#ANYWAYS SORRY. THANKS FOR COMMISERATING WITH ME.

[recent-rose]

yknowwww there is something... deeply uncomfortable about the way mel never speaks directly to viktor in the 'build hextech weapons' scene. she really only speaks to jayce. plenty of people have pointed this out already but like the one scene they actually share a meaningful interaction and she treats him like he's beneath her. all this after jayce has emphasized how important viktor is, that hextech is theirs, together. she unequivocally ices him out, there's no other way to interpret this scene. the way it's shot too - from viktor's perspective, looking up at her, as though to reinforce the same belief in him. like he doesn't even bother expecting respect from her - or anyone from the upper echelon of piltover. he's fully accustomed to being dehumanized by everyone around him at this point. sometimes even by jayce, despite the trust they clearly have in each other.

then of course after this scene is viktor experimenting on himself. it's pretty clear that he has internalized his own dehumanization. crazy.

[brown-little-robin]

it went fine yesterday btw :}

[cobra-creampuff]

my sister is telling my dad the story of last night and they are hard core both sidesing it. "well, you know, she doesn't take apologies well..." 1. that's her fucking problem not mine. 2. that doesn't have any fucking bearing on the two and a half hours straight of transphobic talk. 3. not taking an apology well is one thing, telling someone they're "lucky" you're not assaulting them when they say they're sorry for being a bit rude is actually a totally different thing LOL!

[moonstruckme]

Hi Mae!! I keep rereading the overprotective poly marauders fic I love it sm 🫶 can I please request another one it can tie into casual dominance marauders if you want I don’t mind I just can’t get them off my mind. Thanks babe!!

Hi lovely!! So this went a bit off the rails, I had different intentions for it at first but then somehow it became very serious and the boys not so much overprotective as reasonably upset....all in all, I'm not super happy with it but I didn't want to throw it out, I'd be happy to write another overprotective one for you if you'd like!

cw: sexual assault

poly!marauders x fem!reader ♡ 1.5k words

You walk out of your office feeling odd and off-kilter. Your mind seems addled, unable to complete one thought before jumping to the next, and something prickles just underneath your skin that feels like anger and shame and also like panic. 

Your boyfriends are waiting for you, idling at the curb. You’re supposed to go straight from here to the cinema, and you tell yourself you’ll feel better afterwards. Even if not, you have until Monday before you have to deal with this, if you deal with it at all. You may not. You’re not sure. You can’t think straight. 

“Hey, angel,” James says as you get in, and it’s immediately obvious your upset has already been noticed. Probably as soon as you walked outside, your boyfriends observing you through the car windows. Remus, in the driver’s seat, and Sirius, sitting beside you in the back, are both charily silent. “How was work?” 

“It was fine,” you reply. Your voice sounds off even to your own ears, but no one comments as Remus puts the car in drive. 

“Ready for the weekend?” James imbues his voice with a light sort of commiseration. You try to smile for him. 

No one is more surprised than you when a sob chokes you instead. You hide your face in your hands, tears already leaking out from between your lashes. 

“God, sorry.” 

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Sirius asks, unbuckling his seatbelt and reaching for you.

Remus pulls into a parking spot just by the exit and shuts off the engine, turning around in his seat.

“Baby.” Sirius wraps his arm around your shaking shoulders, squeezing tight. He sounds anxious. “Did something happen?” 

The worst of your crying passes like a summer storm, over as quickly as it started. Your emotions gone haywire. You lean into Sirius, and he clicks the buckle on your seatbelt for you, pulling you the rest of the way. 

“You’re scaring me,” he murmurs, pressing a quick kiss to your hairline. “Tell us why you’re upset, angel, please.” 

“I think,” you mumble, face and eyes burning, “my boss grabbed my butt.” 

You say it quieter than a whisper, but you know they’ve all heard. The silence that follows is so complete you could hear a pin drop. 

“What?” James asks. His throat sounds dry. 

You hear Remus sigh. “Oh, sweetheart.” The vinyl of his seat squeaks as he shifts. “When did this happen?” 

“Just now,” you answer. 

“Right.” Sirius’ arms had gone tense around you, but now they fall away completely. He moves for his door. “I’ll be back.” 

“Don’t,” you plead. You worry he will anyway, but Remus locks the doors from the front seat. 

Sirius cuts a glare his way, truly scary with the way wrath seems to gleam in his gray irises. He unlocks his door manually, and Remus locks it again. 

“We can’t be rash,” he says, his own tone sharper than you think is intended for anyone in the car. “We have to think this through.” 

“What’s there to think about?” Sirius snaps. James reaches behind his seat, taking your hand and rubbing comfortingly. “He’s just inside!” 

“You think I don’t want to go in there too?” Remus gives him a look that’s a short fall from incredulous. “But if we have to call the police, it won’t help if you’ve already had a go at him.” 

Your head spins. You hadn’t even thought of calling the police. You hadn’t really gotten past going to the cinema. 

“What do you mean, you think he grabbed you, sweetheart?” James' voice is pointedly kinder than the others. Remus takes a deep breath, calming himself. 

“I don’t know. I just—I feel like I can’t be sure—” 

“That’s alright.” Remus' voice is slower now. Soothing. “Why don’t you tell us how it happened?” 

“I, um.” You swallow. James strokes the back of your hand with his thumb. “I was looking at something on his computer, because he said he wasn’t getting my emails and I thought they might be going to his spam. He was sitting behind me in his chair, and we were talking and his hand, like, squeezed—” you shudder, your brain trying to shake off the memory “—and then he just kept talking like nothing happened. It was so fast I’m not sure it even did—” 

“Baby.” 

You don’t realize you’re tripping over your words until Sirius’ voice cuts through them. You look at him, and his eyes are already on yours, fierce but solid. 

“Did you feel him touch you?” he asks. 

You rub your lips together. “Yeah,” you murmur. 

Your boyfriend’s expression pinches, but his gaze is steady. “Then he did. Trust yourself. You know what happened.” 

