliefs. he wants someone witty who isn't afraid to talk back at him, change his perspectives. someone whose words and actions linger in his mind, make him re-think his own and in hindsight change and transform him for the better. he wants his relationships to turn him into the better version of himself and to provoke him to discover his best self.

another quality he seems to cherish in his romantic partners, is when they're patient, gentle and persevering. he wants someone with emotional intelligence and empathy for people, who looks after the ones they treasure with great care. he needs someone loyal who won't be discouraged quickly, and remains committed to him through every trial. he seems to be quite self aware, so he knows that he isn't exactly the easiest lover to deal with.. whether that's because of his busy schedule, or his more complicated nature. he wants a person with motives and interests selfless enough to be accepting towards his faults, forgiving towards his mistakes. he wants a resilient person who can encourage him to work on himself. honestly, he seems to like his s/o to have motherly energy. he wants someone who will nurture him, coddle him on some levels, but also give him the tough love he needs to grow.

jake wants a person who puts importance into keeping the relationship harmonious. he'd appreciate a person who can balance him out, in a way where they can complete him in the areas he lacks. for instance, someone much more stable and grounded than him. someone who can be more logical or objective and less impulsive when the situation asks for it. i keep hearing “정신 차려”, which means “come to your senses” or “pull yourself together”.

(note; this insight was interesting because i think he's this case of opposites attracting and benefitting from each other. he could grow a lot from being with someone like jay, who has a stellium in taurus, which is opposite jake's scorpio stellium. idk if they're close but despite unavoidable clashes due to being so so different, they have potential to balance each other out pretty well)

jake puts a lot of value into understanding each other on a level deeper than everyone else. he wants there to be effortless communication between the two, almost telepathic, where they know what the other means even without necessarily being vocal about it. the person who seems to know you so well; they complete your sentences, or know what you're thinking or feeling just by one glance at your expression.

he also seems to like his lovers having this duality in personality, where they can be both; cute, playful and kittenish (someone who flirts in this giggly and coy way), but capable of having meaningful and long conversations about deep and serious matters in life. he does seem to love duality a lot, whether that's appearance-wise or character-wise.

him as a boyfriend

+ jake is a boyfriend who loooves making you feel like it's only you and him in this world. he really values alone-time and deep intimacy, whether that's physical intimacy in the form of quality time, or emotional intimacy in the form of deep conversations. he enjoys zoning in on his partners and focusing the entirety of his attention on them.

sweet aspect; he himself can be very moody, but if you need him to be your source of comfort and shoulder to cry on, he can become that for you. he'll put effort into making sure he wins over your trust and you feel comfortable around him. he wants you to feel safe enough to not be afraid of showcasing your emotions, whether that's sadness, frustration, anger.. he likes to see it all. he does enjoy seeing his lover riled up about him lmao, since to him it shows they're passionate about the relationship. but there is this comforting and warm energy to him, where he's good at making you feel seen, and listened to.

he is the type of boyfriend who will want to stick by your side through all storms. he really values what his lovers have to say. let's say you got into an argument with him; once you've both calmed down, he might sit you down, softly take your hand and deeply gaze into your eyes while quietly listening to your side of the story. he'll want to understand your perspective and your heart.

he can be responsible as a lover. it almost feels like a task to him to fulfill his role as a boyfriend, to make you feel like you can rely on him. he wants to lead the relationship, and make you feel secure. it's very much an equal give and take, since he does seem to enjoy leaning on his partner for security at times as well. evidently, he seems to actually like a balanced relationship with no crazy power dynamics.