This provokes another wave of tears, less tempestuous than the first but somehow more painful. You wouldn't have expected any one of your boyfriends to blame you, not if you’d thought about it, but you haven’t had time to think yet and the relief that they’re so wholly on your side makes your heart feel cracked open. 

“Dove, I’m so sorry,” Remus says. He’s frowning, a well-worn line etched between his brows. You hate to put it there. “What do you want to do? Do you know if you can contact HR?” 

“I don’t know,” you admit, pliable to Sirius’ ministrations as he tucks you securely under one arm and uses the other to thumb at your salty cheeks. “I feel a bit silly. It was a small thing, I don’t think it’s worth a bunch of fuss.” 

“It’s not a small thing,” says James, uncharacteristically severe. “It’s a big thing—a really fucked up thing, that he did—and it’s worth a lot of fuss. A lot.” He leans around his seatback, pressing a firm kiss to your hand. “It’s just a matter of how much fuss you’re willing to go through with, sweetheart. It’s up to you. We can go through HR, we can go to the police. There’s still the option of just going in there and roughing him up to be sure it doesn’t happen again.” He smiles wryly. It looks like it takes effort. “I’m very game for that option. We know Sirius is ready.” 

Sirius makes an affirming humph sound against the side of your head. You try to smile back at James. 

“I think maybe…HR?” Your voice is tentative. “I have a friend, Marcella, who I think would be nice about it.” You realize as it comes out of your mouth what a low bar that is, but that’s the reality of your situation. 

“Do you know if she’s still here?” Remus asks. 

You feel your brow wrinkle. “I think so…” 

Remus unlocks the doors, and James gets out. You barely manage to squeak out a “Wait” before the door shuts behind him. 

You turn to Remus. “Where’s he going?” 

“To find Marcella,” he says. “It’s better that they know when it’s just happened, dovey, but you don’t have to deal with it right now. That’s why James is going instead.” 

You nod. It makes sense, even if the reality of it all makes tears press at your throat again. 

“My sweet girl.” Sirius holds you tight, mashing a kiss into the side of your head. “I’m so sorry this happened, baby. I’m sorry we weren’t there to protect you.” 

“Don’t be sorry,” you murmur, turning in his arms to hug him properly. He seems pleased with this development, and squeezes you ferociously. “You can’t always be with me. And it’s not your responsibility.” 

“Careful what you say.” Sirius seems to muster up some humor, a teasing edge to his tone. “I’ll get us one of those big shirts so the four of us can fit in it together, and then you’ll never be rid of us.” 

“It’s our job to look after you,” says Remus, firm but kind. “It’s true we can’t be with you all of the time, but I’m glad you felt comfortable telling us this. Thank you, sweetheart.” 

You’re about to dismiss his thanks when James gets back in the car, this time in the back seat instead of the front. 

“Did you see him?” Sirius asks immediately, scooching the both of you over to make room. 

“No, he must’ve left right after her.” James looks unhappy, but his touch is gentle as always as he takes your waist in both hands, easing you off of Sirius’ lap and into the seat between them. Sirius sighs but doesn’t complain, likely knowing he’s had more than his fair share of your comfort. 

“Marcella was nice, though,” James says. “She arranged for you to have the morning off on Monday, and she’ll call you then to hear from you what happened. We can be with you, if you like.” 

“Monday.” You blow out a slow breath, though it doesn’t do much to keep your throat from contracting in panic. “Okay, that sounds good. Thank you.” 

“No worries, angel.” James rubs your thigh, watching you carefully. “You doing okay?” 

“Yeah, sorry.” Your voice squeaks, and you cover your eyes with a hand. Sirius whines and kisses your shoulder. You try to laugh, but it comes out wet. “I think this might just keep happening for a while.” 

“Oh, honey, it’s okay,” Remus coos, reaching out a hand to set on the top of your head. He scratches at your scalp with his fingernails the way he knows you like. “It makes sense to be upset. We’ll get you through this, alright? Let us look after you for a bit.” 

[aurumacadicus]

Any Tony Valentine’s Day blurbs u can share?

I just saw the funniest TikTok lmao

--

"Sorry we couldn't go to that fancy place you reserved," Steve offered, looking around the Waffle House they'd managed to drag their way to. Mississippi was a long way from New York, though, and even flying in the suit, they wouldn't have made it.

"Well," Tony said around a bite of burger. "I don't really care as long as I get to be with you. Look! I even found flowers!"

Steve turned to smile at the bouquet of hydrangeas. It had little purple and blue flowers that he didn't recognize, and it wasn't the most romantic bunch of flowers he'd ever been given, but Tony had come prancing out of the gas grocery store almost giddy at being able to find any at all, so he loved it even more. He turned back to Tony with a wry smile. "I think you prefer burgers anyway."

"I mean, I like foie gras, too, but there's something to be said about a nice greasy burger after fighting Doom bots in... Sabougla?" Tony added. He reached out to snag a fry from Steve's plate, his own pile already decimated. "The city's safe. The team is safe. We're safe! And I get a burger. Happy Valentine's Day, beloved."

"Happy Valentine's Day, Tony," Steve answered fondly. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Natasha and Clint giving him thumbs up, and a waitress began making her way over. He leaned his elbow on the table and leaned in. "Hey, how do you feel about waffles?"

"Are you asking me if I like waffles in the House of Waffles?" Tony asked, looking up at him in confusion. "Are you trying to offend the franchise? Anyway," he added, shrugging. "They have a pecan waffle that I wanna shove in my face for dessert. Maybe if I ask nice, they'll put a heart of chocolate chips on it!"

Steve huffed out a laugh, forcing himself not to grin like an idiot as the waitress stopped at their table. "Well, at least I got the type of waffle right." He motioned at the waitress, who was smiling brightly as she set the plate on the table. "Hopefully this makes up for not having the chocolate chip heart."

"Huh?" Tony blinked at him, then the waitress, before his eyes dropped to the waffle. In the center was the velvet-covered box Steve had been carrying for weeks, trying to find the right time to give it to him. His mouth dropped open, but nothing came out, hand reaching out to carefully turn the plate so he could see the open box better.

"So," Steve said, smiling. "Tony. Will you marry me?"

Tony blinked up at him owlishly. "Steve," he whispered. "I... yes. Absolutely. Obviously."

Steve motioned at Bruce, who started bringing over the triple chocolate pie Steve had ordered, 'either to celebrate or commiserate.' Then he reached out to take the ring from the box and slip it onto Tony's finger. "Thank you, Tony. I'll do my best to make you happy."

Tony blinked again, staring down at the simple gold band. Then his cheeks flushed with heat, joy quieting to humiliation as he blurted out, "I got you jerky for Valentine's Day."

"Well, it's not a competition," Steve began hastily.

"Hey, jerky is expensive these days, and Steve loves it," Clint barked over him. "And he only had to buy the ring once. You're gonna spend more on jerky overall."

"You guys are so romantic," Natasha deadpanned. "Can I have the waffle?"

Tony jerked the plate closer, scowling at her, and snapped, "This is my engagement waffle. Eat the pie."

Steve buried his face in his hands to try and muffle his laugh. He'd have to learn some new waffle recipes for the coming anniversaries.

[crimsonrainwatersmycrops]

I realized that the moment Elain took an interest to Azriel was when he saved her. I feel like it was platonic for her before. The „you came for me“ was like a realization to her and she started to picture Azriel as this knight. He‘s also the perfect person to distract herself with from the mating bond that she shares with a guy that looks fae in every shape and form, while Azriel has a more human look to him if you cross out the wings and the shadows (which vanish around her anyway). Azriel has displayed nothing negative in Elain‘s eyes so far, he‘s only been good. He‘s „perfect“ in her pov, little does she know…

Azriel took an interest to Elain when Lucien entered the chat. Before that it‘s clearly stated in canon that he didn’t even want to stay in the house of wind to look over Elain. He didn’t interact with Elain at all until Lucien arrived. When Lucien made the demand for her sisters to take her outside, Azriel took that opportunity.

Hi! First of all, sorry that I left this unanswered for days. I know I said I'd cook and I hope it will be a decent meal for you. Thank you for this ask. I agree 100% with the Elain part, the Azriel part... less so, because there is actually more to it than just Lucien's presence, and when Feyre goes back to the Night Court for good Rhys says that Azriel has just gotten back on his feet, but it does give me a chance to address my interpretation of why Azriel and Elain took an interest in each other —I've wanted it for a while— and why, unlike elriels claim, their relationship would be actually more unequal than if Azriel got into a relationship with Gwyn. This is going to be a long analysis, and I'm going to rant about some theories of mine that may sound far-fetched to some. More to the point, it's going to be a speedrun of Elain-Azriel interactions in WAR. Apologies if it will be boring lmao.

As you said, "it's clearly stated in canon that he didn't even want to stay in the house of wind to look over Elain." Indeed, in chapter 24 of WAR Az and Cas draw sticks to decide who gets to stay behind. I don't necessarily see this as a personal dislike of Elain's company (especially since they didn't even see her while they were there) but it's obvious that both of them wanted to be in Hewn City. Babysitting is boring. Azriel claps Cassian's shoulder in commiseration as if saying, better you than me. Let's look at another scene from that chapter, when Nesta and Elain move from the House of Wind into the town house, and the first time Azriel sees Elain since the ordeal in Hybern. What happens is this:

1 Azriel is the one carrying Elain. 2 She is silent and unresponsive. 3 He treats her gently and she responds long enough to agree going into the garden with him. 4 She calls either his hands or his syphons (or both) beautiful, which makes him blush.

We know that Azriel is particularly protective towards vulnerable women. In part because of his mother but also because he was the one who found Mor agonizing on the Autumn border. He most likely was the one who carried her to Velaris. Now I've said before that I believe the fact that Mor and Elain are similar in looks could be a minor reason why Azriel started to take interest in Elain. They're both fair-skinned, brown-eyed, light-haired (Elain's hair, though more brown than blond, is described with the word "gold" multiple times), and stunningly beautiful. I wonder whether Mor ever fell into depression after her torture, and if she did, whether Azriel ever witnessed any of it and remembered it when he saw Elain on the night of the moving. However this last sentence is firmly in the realm of "headcanons" rather than "theories" so don't mind it much.

Later when Feyre watches in the garden, one is drinking tea at the table and the other reading reports on a chaise. This scene is used by elriels as proof that they are comfortable with and understand each other without words, but really they're just sharing space without interacting. We don't know how they were feeling. There's no romantic or sexual tension there yet. But later still after the Hewn City scene Elain has a vision and Azriel starts to pay more attention to her, as he realises that her ramblings may not be nonsense.

After that is when dynamics start to change on Azriel's side. In chapter 30 there are no sticks, he volunteers to stay in the garden with Elain, and after the Twin Ravens' attack, Rhys says that he was in the town house with Elain. Is it because he's trying understand her powers? Or because he just wants to be closer to her? Both? Unclear. And then we come to the Seer revelation! So there is Elain, who resembles Mor a lot, and even shares some of her mannerisms when using her powers:

"Mor's gaze darted across my sister's face"

"Mor at last blinked, mouth parting. Like that magic of hers had at last solved some puzzle. Slowly, clearly, she nodded."

"Elain squinted, as if the question required some inner clarification, some... path into looking at whatever had addled and plagued her."

"Elain blinked and blinked, eyes clearing again."

"Elain cocked her head, as if listening to some inner voice."

"Elain shifted her face towards him. Another blink."