- hm, some heavy energy here i don't feel comfortable diving into deeply. but i can sense him realizing he has a habit of so strongly clinging to his lovers, due to abandonment issues. which can be quite common for scorpio placements.. he's scared of being left behind and replaced with someone “better”, due to him potentially not being good enough to stay with. there's some lingering fatigue and emotional baggage from the past he seems to struggle letting go of.

jake can put so much pressure on himself to satisfy his partner. he wants them to feel fulfilled and confident in the relationship and makes it his responsibility. it can weigh on him if he feels like his partner is starting to lose the spark, fall out of love with him, and especially lose their trust in him. he wants his lover to recognize how much he cares about the connection, but is self-aware enough to understand it's his own bad habits and impulsiveness that can stand in the way.

i can see him having bad habits like, having wandering eyes or being too charming and.. complementary towards women, where it can border on flirting. blurring the lines (like in his eyes it wasn't flirting but his partner sees it differently). though i can't see him straight up cheating, “superficial” things like that can still understandably rub partners the wrong way. it can easily cause discomfort, conflicts, miscommunication. this can lead to trust issues on both sides. he can just be a boyfriend who requires a lot of patience.

[biasbuck]

BiAsBuck’s ficrec Fraturday

Hi everyone, how we holding up? I'm coping (ish) with a Ghost Whisperer watch through and an abundance of wonderful fic. Back with another fortnight of fic that I've read and loved recently, and wow there's been some amazing stories! As always you can find previous rec lists here.

14 December 2024

at this fork in the road (I want the path that leads me to you) by @polkadotk804 was recommended to me by an anon (thank you!), and has firmly cemented polkadot as a must read author! A sliding doors split narrative fic, in which in one strand Eddie asks Buck to come with him to El Paso, and in another strand he stays silent. Moving, emotional, full of small and large steps to reconciliation with Chris, Eddie as a brilliant Dad actually thank you very much, and the Diaz parents interfering, this is such a great read.

love letters written by someone else's hand by @moonsharky is so much fun!! After the 118's cameo on hotshots' midseason finale, buck finds himself hooked on the show and binge watches the entire series, quickly immersing himself in the fandom life. He's deep diving on reddit and stumbles across RPF of him and Eddie (aka Nurse 1 & 2) and curiosity strikes. Joyful, and brilliantly done.

beating the horse by @doitbuckley in which Eddie is moving to Texas, and looking back at his various 1.0 2.0 upgrades, Buck finally figures out what he wants. But of course first he has to spiral hard, whilst trying not to let on that that's just what he's doing. Oh this hurt so much, but was so good. Buck just absolutely ripping himself to shreds whilst Eddie quietly self combusts in the background. So so satisfying, and I loved the open endedness of it all. Wonderful work!

the sweetest possible lie by @wildehacked Chris’s fifteenth birthday falls on a Tuesday, and it couldn’t be more different from last year. Eddie and Buck take him to dinner to celebrate, and an assumption from the waitstaff leads Chris in a bout of teenage grandiosity to ask why Buck still denies being his father figure when people suggest it. This is short but packs a punch, and has such a clever and sympathetic eye on youthful wilfulness, as well as the balancing act that Buck and Eddie are on.

Somethings Said (to turn you inside out) by taegyungie absolutely KILLED ME with the sexual tension, my goodness, I kept having to pause to catch my breath. During the end scene in 8x08, Buck catches Eddie on Grindr, gets confirmation he's started sleeping with men...and now Buck can't stop thinking about it. Absolutely unable to stop his curiosity, he finds himself drawn to Eddie's profile, and soon casual chatting leads to more. Absolutely sizzling hot, and the voice and characterisation of their teasing friendship developing was so gorgeous.

bad luck to talk and the strangers by jaekyu both incredible! In BLTT, we get thee most miscommunicating dummies fic - in which buddie start having casual sex in the midst of season 8 but do not talk about it, just add it to the mix of their friendship. Eddie is convinced this means they are dating, Buck thinks it must be a case of fwb as Eddie can't love him. They both reexamine with the benefit of hindsight. It's hot, compelling, and full of aching romantic tension. In The Strangers, we have them coping with Eddie moving to El Paso by hooking up, and then Eddie running, with Buck later visiting, and the cycle repeating. It's so much connection and hope and pain, and beautiful, with some A+ Eddie thesis statements.

and i fell (like a dead body falls) by fearofgod oh my god this one near broke me 😭 Buck and Eddie are on their first date, when the ground literally drops out from beneath their feet in an explosion at the restaurant. Both badly injured, they rely on each other to help those they're trapped with, whilst life slowly drifts ever further away. I realised as I was reading that I hadn’t checked for a MCD tag and was genuinely like oh god what if they actually die? (Don't worry, there's a hope!) I really adored the characterisation of them both being already all in on their relationship, and the weight of their friendship and working partnership history coming to the fore in the crisis, and yet that they were still figuring things out and on the cusp of feelings actualisation. Literally an edge of your seat, heart in your mouth read and some absolutely stellar hurt/comfort fic.