And there is Elain, whose unexplainable visions, as Feyre says, possibly reminded Azriel of his own. And there is Azriel, who for the first time since taking notice of Elain, sees her in the same room with her mate, Eris Vanserra's brother. Do I need to say more? Protectiveness levels probably ramped up to a thousand in that moment. But what one might not notice is that despite this little shifts in Azriel's behaviour, Elain doesn't seem to reciprocate the interest (unless you're wearing shipper goggles), and that's obviously because there's Graysen.

So Elain meets Graysen, and gets heartbroken. There is absolutely no way that you can read her in that scene and say that she wasn't in love with him, fucker that he is. So she is heartbroken when she gets to the Illyrian camp, she copes enough in the following chapters to be functional —which, you're stronger than me, baby— and then she gets Cauldron-napped. And the Cauldron uses her beloved's form and her love for him to abduct her. Harsh. So in Hybern's camp she lies shackled, probably unable to stop thinking about Graysen, probably believing like Nesta that there's no way they can get inside the camp to save her, and then there is Feyre, and Azriel, who is a warrior like Graysen, who was the one who found out what her powers were, Azriel who came for her. Yup, you are so right, anon.

Funny how elriels say that Gwyn has a crush on Azriel because he saved her but don't see how Elain's rescue is exactly the same situation in which such a thing can happen. Funny how Feyre describes Graysen as "a mortal ideal of a knight who would swoop a beautiful maiden onto his horse and ride into the sunset" and elriels don't see how Azriel being Elain's saviour would remind her of him. So Azriel (and Feyre) rescue Elain, who then kisses him on the cheek, and this is a glaring sign that she too is seeing him in a new light, the shift in her, because let's be fair, Elain wouldn't go around kissing males anywhere on an usual day.

And this brings us to the Truth Teller scene. I said before that imo this scene shows how Azriel is acknowledging with himself that he's attracted to Elain, and possibly, since Feysand is already a thing and it's clear to everyone that Nesta and Cassian could have something going on, starting to come up with "3 brothers and 3 sisters, cauldron wrong" theories of his own. (RIP MAH BOI) Again, this is only my headcanon, but what is not a headcanon nor a theory is that by giving Elain Truth Teller, Azriel is giving Elain special treatment. When she accepts the blade, "Elain looked up at Azriel, their eyes meeting, his hand still lingering on the hilt", and THERE, there after the rescue, is the first time that we see non-platonic MUTUAL tension. What elriels think started in MAF actually began mid-WAR, and was at best one-sided on Azriel's part until the rescue, and still new on Elain's, since she is still not over Graysen as she watched him leave the final post-battle meeting. I am so curious to know if she gave Truth Teller back before or after seeing him because, well... Sadly, FAS doesn't tell clearly.

So like... Yeah, absolutely. Imo it's obvious that Azriel and Elain's feelings are very conditional on their previous issues with their past love interests, and Azriel's overprotectiveness. For me it's also a big deal that unlike with Elain, Azriel didn't see Gwyn when she was at her most vulnerable and thus, while he still worries when the Valkyries are in danger, never acts like he has to shelter her from what could harm her. In fact, when Azriel remembers her worst moment on the bonus, he has to block the memory immediately because it is so far from the strong, resilient, charmingly irreverent Gwyn that he sees in training.

Because I like to stay objective, I'll say that all this doesn't necessarily mean that Elain and Azriel would forever see Graysen and Mor in each other, just like it doesn't mean that Gwyn's trauma could never affect a relationship with Azriel. They're characters in Sarah's hands. As a gwynriel, I understand that if Sarah wanted she could make elriel happen and make them resolve their issues with the rescue, and Mor, etc, and that if she made gwynriel happen she could make them face how Azriel being the one who saved Gwyn could potentially make their relationship unbalanced. In turn, elriels should understand that if Sarah wanted she could make gwynriel happen and give them a perfectly healthy relationship and sex life, and that if she made elriel happen she would have to address Azriel's feelings that he still has for Mor (and his self-esteem issues, but this post is already bottomless without mentioning them argh), and how Elain clearly developed a survivor crush on Azriel (and the whole person of Lucien ofc but this post etc...).

[kay-elle-cee]

Okay @sunshinemarauder and @athenasparrow, I believe you both requested silence and patience, pining in anticipation from the Taylor prompt list, so here you go!

Read here on ao3 or under the cut!

“It’s been a shit few months, that’s for sure,” Sirius commiserates, sloshing his third glass of firewhiskey.

James throws a shot back, grimacing. “Thanks,” he deadpans.

“Cheer up, mate.” Sam slides another shot across the table. “You’re better off. I mean…four months and she just moves onto the reserve Chaser after your injury? Fuck her.”

Lily’s quiet, nodding and agreeing with the pair of them. She could add to it…but it might be damning, so she doesn’t. It’s when Sam and Sirius leave to get a new round of drinks, levitating the empties away, that she gets pulled in.

“You’re awfully quiet.”

“No I’m not.”

“Go on,” James prods, a bitter smile curling his lips. “I know you never really cared much for Amy.”

“It’s not that I didn’t—“ The liquor has been flowing too much tonight and those damn eyes of his are fully on her and she almost admits something. She clears her throat as a cover for her interruption. “I guess I just sensed it wasn’t right.”

He sighs, leaning back in chair. “It’s more of a bruise to my ego than anything “

“Oh, we can’t have that.” Her lips quirk up as she takes another sip of her drink, and with his head thrown back and attention off her, she allows herself to look at him. A pang of sadness wraps its way around her heart.

She was with Dirk by the time she realized what she wanted from James. And she had tried to push that down, truly. And when things eventually crumbled, James was…well, he was enjoying his newly minted stardom, and she couldn’t fault him for that.

Lily had told herself that she wasn’t waiting for him, but after three years of half-hearted relationships and a few one night stands, it was painfully obvious (hopefully only to her) that she was just…undoubtedly hung up on James Potter.

“I think I’m done with the whole…dating thing. For a while anyway.”

This pulls her out of her mind, his head snapping up and gaze meeting hers. She blinks. “Oh?”

“Haven’t really been quite successful, have I?”

“Four months is nothing to sneeze at,” she shrugs.

“I suppose. It’s longer than anything you’ve had.”

She offers him a soft, sad smile. It stings, but more for her unsaid feelings than for any of the men who had wandered in and out of her life.

James’ face pales as his brain catches up to his mouth. “Shit. Sorry. It’s the firewhiskey. I didn’t mean to be an arse.”

“You’re not wrong.” Downing the rest of her drink, Lily pushes the glass away only to have James grab her hand.

“Right or not, I shouldn’t have said that.” His thumb brushes against her skin, making her a little breathless, and his eyes almost implore her to hear him. “I’m sorry, Lil.” There’s a fluttering sensation in her stomach, and she finds she has to look away.

“So no more dating, huh?”

“I think…” he trails, staring at somewhere near their hands, “I’ve just been attracting women who were attracted to my status, not to me, you know?”

“I mean, yeah.” James’ attention snaps to her quizzically. “Could you not…see that? Hanging over you when the press was around, anytime we were in public, but being more aloof in private? Using your name to get you into bars and clubs? And I know you made up this whole story about why you stopped bringing women by the manor—”

“Didn’t want to get mum and dad’s hopes up…” he mutters.

“It’s because of how greedily they looked at everything, and we both know it. Sirius and Remus, too,” she throws in for good measure.

“Merlin, was it that obvious?”

“Yes. Did you really not see it?”

“I mean, I must’ve. I’m—I know I’ve taken my fair share of bludgers to the head but I got seven N.E.W.T.s, I’m not a dumb bloke.”

“No one would ever call you dumb. Maybe oblivious sometimes, but not dumb.” She slides her hand out from under his with much mental protest, drumming her nails on the rim of her empty glass.

“But I don’t know…I guess I just thought I’d lean into the spotlight a bit. Maybe it’s what I thought came with the territory.” There’s a mix of sadness and bitterness in his voice. “But I guess that’s all gone to pot now, with the shoulder injury and all.”

“They’re keeping you on ‘til the end of the season though, right?”

“They’ve got to, it’s in my contract.”

“Well then you have time to figure things out,” Lily smiles. “You’ve got those seven N.E.W.T.s after all, and the family business. And the relationship thing…it’ll come. Your fame doesn’t matter; you’ll find someone who is mad about the real you. Don’t lose hope.”

“Don’t think I’m in danger of that with you around.” He flashes her a smile that’s equal parts warm and sarcastic, and fully makes her stomach flip. His eyes sweep her face for a moment before he drops his head back, face towards the ceiling with his eyes closed. “Of course you’re right. You’re always right.” He lets out a humorless laugh.

Unbidden, an image of a younger Lily flits into her mind, shouting by a lake.

“Not always.”

“Yes always. You’re not afraid to call me on my shit, Evans, and I love that about you. Even when it’s embarrassingly public.” He laughs quietly again, sliding a hand down his face, and Lily wonders how their minds immediately jumped to the same incident. “Merlin, d’you remember you once called me a toerag in front of half the bloody school before swearing off of me? I could never bring myself to be mad, though—you were right and I was being a little shit.”

“I didn’t”—she licks her lips nervously, battling a hysterical rise of laughter—“swear off of you.”

“Sure you did. Rather go out with the Giant Squid, wasn’t it?”

All the noise around them in the pub has died away. Now it’s only the two of them…and a high-pitched sort of ringing in Lily’s ears.

“That was me turning you down then. Not…forever.”

His head snaps up and their eyes meet—his nestled under a furrowed brow, swirling dark and molten, the brightness of the light honey flecks twinkling in the deep green. It’s as though the air around her has grown thinner, her lungs having to work twice as hard to breathe.

“What’re you—“

“Fucking finally!” Sirius exclaims, collapsing into his seat as Sam levitates a new tray of drinks—several shots and some tankards of butterbeer for winding down the night—onto the table.

“Bartender was making puppy eyes at a hen party and I thought this one here was going to lose his mind if it took another minute,” Sam laughs, pushing two shots over to Sirius.

Lily hears them, but doesn't really register anything. No, she and James are still caught in a magnetizing stare across the table, furrowed brow giving way to something shocked as understanding dawns. She wants to look away, wants to hide the blush of mortification that’s crawling up her neck at her clunky confession, but she can’t.

Three years of playing it mostly cool, down the drain.

But still, there’s something in those eyes that doesn’t let her heart crash and burn. There’s something there, accompanied by the subtle upward curve of his lips, that makes her stomach tremble with anticipation.

Hope.

[sirianasims]

After the main course, Paul went to the kitchen to get the dessert ready before midnight. I excused myself and said I needed some fresh air.

I had been to Del Sol Valley a few times when I was little, visiting my grandparents, but I didn’t remember much about the city itself.

The back of Paul’s mansion was the only thing not surrounded by fences, and the view was both breathtaking and terrifying. Bright lights as far as the eye could see, occasional premature fireworks going off, faint background noise from traffic that never stopped.

It felt like we were gilded birds in a cage up here, always on display yet forever out of reach.

I couldn’t imagine anything further from Copperdale and the quiet, snow-covered forests around it.

I wondered if Paul would expect me to move in with him at some point. I didn’t see how he’d be able to work from anywhere else. I could work wherever, but could I live here? Surrounded by fences and cameras and security guards in a huge, empty house?

I pushed the thought away as I heard the clacking of heels behind me.

“Julia, can I talk to you for a moment?”, Sierra asked softly. “I would really like to apologise for what I said earlier. It was never my intention to insult you.”

“I know you didn’t mean it like that, but I still can’t help feeling that you don’t like me very much. Or maybe you just don’t think I’m good enough for Paul?”

Sierra bit her lip.

“I shouldn’t have brought up his exes, especially not in front of you. The thing is, they rarely lasted long enough for the media to catch on – half the time I didn’t even get to meet them before he ended things. So when Paul first told us about you, I got worried. I saw him falling harder and faster than ever before, but you’re so much younger than him and I was struggling to see how it could possibly end well.”