I have had enough of crime by @lamardeuse will I ever get enough of Josh and Eddie gay yoda worsties? Not likely! The author sums this up brilliantly as 'Josh's view of Eddie's journey in 8A and beyond through the gay Olympic sport of competitive brunching.' Delightfully bitchy but also forging a solid foundation of quiet friendship and support, I loved this so much.

I should be pushing daisies by @exhuastedpigeon ooooh this was so healing. With Eddie leaving for Texas, Buck is still in LA and at the 118, and pining. He leans on the people around him, Bobby, Maddie and long calls with Eddie over facetime. All he needs now is a Christmas miracle. The perfect warm hug of a holiday fic.

That's all for now, see you soon for Christmas recs!

[dimensional-dimentio]

This blog is being discontinued, I fear...

Below the cut is a story that is VERY IMPORTANT TO READ! It explains everything.

★ "Ah, it seems that you have met your end. Oh, what a pity. You know I... I don't feel too bad about it, though. After all, if it weren't me, it would've just been one of the others, I guess… I'm honestly just glad to be out of those air ducts."

★ "You know it's… it's not easy for a refined jester like myself to fit up there… and… not easy to get down either, and... I'm not as young as I used to be, as you can see. I used to be able to do all sorts of things; you're young, you're vibrant, you have that sort of pep in your step."

★ "Ah, it reminds me of a conversation I was having with one of my good friends, Mimikins. We were having a nice picnic one day, I believe it was summer? No, perhaps it was… was it the fall? Yes! Yes, it was the fall because the leaves had turned already."

★ "But I said to Mimi, I said, 'Mimi, I have a story to tell you.' And Mimikins looked at me, you know, kind of odd and- and said, 'Well, what’s it about?'"

★ "I said to her, 'Not every story has to be about something, dearest Mimikins. Sometimes a person just wants to talk. Why does everything have to be a story?' I said to her. It just looked at me and it said, 'Well, you said you had a story,' and... You know, she was quite right! I did, in fact! I told her I had a story."

★ "I suppose if a person just wants to talk, then... It's best to not announce that you're telling a story. Telling a story does come with its own pressures and expectations I- I suppose."

★ "After all, if you're just talking to a friend, then... There's no more expectations then if you were talking into the wind!"

★ "Words by themselves are not expected to carry… aren't expected to stick. But if, you know, if you announce that you're telling a story, well then… There had better be a point to it all, you know? No one wants to sit and listen to someone ramble on and on and on with absolutely no end in sight. So, you know, it's- it's good to be mindful that when you tell someone that you're about to tell a story, that you have something to say."

★ "Telling someone that you're gonna tell a story is tantamount to asking them to stop what they're doing, and pay attention."

★ "You're basically saying, 'hey, hey, hey buddy, stop everything, stop what you're thinking, I have a solution to everything.' And well, I didn't really have any story to tell. In- in hindsight I probably just misspoke when I said that I had a story."

★ "I think it would've just been better to tell Mimi that I wanted to tell it something rather than tell it that I had a story, but you know, even then it might've put too much importance on the whole thing."

★ "Either way, it was quite a nice day. I remember... I remember that we were drinking milk tea..."

★ "... Snrk, ahahahahaha ~ ! Did I get you with the little fake out? Were you scared the blog was actually being discontinued? Rest assured, dear audience, that the show will go on."