“Right. Thanks for the vote of confidence.”

“I’m just being honest with you. I tend to be, perhaps, overly protective of Paul. He was even younger than you when we met, we shared a shitty apartment with a few other aspiring actors, all trying to break through. We cheered each other on, audition after audition, practicing lines, commiserating over rejection letters… And then he got the call for Llama Man, and I ended up as an extra in a cop series which later got me the lead in Cop & Llama, but I’ve fought hard to escape that, branch out to other roles, and Paul just… didn’t even try.”

“But he says he prefers the voice acting, though. If you’re his friend, why do you keep pushing him if he’s perfectly happy?”

“Because I’m his friend. Sure, he says he’s happy. Maybe he even believes it. But Paul was always the best of us, and he never took his talent seriously. He’s a great voice actor, but it always felt like he secretly wanted more, he’s just scared. What if he sucked? The media would have a field day, writing about how he should just stick to his cartoons. You’ve seen what they’re like, you just had your first front page. Which, by the way, must be rough. I’m sorry for adding to the stress you must be under right now. Can we maybe start over?”

“Apology accepted, I’m too much of a fangirl to be mad at you anyway. And I’m managing, but I must say, being on the cover of a magazine is a lot less fun than advertised.”

“Trust me, it depends heavily on the kind of magazine. But being hung out to dry by some gossip rag is a rite of passage in this business. You should have seen the frenzy when rumours about me and Dave started circulating. It was wild. I once walked out of an interview because they asked me if the llama costume stayed on during sex!”

“Well? Did it ever?”

Sierra grinned.

“No way – do you have any idea how heavy and warm that costume is? It’s not exactly a sexy superhero muscle suit, it’s a full size sports mascot.”

“True. Although I’m not sure I’d appreciate it if Paul kept his costume on either.”

We both laughed, and I barely registered the steps behind me before I felt Pauls arms around me, his warm hands covering my eyes.

“Guess who.”

I heard Sierra chuckle. “Actually, Paul, we were kinda busy out here, bonding over the trials of dating men in llama costumes. It’s a very exclusive club.”

“I guess Dave and I have to start our own club then. But it's almost midnight and I would like to borrow my girlfriend, if you don’t mind.”

“Fine, you can have her back. I’ll just go get myself one of those fruit tarts before Lee and Dave eat them all.”

She walked back inside without waiting for a response.

She wouldn’t have gotten one anyway.

beginning / previous / next

[omegamoo]

saw your post around empires1 scotts ending and im just here to commiserate

so fucked up that he says "i guess happy endings do exist" this isnt a happy ending!!! youre dead!!!

esp alongside his 3rd life ending "this is home?" no its not! you are dead sir!

literally so fucked up that every version of him thinks that death is the only place where he can be happy. what do you meannnnn

GOOD GOD. thank you for commiserating i feel so ill and twisted over this UGHHH

WHY DOES HE. WHY. WHYYY like i know everyone always dies in the life series but OHH my god. oh my god. WHY IS HE ALWAYS. LIKE. sorry i keep interrupting myself i feel deranged. hold on. OHHHHH MY GOD

okay i know everyone always dies in the life series like Multiple Times but why is he always Sacrificing himself why is he only ever happy when dead why is death a transaction to him why is that his method of appeasement. GOOODDDD GOD. and he does it in empires too WHYYYYY

i saw a post a long time ago that was basically like “death is kind to scott” for the life of me i’ve never been able to find it but it was about like. the dream “happy endings” of empires 1 & third life. He’s fucking dead. anyways i wrote a poem about it let me see if ive posted it already i feel abnormal

[whenwewereyoung97]

Hiiii! I just finished reading Fourth Wing and Iron Flame and I'm looking for some blogs that mainly post that. Do you maybe have some recommendations?

Hiii! Welcome to the club!

I’m sorry it took this long to respond. Tbh I’m still getting used to the idea of asks, and that people value my bookish opinions enough to ask me 🥹 so thank you for that!

Anyway, these are some of my favorites (though they don’t all exclusively post FW content):

@jmoonjones has some of my favorite FW art (their Storytime With Andarna has my entire heart).

@incorrect-fourthwing, @stupidlybookish and @angstywaifu have nailed the concept of incorrect quotes.

Also a huge fan of @violencewithwings, @wingleaderriorson and @intairnwetrust.

Special shoutout to my Tumblr bestie, who is my favorite person to share theories with, rant to about toxic fans, and just get excited and commiserate with - @unyieldingwings.

[snarky-magpie]

tell me about a drop of luck pls!!

Happy to! And thanks for the ask. Looooong rant incoming:

So this would be Hogwarts Voldy-free AU (cause I'm a bit sick of reading about the war and just want to read and write fun Marauders shenanigans) where Dumbledore would want to promote in-house cooperation, so he'd come up with a year-long project during which pairs or groups from different houses would work together. They'd be randomly assigned, kinda like with the Goblet in the Goblet of Fire. I've got various ideas for various people (for example, Remus and Barty would be taking care of an occamy/diricawl cross breed, so essentially a tiny feathered dragon that teleports all over the castle) and such. Regulus and James will get lumped together to brew Felix, and neither of them is happy about the fact because they both despise each other. I want to explore their more canon personalities here, I suppose, or at least James would be a cocky jerk and Regulus would be under the influence of his parents and just coming from out of it. Also, I'd like to depict the abuse he goes through as what I imagine it to be, which means more psychological, less cartoon evil full of beating and Crucios. Anyway, James complains about being stuck with Regulus, Sirius commiserates and together, they come up with a "genius" plan to make the ordeal more fun: James will try to make Regulus fall in love with him. If he succeeds, Sirius will do something outrageous (currently on sneaking his naked portrait to Dumbledore's office). Of course, James and Regulus grow closer - they have to gather the ingredients for the potion, then brew it, and in the meantime, they discover a lot of things about each other - for example, James learns that Regulus loves magical beasts and wants to become a beast Healer but his parents are against it, Regulus learns James loves baking and would love to open a bakery but people expect him to go into Quidditch or become an Auror, etc. There's a sweet scene where James gifts Regulus an enchanted parchment through which they can communicate when Regulus has to go to Grimmauld's, and so on. Eventually, they share a first kiss, sleep together, and both fall in love. James feels miserable about the bet but decides not to tell Regulus - he'll tell Sirius he failed the bet, take his lumps and then start his relationship with Regulus for real. Only, Peter discovers the truth first (he sees Regulus cast a patronus and it's a deer), and blabs, and Regulus overhears everything. He's very hurt and betrayed and breaks up with James. There's a lot of angst, and James doesn't know what to do, but Effie advises him to work on himself and prove how much he loves Regulus with being there for him, doing him small favors and so on. Eventually, they make up, Regulus finds the strength to leave his parents, and everyone lives happily ever after. (Sorry for the wall of text, I have no chill when it comes to my stories.) I'm currently debating whether this or All Bets will be my next longfic.)