★ "... Happy April Fools. <3"

[chrisevansonly]

𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒌𝒔𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒓𝒂𝒛𝒚 | 𝒐𝒔𝒄𝒂𝒓 𝒑𝒊𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒊

☁︎ oscar piastri x female reader

☁︎ oscar is experiencing thanksgiving with your family for the first time….and boy is it crazy

☁︎ no warnings just fluff and maybe a tad overwhelmed oscar lol

☁︎ i can’t believe october is starting to come to an end, these little fall fics have been making me so happy, i think ill do another one in december too to get ready for christmas 🤭 p.s thanksgiving in canada is beginning of october in contrast to the USA which is end of november in case you’re confused :)

Thanksgiving was a little chaotic in your family, when everyone gathered together and all sat down for the annual fall meal, only this year it was your boyfriend Oscar’s first time attending it with you. He knew you got your vibrant and extroverted personality from your parents, but now that he looks back on it, he’s pretty sure your entire family played a part in it.

“Oscar when do you and my little sunshine plan on having children hmm?” your grandma asked, causing you to choke on your water

“Nana!”

Oscar laughed patting your back gently to help with your coughing

“I think whenever the time is right, we’re in no rush”

“Well you’re only getting older!”

You shook your head at the old woman’s antics your mother stepping in before you

“Mom, leave these two alone, they’re both still in their early twenties, no babies for them, eat your turkey”

“Never too early to have a baby, such nonsense!”

Leaning over to Oscar you looked at him apologetically

“I’m sorry, she’s very persistent”

He only smiled, kissing your forehead as he squeezed your knee under the table

“I don’t mind at all, it’ll happen someday anyway”

The two of you may have been young but you both knew that you were endgame for each other, there was no one else on earth more perfect for either of you, and everyone was starting to see that.

“So Oscar, i’ve been watching your season, looks pretty good this year”

It was your father’s time to chime in, Oscar nodding as he gave your father 100% of his attention.

“Yes, it’s been going really well, the car feels good this year, so i’m looking forward to finishing the next few races and then having some time off” he replied, a bit hesitantly as he always did with your dad

“That’s good to hear, I’d love to come see a race sometime”

You smiled

“You should come to Las Vegas with us dad! You and mom have been wanting to go back there so why not?”

In hindsight you should have asked Oscar first if he was okay with this, but knowing him, he wouldn’t mind at all. He loved spending time with your family as much as you did with his.

“Oh that’s a great idea honey, i’m sure we can figure something out!”

The rest of dinner went off without a hitch, calm conversation and laughter shared between everyone, you could already feel the classic thanksgiving hangover hitting you as you lounged on the couch tucked into Oscar’s side, your eyes heavy and tired.

“NO YOU JUST SLAPPED ME WITH ANOTHER PICK UP UP 4 IM GONNA KILL YOU!!!”

Oscar laughed hearing your little cousins playing uno in the other room as you rolled your eyes. If anyone was the loudest on these holidays it was the kiddos.

“YEAH WELL YOU JUST SUCK AT THE GAME THEN!”

It wasn’t long before your aunt went in there and told them off, quiet chatter resuming after the mini scream fest over the classical card game had ensued. Truth be told you were nervous for Oscar to experience thanksgiving with your family because you weren’t always put together and fancy, you were loud and energetic, your family loved playing games, having treasure hunts and playing games of charades.

You knew deep down it wouldn’t everyone’s cup of tea but Oscar wouldn’t have it any other way. He’d never felt more comfortable and at home like he did with you when you visited your family. It made him feel normal and accepted, he didn’t have to worry about the media, the race track or the constant murmurs going around the paddock.

“How was your first thanksgiving experience love?”

He smiled down at you, his finger tips running up and down your back

“I loved it, really it was so much, I can’t wait to keep experiencing this craziness with you”

“Oscar loves the thanksgiving craziness…never thought i’d say that”

The Aussie laughed leaning down to kiss you

“Well now I get to experience a different craziness from yours everyday”

“Hey!”

You frowned jokingly but he was quick to once again bring his lips to yours, deepening the kiss enough to have your face flush, thankfully your family too enamoured in their own activities to notice your little display of affection.

“I love you and all your craziness darling, it’s what makes you, you.” he stated softly, taking his time to admire you

“I love you more.”

Oscar had all he needed right in front of him, he’d never felt more welcomed and appreciated than he did right now, curled up on the couch at your parents house after a delicious dinner, something he would continue to be apart of for years…and years to come.