[transfaguette]

I was gonna say "I hope you have a nice day", just as... you know, a little nice anon ask... use the feature how it ought to be used, but it's pretty obvious that's not where things are so I'll commiserate instead

That whole bank thing is just sick. I got a credit union, so they try and start charging fees if I don't make transactions for too long, but man yours is so much worse. That's just vile. It literally ought to be illegal. It's your money, what give anyone the right to take it just cause you aren't using it a certain way?

Also I'm real sorry about the chronic pain. I've had a few friends over the years who've had chronic pain (and maybe I do too... I can't really tell, cause... it's just how my body feels, how much pain is it? ...I don't know)

Everything they ever dealt with, from doctors, to never quite managed pain even at the best of times... it's a rough deal

I hope you have a lot of low pain days in your future, that your flare ups are minimal and infrequent

The world's a mess, we live in a broken system which makes it hard to live. So things are rough right now just cause they're legit hard, not cause of any failing on your end

I mean look at the society we've created, where people with no money have to pay large sums of money, to get access to programs to help deal with the fact they don't have any money

People like you and me... we'll do what we can to try and make it a bit better... there's probably not a lot in our power, but we do what we can... it's just a hard time to be alive, and it's probably always been a hard time to be alive, but for me at least... all you can do is try and make it less hard for the other people... try to make a dent so many some day it won't be a hard time to be alive

Anyway sorry about the weird, long ask. Like I said... I just... I wanted to say something nice to you, just a little nice message, but... it would have felt tone deaf seeing the things you've got going on

So instead I decided on weird but candid

I do hope you have a good day soon. Some way, some how, I hope things go good for you

...in the meantime though, that sucks, you're dealing with bullshit and you shouldn't have to be. I hope what can get better gets better soon, and I hope what can't drops to minimal levels

Regardless, take care

this is such a lovely ask, thank you <3 I wouldn’t have thought it was tone deaf to just wish me a nice day, but I really appreciate the thoughtfulness here. it did make my day better :)

[carlos-in-glasses]

Commiseration Monday

Thank you for the tag @cold-blooded-jelly-doughnut (and the idea!), @reyesstrand @theghostofashton @lemonlyman-dotcom @heartstringsduet @catanisspicy @alrightbuckaroo ❤️

The rules: While Ao3 is temporarily down, share a little something from a WIP to keep us going through the downtime! Preferably something we haven’t shared before, but whatever works for you!

Please have some Owen and TK time from a WIP (that in my head is called Flashback Fic), which expands on my fic Chasers.

Owen leads TK into the kitchen and sits him at the breakfast bar. "I'm going to make you a spring smoothie, and then you're going to tell me what's up. Is it about your mom? Or did you and Carlos have a fight?"

"I wish," TK says.

"What does that mean?"

"A fight is simple. This is way more complicated." TK shakes his head. A fight would also mean make up sex later, so there are certain pros. "And what is a spring smoothie?"

"Spinach, apples, almond milk, basil, chicory, arugula, fenugreek, and bananas of course."

"Of course."

"Don't knock it until you try it." Owen smiles. "And talk to me."

TK watches his father practically dance around the kitchen, gathering ingredients – and it rocks him, because no matter what’s going on in his life, Owen is always there to make smoothies and talk. He thinks of himself coming out at fourteen. Gay bashed behind the bleachers at fifteen. An addict at seventeen. At twenty-six, relapsing after a failed marriage proposal. Overdosing on his apartment floor. But within all of it, for his whole life, love knelt by his side in the form of his mom and dad.

"Last night, I was in a bad way."

“After that call?”

“Yeah.”

“I thought you were. Why didn’t you talk to me?”

“I don’t know. But Carlos called Cooper, and Cooper came over, and we talked it out. But when Carlos came home, I told him about, um–” Deep breaths. Deep, steady. “I admitted I almost relapsed the day after mom died.”

Owen stills, hugging two green, shiny apples in his hands like they’re precious. “Did he react badly.”

“No. I kind of freaked out. Kind of cried all over him.”

Owen smiles, sets the apples down and picks up a paring knife. “I’m familiar with your style.”

“Yeah. Well. At the risk of crying all over you and probably Buttercup right now, I keep thinking about you.”

"Me?" Owen asks, flattered but confused.

"And mom. And everything I put you through."

Owen looks at him seriously. Then he opens a drawer to retrieve a second small paring knife that matches one he already holds. He places it onto a thick wooden chopping board next to the two green apples and pushes it across the breakfast bar towards TK. "Wash your hands and help me make this," Owen says.

TK gets up, doing what he's asked without question, smiling to himself because he's a paramedic and doesn't need to be told to wash his hands before food prep, but they've gone back in time to his childhood, when Owen would tell him important things about life while engaging him in something practical. When TK was twelve, Owen came over to TK's new apartment with Gwyn on Canal Street and helped strip orange floral wallpaper from TK's room. While working away at the tired old flowers, which an elderly lady had once loved, Owen gave TK the sex talk. It was hetero in focus, but even then it was like Owen was nudging TK to tell him to stop if he wanted, if it didn't apply to him, or if he needed to discuss it in a different way.

TK shunted his wallpaper scraper up and down to remove a patch with particularly firm adhesive, taking a little plaster away with it.

"Anyway, if there's anything you need to know, or just want to know – if you're ever curious or upset or you have feelings for someone, I'll always want to talk to you about it. You don't need to be worried or shy."

"Okay," TK said, "Can I have some lemonade now?"

When TK cores the first apple, his hands begin to shake. He has to put the knife down. "Dad."

"TK."

"I'm sorry. I'm just so sorry."

Owen looks at his tearful son understandingly. He takes the apple from him, finishes slicing it, and waits for TK to carry on.

I'm late to this so I'm just going to tag @ladytessa74 because I was going to read your new fic tonight :( Otherwise this is an open tag to anyone who wants to do it - please genuinely take it as a tag and tag me back if you post!

[shydroid3000]

4, 20, 28 for the ask game

Ask game

4. Whats your favorite feeling?

Oh, hmm... There's this feeling where sometimes for just a moment a piece of the world seems so crazy beautiful and joyful that I almost want to cry? Sometimes it happens when one of my cats is cuddled on me extra sweetly and I'm thinking about how much I love them and how lucky I feel to live alongside them lol. Sometimes it's from a really heartwarming interaction with a stranger I'll never see again (you know like when you're in line or walking down the street or something, and one of those genuine-human-connection moments happens?). Sometimes it's watching the birds outside my window, or talking to my sister and just laughing or commiserating about things only we really get, or (so sappy) cuddling with my partner and watching cheesy sci-fi. Half the time I hate existing so these little moments of intense joy are really special to me haha.

20. Tell us about a memory you hold close to your heart.

Because I just mentioned birds, the first thing that came to mind was this: At my old apartment, I had a bird feeder on the balcony, and I also used to leave trails of peanuts for the neighbourhood magpies. (Black-billed Magpies are common where I live, and though they're widely loathed by people here for being ubiquitous and annoying, I fucking love them haha). Anyway, after several months of feeding the birds, I was out on my apartment balcony and one of the neighbourhood magpies came and perched on the rail like a foot away from me and just hung out calmly and looked right at me for a few minutes, and left a little stick in this small flowerpot I had attached to the railing. It was like a dream come true haha.

28. What are you proudest of?

Oh man, this is actually kind of dark, but instead of any like life achievements in academics or work, what comes to mind for me is just... standing up to my shitty dad from a young age lol. Sorry to end on a kind of bleak note haha.

Thanks for the ask!! <33

[uroboros-if]

I once played a series of IF games (I bought them all before playing just one of them 😭) and there were a lot of like, decisions where your stats were very important. Which is fine, not really my cup of tea, bc it usually makes me feel like I can only decisions that’ll level up the “correct” stats instead of choosing the options I like.

But the romance was also stat based. So I would press a dialogue option that would be like, a bit confrontational and my progress with that character would go from 90% to 75%. Or I wouldn’t be able to help in some scenarios, bc the stat to do (which for some reason was charisma)that was too low. Which is so like, defeating. I don’t want to feel like I’m walking on a tightrope to figure out which options are “correct”.

I don’t want MC to be able to walk all over others without consequences, but I do want to be able to not be a doormat. But ig that my own frustrations with IF where there are stat checks are part of my problem.

Anon, I think I know exactly the series you're talking about, because that's the one I've had in mind all this time! 😭

I was dismayed by what you mentioned (going from a 90% to 75%) that I had to drop the story. The one I'm thinking of is a Choice of Games/Hosted Games IF. In that game, it's using Choicescript's "fairmath" where it's harder to increase your relationship the closer it is to 100%, and much easier to lose points. The opposite is true if you're closer to 0%.

Supposedly, it's so the stat doesn't go beyond 100% or below 0%, but (disclaimer: personal opinion) it shouldn't apply to relationship stats. Furthermore, I've code-dived into this game, and it's a whopping 20% decrease on one instance when you disagree with them! (That's without adjusting for fairmath, where the decrease could be higher if you have a high relationship.)

It's pretty apparent, but that game has made a pretty big impact on me! That much, at least, I appreciate it for.

Anyway, I'm sorry, everyone's probably sick of me beating this particular topic to death! I'll be answering one more ask about this issue already in my inbox, then I'll put it to rest unless there's more to it. Otherwise, feel free to DM me on Discord / Tumblr to commiserate with me, or use the replies on this post!

Thank you so much Anon💕💕💕

[yinyuedijun]

the aventurine fic hit me in places gg. idk i forgot a good chunk of my mother tongue when we moved out to a different part of my country for a while and...it just didn't make sense speaking that language when i have this to learn and get by with.

idk aven's feelings just...yeah. especially with the 'childish speech' part. and that latent embarrassment and panic over not knowing it because it's either dead or slowly dying out. those hit close. i'm appalled. goddamn you. jail to you JAIL-

omg anon ARE YOU ALSO A SPEAKER OF A DYING LANGUAGE 🤯 BECAUSE IF SO !! I am shaking your hand in commiseration 🤝🤝🤝 my family immigrated completely and on god I try my hardest to remember my mother tongue even if it's a useless language but it feels like the rest of the world is literally forgetting it faster than me 😭

anyway. I know it hurt (sorry) but I'm really happy to hear that the fic resonated with you!!! I think so many of your experiences are exactly what I wanted to capture, esp w like.... the latent panic and embarrassment bit FLSJSKA I didn't think there'd be anyone in the audience who could relate to that 😭 thank you SO SO MUCH for reading, and for sending this! it made me so happy <3 worth the jail time 😁